Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe job market in June has shown conflicting signs. At various intervals we have picked up vacancies from good, reputable firms, looking to pay salaries and not after a following which rarely exists in the profession. At other times it has been very quiet. Conveyancing is clearly making a comeback (again) and we are starting…
Reading Time: 4 minutesPeople often get in touch to say that they are looking for a training contract and will do anything to get one. Really? I can almost guarantee that in the majority of these cases if we were to push them further on this they would not have walked up and down high streets banging on…
Reading Time: 4 minutesWe regularly get calls from graduates and paralegals wanting us to find them work or work experience and we give the same answer pretty much every time. You cannot phone recruitment agencies and expect them to find you meaningful employment if you do not have any experience and nothing to offer a potential employer. All…
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe decision to give references is sometimes quite complicated. Firms have requested references before second interviews, including requests to speak to current employers (!) and colleagues. Alternatively some firms ask for references prior to first interview. Others have waited until a solicitor has commenced work and two weeks later asked for a reference. Two incidents…
Reading Time: 3 minutesA recent dilemna arose for a solicitor looking to take a fairly senior post in the North of England. He had two offers, as well as an additional firm interested. One firm were very friendly, a reasonable size, good working conditions, excellent career prospects from the outset including possible partnership. Their location was not the…
Reading Time: 2 minutesWork/Life Balance seems to become a particularly important issue once solicitors get to about 3 years PQE, and realise that there is life beyond work, and other issues such as rearing a family, paying a mortgage and buying a house come into play. The legal profession as a whole suffers from a poor attitude towards the…
Reading Time: 2 minutesSome firms seem very pleased at times when a candidate accepts an offer that is considerably below the market rate but we think this is a false economy. I can think of two firms in recent times who have been aware of a candidate’s limited geographical search area, or perhaps their requirement for supervision for…
Reading Time: 2 minutesIt is apparently the case that mothers returning to work after starting a family suffer the highest employment penalty of any group (Equalities Review). Mothers with children under 11 are 37% less likely to be offered a job than equivalent males. Single mums suffer even worse figures – rising to above 40%. Firms should not…
Reading Time: 2 minutesFirms who regularly complain that there is a lack of quality out there and no candidates applying for their jobs, are often the same firms who offer rates of pay so low a solicitor cannot get a mortgage above £60k! I regularly read about the shortage in good quality staff, and also get called by…
Reading Time: 2 minutes1. Don’t throw things at your staff. Particularly the Law Society Conveyancing Handbook – it hurts! 2. Don’t get drunk at the Christmas party – this always leads to consequences remembered for decades afterwards. Whether this involves rambling incoherently about how useless one of your staff is, or some minor act of vandalism, your colleagues…
Reading Time: 2 minutesWe notice whenever there is World Cup, a serious incident in world politics, Christmas Parties, Christmas shopping, New Years resolution season, NQ qualification season and so forth that the legal job market in a good year will suddenly get very busy or very quiet. The answer therefore is yes! The year always starts fairly slowly…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBusiness Acumen – what’s it all about? This term comes up quite often in legal job interviews, whether for training contracts or qualified solicitor roles. But what exactly does it mean? In reality, not a lot! The usual question is along the lines of “can you give an example of when you have had to…
Reading Time: 2 minutes“I’ve heard a lot of talk about career paths – what should I be doing about this, and is it a good idea to plan 5 years in advance when working in a law firm?” It is very hard to know what a legal career is all about when you start out in law. Firstly…
Reading Time: 2 minutes“I want to move because my current office is affecting my health – damp on the walls, mould on the ceiling, and freezing cold. No pay rise for anyone at the firm in 5 years.” Another firm yet to wake up to the realities of modern day living – being nice to your legal staff…
Reading Time: 2 minutesNegotiation with some firms is like a gunfight at OK Corral! It can be great fun dealing with firms and candidates when it comes to job offers being made by firms. Some firms make good, competitive offers, which any sensible candidate would accept, and other firms make low, slave wage level offers, which only someone…
Reading Time: 2 minutesI have recently been reading a load of books on investment, personal wealth management and similar titles, and have discovered that there are a lot of different strategies for creating your own financial stability. All the advice appears to point to either having a job or business on the side, or to conduct investment at…
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe main aim and focus during interview must be: EVERYBODY LIKES ME, I LIKE EVERYBODY, I AM WILLING TO DO ALMOST ANYTHING (WITHIN REASON), I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH ANYTHING OR ANYBODY. 12 Top Tips for Surviving and Succeeding at Legal Job Interviews. 1. Do not reveal your political leanings if at all possible during…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn a recent article a senior recruiter argued that a better approach to recruitment would be as follows: (1) give full specifics of your post prior to interview – this can sometimes be very frustrating in legal recruitment – firms give very vague requirements and are surprised when candidates get annoyed at travelling a long…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe choice of benefits varies quite considerably, but you need to know why employers will like or dislike them. When that time of the year comes up when you actually get to discuss your salary and package rather than just thinking about it, it is important to have all the facts to hand. You can…
Reading Time: 2 minutesIt has become the industry standard that once you are past the training level of the profession, the way to apply for the vast majority of posts, apart from local authority ones, is via a CV. In fact, most firms who have tried to use application forms for posts have met hostility from candidates, whether…
Reading Time: 2 minutesOne of the easiest ways to spot a firm who are ‘good’ to work for and who have a happy working environment is to phone the receptionist and ask to speak to someone. Some receptionists consider this a real nuisance, and I have even heard sighs and tuts as if you shouldn’t really be calling…
Reading Time: 2 minutesWe often get very senior solicitors and executives registering with us, and needing to make an application for work after many years in the same post and wondering what on earth they need to do. Very often these candidates send a CV through which is about 1/2 page long and just says name, address, name…
Reading Time: 2 minutesRecently we have had dealings with a firm who are very well known and established, and have a good reputation in the market place. However the firm have made an offer to one of our candidates and pushed slightly too hard, such that the candidate rejected the offer. I should start by saying that I understand…
Reading Time: 2 minutesWhen interviewing a potential employee for a job, it is important to see things at all times from the employee’s perspective – they will almost certainly be trying to guess what you are wanting, thinking and going to say to them and will want to get certain things confirmed about your firm before they commit themselves. This…
Reading Time: 2 minutesPotential trainee solicitors often worry that they are either applying for too many training contracts or too few. It is one area that people seek assurance on. This is how we deal with it: Firstly we ask what degree classification the person has – if you have a high 2.1 or 1st and went to…
Reading Time: 2 minutesThis is a question we get asked every day by NQs calling us. Our usual advice is to start looking for work about six months before you are due to qualify. Register with up to three agencies (we would prefer you just to register with ourselves of course – or at least giving one agent a…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAs recruitment consultants, we are not sure that this is good practice. In fact I would recommend avoiding confronting candidates head on with technical questions. Firstly, at an interview a candidate is nervous and slightly wary, secondly partners of law firms are notorious for asking questions that no-one on the interview panel knows or understands,…
Reading Time: 2 minutesFirstly, be aware that a lot of employers want to do the decent thing when it comes to interviews, and are open to requests. They are highly unlikely to offer to pay travel expenses unless you ask! You have to prepared to be proactive in interviews, and not expect everything to be handed to you…
Reading Time: 2 minutesWe often get enquiries from solicitors wanting to relocate, and when this happens, invariably when going from the south to the north the salary range is impossibly high to source posts, and when going from the north to the south the salary range asked for is impossibly high to source posts! Why? There is an…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThere are certain times of the year when we get inundated with telephone calls from law graduates asking “have you got any training contracts” or “where shall I look for a paralegal post”, or just “um er have you got any jobs?” There are now more people looking for legal work and less jobs, partly…