References – Are They Obsolete?
Reading Time: 3 minutesReferences – Are They Obsolete? Article from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment, specialists for the permanent recruitment of solicitors and legal staff in the UK.
Job Applications
Where Do We Recruit Quality Candidates – is there a ‘Secret Place’?
Reading Time: 3 minutesWhere Do We Source Quality Candidates – is there a ‘Secret Place’ where recruitment consultants go to find amazing job applicants? Ten Percent Legal Recruitment.
Sending a CV in PDF Format – a Good Idea?
Reading Time: 3 minutesSending a CV in pdf format – a good idea? Article by Ten Percent Legal Recruitment on the difficulty of processing pdf CVs.
What Does Pro Rata Mean For Salary Payments?
Reading Time: 2 minutesPro rata, what does it mean. Article from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment including the formula for calculating pro rata pay.
Are psychometric tests a good idea for solicitor recruitment?
Reading Time: 3 minutesPsychometric testing for solicitors – a good idea? Article from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment based on anecdotal evidence.
Getting Headhunted on LinkedIn
Reading Time: 3 minutesGetting headhunted on linkedin – too good to be true? Article on Linkedin headhunting from Jonathan Fagan, MD at Ten Percent Legal Recruitment.
International lawyers looking for work in the UK – can Ten Percent Legal help?
Reading Time: 2 minutesCan we help international lawyers? An article by Ten Percent Legal Recruitment.
Should I tell a potential employer why I am leaving my current employer?
Reading Time: 2 minutesShould I tell a potential employer why I am leaving my current employer?
In most cases, the answer to this is no, absolutely not. This is because the overwhelming number of people leaving employers is due to either a personality clash, a perception that they are poorly paid and can get better money elsewhere. or unpleasant working conditions.
Why do we not put specific locations on our job postings?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhy do we not put locations on job postings? Article by Ten Percent Legal Recruitment, specialists for permanent and locum solicitor jobs.
in Careers Advice, Changing Jobs, Job Applications, Training Contracts, Pupillage and Work Experience
Returning to law, changing fields of law or starting out in law – what do I need to do?
Reading Time: 4 minutesReturning to law, changing fields of law or starting out in law – what do I need to do? Get work experience. Article by Ten Percent Legal.
Is Age a Factor on My CV?
Reading Time: 3 minutesArticle outlining experience of age discrimination from a legal recruitment perspective. Jonathan Fagan of Ten Percent Legal Recruitment.
Contract Manager or Legal Counsel – Tailoring Job Applications
Reading Time: 3 minutesHow to frame a commercial contracts manager job title when the work is as in-house legal counsel dealing with commercial contracts.
Locums Covering More Than One Field of Law
Reading Time: 3 minutesWe often get partners of law firms contacting us to request details of locums who are able to do conveyancing and wills and probate, residential and commercial conveyancing and many more besides. Is it feasible?
Help – I Can’t Get a Training Contract – What Am I Doing Wrong?
Reading Time: 5 minutesHelp to get a training contract – advice from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment, specialists for the legal profession since 2000.
Can I apply for jobs without a CV?
Reading Time: 2 minutesThis is often a question asked by fairly elderly or semi-retired solicitors who approach our legal recruitment consultancy Ten Percent Legal Recruitment. They have probably worked in the same job for the last 30 years and know just about everything there is to know about the work they do. This is invariably conveyancing or family…
Negotiating for the sake of negotiating – the risks of haggling on salary during the job offer process
Reading Time: 3 minutesA couple of job offers recently have ended up in a stalemate situation between the employers and the employees. The employees have asked for a higher salary and the employers have taken umbrage at the fact the employees have asked the question. Here are our top 10 pieces of advice when considering negotiating on salary…
What do my South African qualifications count for in the UK? I am a South African qualified lawyer.
Reading Time: 2 minutesIf you are a South African qualified lawyer who has decided to come to the UK to experience our high quality weather, our stable political system and our well functioning courts, congratulations! You may have spent 20 years practising in a good quality South African law firm undertaking high quality legal cases and you may…
Why do I never get offered job interviews – Top Tips for getting a job application noticed
Reading Time: 3 minutesEvery week we get lots of permanent vacancies and locum assignments from solicitors’ firms and in house legal departments. They’re often looking for a specific type of solicitor, with sufficient experience to do a specific job. Lets take a recent example. A firm in the South East of England are looking as follows: Permanent, Full…
We want to recruit a paralegal and he’s got to be male
Reading Time: 2 minutesWe took a call yesterday from a solicitors firm somewhere in England and Wales, and the conversation went as follows: “Hello I wonder if you can help, we’re looking for a family paralegal.” “Yes sure, can you give me a bit more information please?” “Yes, we would like a paralegal who’s able to assist with…
Restrictive Covenants – do they put employees off?
Reading Time: 2 minutesWe have recently introduced a candidate to an employer where a restrictive covenant was used which must surely fall foul of rather a lot of employment regulations! The role is a fairly junior fee earner position and not senior management or director level. The restrictive covenant was actually called a “non-compete clause” and included the…
in Careers Advice, Changing Jobs, Job Applications, Legal Profession, Newly Qualified Solicitors, Staying in Your Job
Should I leave when I qualify? The dilemna for Newly Qualified – 1 year PQE Solicitors
Reading Time: 4 minutesShould I Stay or Should I Go? In April every year we are regularly contacted by newly qualified and 1 year PQE (post-qualification experience) solicitors who ask the following questions: 1. Should I stay with my training law firm for at least 2 years when I qualify? 2. How much should I get paid? 3.…
Personal Statements on CVs – Top Quality Examples?
Reading Time: 3 minutesTop Quality Summary Sections/Personal Statements on CVs The summary at the top of a CV is one of the key areas of a CV that so often gets ignored by candidates or filled with meaningless waffle. A good number of CVs we see every day actually miss them off completely, which is an opportunity missed…
Using Logos and Images on CVs – a good idea?
Reading Time: 2 minutesUsing Logos and Images on CVs Recently we have seen a spate of CVs containing logos and images for employers worked for in the past. Fresh, Bright CVs The CVs look very fresh and bright, and the logos really make them stand out. Surely a win-win situation for everyone? You get your CV to stand…
In House Legal – is the grass greener on the other side?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteFor our full advice on in house legal jobs and moving in house from private practice (and vice versa) please visit our In House page by clicking https://ten-percent.co.uk/in-house-lawyers/ The advice sheet includes the following: How easy is it to move from a solicitors’ firm to an in house legal department? Can anyone do it? Is…
in Careers Advice, Job Applications, Legal Profession, Training Contracts, Pupillage and Work Experience
Human Rights Lawyers – do they exist?
Reading Time: 6 minutesWhen I grow up I want to be a human rights lawyer (and marry George Clooney) We’ve been meaning to write this article for ages and I was only jogged into action by a long train journey and a recent spate of enquiries! So many teenagers and young adults have the idea that they want…
Matching Current Salary with a Job Offer – a good idea?
Reading Time: 2 minutesMaking a Job Offer and matching current salary – a good idea? A candidate looks to make a move and we send them over details of vacancies. The candidate applies for a vacancy and we send a CV across to a firm, indicating current salary levels. We go through the recruitment process – interview, discussions,…
General Practice Solicitors – do they exist?
Reading Time: 2 minutesDo General Practice Solicitors still exist? At one time general practice solicitors (ie a solicitor who is able to work in a number of different areas of law) were scorned and firms avoided recruiting them. Times have changed and they are back in demand. So do they still exist? Yes, in a nutshell, but they…
CVs – have Linked In and video CVs made paper and digital CVs obsolete?
Reading Time: 2 minutesAre CVs obsolete thanks to the Internet? We recently attended a recruitment agency trade fair where numerous salesmen attempted to flog us video CVs and online pre-interview software and a number of speakers told us that CVs were no longer necessary. In the digital world it is so easy to find out about someone –…
Locum Dilemna – Firm have cancelled an assignment at short notice – what do I do?
Reading Time: 2 minutesLocum Dilemna – what do I do if a firm cancels an assignment at short notice? For a full detailed list of FAQs on locums and a guide on how to be an successful locum please visit www.interimlawyers.co.uk “Hi Jonathan. I was booked back in February for a conveyancing role to last for a week…
I’ve had a Training Contract offer from a small High Street Law Firm – should I take it?
Reading Time: 4 minutesWe had a request in for legal careers advice from an LPC graduate who has been offered a training contract in a smaller sized law firm somewhere in the UK who do a lot of family law (plus other areas). His questions are as follows: I am unsure whether to take the training contract or…