Lawyers are often looking for new opportunities to springboard their legal careers. Sometimes these opportunities can be found by looking for jobs on popular job boards. But we think the best course of action is to approach a legal recruiter.
Law firms simply do not have the time or capacity to advertise all the openings in their firm. It takes valuable human resources to assess CVs, and spend time on administrative tasks involved in recruiting. We also find that law firms make a strategic decision to not let the market know that they are actively hiring.
This is when law firms turn to a recruiter
Law firms contact legal recruiters with their specific need of talent. After receiving instructions from the law firms, the recruiters then first contact suitable applicants in their existing network. This is done before making contact with those outside of their network. Therefore, you need to be in your recruiter’s network if you want to be updated on any new opportunities and changes in a rapidly moving marketplace.
However, it is also essential that you do not reach out to numerous recruiters. Being on multiple recruiters’ networks means you will be diluting your personal brand and reputation in the market. Furthermore, keeping track of who is representing you to which firm isn’t easy.
Here are ur top 5 tips on finding your dream legal role:
1. Do your homework.
Research on the recruitment agency and the recruiter. Ask the recruiter about their experience and knowledge of the market. This will help you to decide whether the recruiter is right for you. Ask them about the firms they work with. Discuss how they approach their contacts and select the right people for the right firms.
2. Get on your selected recruiters’ network.
Once you have decided which recruiter you want to work with – contact them! Recruiters love you to visit them, call them, email them or flick them a Linkedin message. They will get back to you and set a time to meet with you. That one meeting can take your career to new heights and land you your dream job.
3. Be candid with your recruiter.
Be transparent about your career aspirations and goals. The more a recruiter can understand you, it will assist them to land you your perfect role. Do not just limit your conversation on salaries, talk about workplace culture, your preferred management style, career progression, flexibility, and the type of people you want to work with.
4. Exclusively work with only one recruitment agency.
This tip cannot be emphasised enough! Being in multiple recruiters’ networks does not mean that you will have access to multiple job opportunities. Good recruiters want you to be exclusive with them so that they can focus all their time and energy to land you that perfect role. Also, it will save you a considerable amount of time in having to speak with multiple recruiters.
Also, if you do not go exclusive, you put yourself at risk of being put forward by multiple agencies to the same firms – not a great look for all concerned. Being represented by multiple recruitment agencies just comes across as unprofessional and in our experience employers are often not interested in these candidates. Employers perceive this as being disorganised and too eager to move.
5. Keep in contact.
Having secured your dream legal role, there is nothing that makes a recruiter happier than to hear back from their candidates on how they are progressing.
So if you are a solicitor or a barrister looking for your next legal opportunity, please contact the Tyler Wren Legal Recruitment Team.
We currently have a wide range of firms NZ wide that are looking to hire Solicitors, Senior Solicitors, Barristers, Associates, Senior Associates, and Litigators in Commercial, Property, General Practice, Family, Litigation, and In-house Legal Counsel roles. Please contact us. Feel free to check out our Job Search, you may just spot your dream job.