Whether you’re actively looking for a job or just testing the job market waters, the rewards of a new job are often thwarted by the formidable task of job searching. To make the process easier, consider working with a legal recruiter like Momentum. When working with Momentum, you’ll be offered opportunities that match your experience and interest.
Legal Search firms are retained by law firms and corporations to assist them in hiring lawyers and other legal professionals to fill their open positions. This is their primary role and function, not finding jobs for people — they find people for jobs. The exception in this scenario is when a lawyer or legal professional has a niche practice area or portable book of business. If you are one of these types of lawyers, an experienced recruiter is a way to get your resume confidentially marketed to a discreet limited number of potential employers that would be particularly good fits for your practice.
Here are additional reasons why others should use a headhunter for their job search.
Access to More Job Opportunities
Some companies only post available jobs on their websites. Some use job boards. Others rely entirely on third-party sourcing agencies – i.e. legal recruiting firms such as Momentum – to find candidates. It’s possible you’re missing out on opportunities by relying exclusively on job-search websites.
Recruiters can direct you towards openings that are difficult to find. They can give you access to positions that are confidentially advertised or haven’t been posted on the internet yet. With multiple options to apply to, you have a much better chance of receiving the job offer you want.
An experienced legal recruiter who’s experienced and engaged in a market with relationships with hiring managers will often hear about jobs that never “hit the streets.” These jobs are kept on the down low for a number of reasons. Maybe a person is being terminated. Or maybe a new practice group is joining the firm and are unable to bring support staff with them from their prior law firm.
Legal Recruiters can Save You Time
In lieu of perusing countless job boards and websites, contact a recruiter that specializes in your industry to keep your job search focused. For attorneys, paralegals and other legal professionals, this person is a legal headhunter.
Job Boards are often black holes because of an applicant tracking system (ATS) that doesn’t recognize that you’re the perfect candidate and puts you in the “B stack”. A recruiter can offer the additional information to a hiring manager that hopefully puts you in the “A stack”.
Network on a Larger Scale
Consider your existing job-search connections — past employers, former & current colleagues, friends, and family. Even if that group is large, it does not match the number that a firm like Momentum can reach.
Recruiters spend a lot of time creating connections through databases, phone calls, and in-person networking. By using a recruiter during your job search, your network grows exponentially. Take advantage of a recruiter’s connections to get the most out of your job-seeking efforts.
Legal Recruiters Help You through the Process
Often getting your foot in the door of your dream job at a particular law firm or corporation can be the toughest part. A good recruiter will guide you through the lengthy process of polishing your resume, coaching you through interviews, helping you choose the best references, offer negotiations, and other aspects of the process.
A recruiter with a good relationship with the employer can offer tips and information that include the inside scoop on the law firm or company’s culture, the type of candidate that’s been successful there and other details that the average Joe doesn’t know.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is key to the success of a legal recruiter. Legal communities can be very small, even within a major metropolitan area. If a lawyer has practiced for any length of time within the same practice and same city and they’re looking for a job in that town, chances are they will know some of the lawyers with that firm or know someone that does.
Managing and keeping the process contained until mutual interest is established is important. This entails the recruiter sending a resume to the managing partner, hiring partner/ manager, firm administrator, or human resources. They typically will communicate with the legal headhunter if they plan to send the resume to a practice group head or other decision maker. There will be no “I went to law school with a lawyer at his current firm, let me give him a call”.
If the firm is interested in speaking with this lawyer, the recruiter will facilitate this first and often subsequent meetings.
Insight Into Openings
Like most markets, the legal field has numerous intricacies, and it’s often difficult for candidates to understand exactly what’s available and what potential employers actually want. Working with a recruiter to find a job helps you understand those intricacies. Successful recruiters base their careers on long-term relationships with firms and on understanding their needs, wants, and preferred procedures. By partnering with a recruiter, you gain years of knowledge within weeks or months.
Shared Investment in Your Employment
Another advantage of working with a recruiter that candidates may overlook is that recruiters have a shared investment in you securing a new position. Most legal job seekers understand that reputable recruiters only get paid once a hire is finalized, but another motivation for recruiters is that they improve their reputations by ensuring that well-qualified applicants find jobs at the best available firms.
No Financial Burden on Your Part
Candidates do not pay for the services that the legal recruiter provides – the potential employer does. Reputable search firms only work under written placement agreements that have been executed by both parties. When a potential employer engages a recruiter, they have already budgeted and planned for the placement fee, so your “having a fee attached to you” is not a deterrent to your being chosen.
You Remain on the Recruiter’s Radar
Candidates that aren’t selected for a particular job are often told by the headhunter that “we’ll keep you in our database for future opportunities”, and this is very true – they really do! At Momentum, our extensive database is the first place we look when we receive a new search. We can search based on a wide variety of criteria and the notes provided by our recruiters are often invaluable in determining a possible match. As one example only, maybe a lawyer is located in a different State but is from Texas and still has ties here. This may not be apparent on the face of a resume, but our database allows us to search by this type of criteria.
You’ll remain in the recruiter’s database, even if you aren’t hired for the first potential match. Your resume isn’t thrown out if an offer doesn’t work out immediately. Instead, you’re left on the recruiter’s radar for future positions.
Should you work with a recruiter? We hope that this list of benefits has convinced you that legal recruiters provide excellent value, To be successful with your job search, consider experienced recruiters like the team at Momentum. Engaging a legal search firm doesn’t prohibit you from exploring other resources on your own. It does absolutely enhance your chances for landing the perfect job.