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Looking for a job? Benefits of Hiring a Legal Recruiter

June 23, 2021

Whether you’re actively looking for a job or just testing the job market waters, the excitement of a new career is 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 experience. One of those practices that typically has a shallow candidate pool could be someone an experienced recruiter could discuss confidentially marketing to a handful of clients.

Here’s why you should use a recruiter for your job search.

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 recruiter.

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”.

You’re heard, you need to treat a job search like a full-time job? What if you already have a full-time job? Often, you’ll have other obligations in life that keep you from job seeking.

Network on a Larger Scale

Think of your current 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 making connections through databases, phone calls, and face-to-face 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 this process of polishing your resume, coaching you through interviews, references, offer negotiations and others.

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 recruiter 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.

Access to More Job Opportunities

Some companies only post available jobs on their websites. Some use job boards. Others strictly rely on third-party sourcing agencies to find candidates. You could be missing out on opportunities by only relying on job-search websites.

Recruiters can point you towards openings that are hard to find. They can give you access to jobs that are confidentially advertised or not yet posted on the internet. With more options to apply to, you have a better chance of receiving the job offer you want.

An experienced legal recruiter whose 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.

You Remain on the Recruiter’s Radar

Although candidates that aren’t selected for a particular job believe “we’ll keep you in our database for future opportunities” as the kiss of death, it’s actually the opposite. 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. Maybe a lawyer went to law school on the West Coast, but undergrad in Houston (where the job is located). Maybe they still have ties to the Houston, family nearby or just a familiar place where they’d consider returning to.

Even if you aren’t hired for the first potential match, you stay in the recruiter’s database. Your resume isn’t tossed if an offer doesn’t pan out immediately. Instead, you’re kept on the recruiter’s radar for future positions.

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.

Categories: Career Goals

Jane Pollard

About Jane Pollard

Principal

A founding member of Momentum Search Partners, Jane manages all aspects of its operations, many of its client relationships, and also works a recruiting desk. She has successfully completed attorney searches ranging from executive-level general counsels and chief compliance officers to AGCs and compliance analysts for both for public and private companies, and has also placed attorneys at law firms. Jane obtained her JD with honors from the University of Texas and, prior to recruiting, was a commercial litigator in private practice with a large law firm and a CPA. She lives in Austin with her husband, who is also a lawyer, and spends her free time cycling and playing racquet sports. For questions, comments, or suggestions related to our blog, you can contact us via our website or visit Jane on LinkedIn.

Jennifer Nelson

About Jennifer Nelson

Principal

As a founding member of Momentum Search Partners, Jennifer has developed longstanding and invaluable relationships with both corporate in-house legal departments and law firms across the state of Texas. She handles complex searches that require deep industry knowledge and focuses on identifying high-caliber attorneys and compliance professionals. A native Texan and third generation Longhorn, Jennifer has two sons who followed her at The University of Texas. Jennifer lives in Austin with her husband a longstanding oil & gas attorney, and values her family, friends and faith. For questions, comments, or suggestions related to our blog, you can contact us via our website or visit Jennifer on LinkedIn.

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