The Legal Recruitment Resources Page from www.lawyer-recruitment.co.uk and www.ten-percent.co.uk

Last Updated: 31st October 2007

Welcome to the legal job and recruitment resources page from the Ten-Percent group of legal recruitment websites. We are including all our articles and information on recruitment for lawyers, law firms and entrants to the legal profession in one place. We hope it is a useful and valued resource to all who use it.

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Articles relating to Solicitors and Executives looking for legal jobs in the UK:

References

The decision to give references is sometimes more complicated than you may think.

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 have arisen fairly recently that may be worth bearing in mind.

1. A firm requested a reference from a former employer after first interview, with a view to offering our candidate a post. The candidate explained that she had left her employer under a cloud, with a tribunal case pending. As a result she did not think her former employer would give her a particularly good reference! She gave details of a former senior colleague who had also moved on. This former colleague was with another firm now, and details were passed on. Unfortunately the candidate had not checked what her reference was currently doing, as when the interviewing firm called, they discovered the reference had left a few days earlier!

Tip: Always check the status of your referees before giving their details. Do they have sufficient information about you to write a good recommendation, and are they still in the same place? Confirm mobile numbers and email addresses to ensure contact can be made, and avoid the situation where the firm becomes suspicious.

2. A firm interviewed a solicitor, informed him that they wanted to make an offer and were very keen. However, before doing this, they asked to speak to his references, including his present employer. The candidate refused, understandably, with the old adage of burning bridges springing to mind! The firm could not understand the fuss, despite our advice to make the offer first.

Tip: This is advice for firms. A reference should only be taken up once an offer has been made. Firstly asking for one before making an offer antagonises candidates who wonder whether they have applied for a qualified lawyer post or a training contract. Secondly anyone on their right mind would automatically refuse to allow their current employer to be contacted if an offer has not been made or accepted yet. It is not going to affect the firm too much to make an offer, have it formally accepted, but subject it to acceptable references. This means that the firm can still back out of the contract at any time with no effect, as the candidate can be asked to leave if the reference turns out to be negative.

A lot of firms these days do not bother with references. They prefer to go on instinct, which can be used during a probationary period to determine whether a solicitor or legal executive is going to be good for the firm. Even when using legal recruitment consultants, this should not change. By using the advice of a reference to decide the fate of an employee you are dependent on the views of a third party, who may be biased towards the candidate through friendship, comradeship, bribery (!) or loyalty, or against the candidate for whatever reason.

Advice to Employees

Our advice to employees in respect of references is to see if you can obtain two in writing from solicitors currently in practice before looking for a new legal job. If you have them available prior to interview your recruitment consultant can pass them onto the firm so they have them in place. This means that you do not then need to wait post-interview or after you start a new position for the firm to confirm that they are satisfactory.

Advice to Employers

We think that references are not the be-all and end-all that firms seem to think they are. In our experience references have not assisted in determining whether a candidate is fit for the post or not. Candidates with glowing references have walked out of positions within a short period of time, or been dismissed by their firms for incompetence before their 3 month probationary periods has ended. Similarly candidates with no reference or one that is not contacted have stayed with firms, received promotion and everyone has lived happily ever after!

We suggest going on instinct. If in doubt about a candidate’s ability to undertake work, why not ask them to run through a case or file with you during second interview? If they are a conveyancing solicitor, ask them to run through the procedure they would take on a file.

Job Offers - Working for a nice firm or taking the money

A 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 most preferable for the candidate, as it was slightly further away than initally sought. The salary offered was good.

The other firm were business like, with the whole operation geared towards running a company - one head, the rest assistants, and all aspects of the company aimed at making money. New premises, advertising and marketing budgets, case management systems, larger size, and able to compete longer term.

Which one to go for?

The advice we gave him is the same to all candidates. Firstly get a pen & paper and write down the good points about each firm. Think of the location, the people, the offices, the position, the career opportunities, the financial package and overall impression. After this write down the negative points about each firm. Follow the same format.

After you have written a plan for each, add up their scores, allowing a point for each positive issue, and deduct a point for each negative one. There follows a plan written for a candidate in the North West:

A solicitor relocating to part of the UK due to her partner's work was looking for a firm offering a reasonable salary, easy access to her son's school, and a fairly short commute of less than 1 hour. A crime solicitor, she was moving to a semi-rural area. We managed to secure her two offers. The first was with a firm based 45 mins away, with a national reputation, good quality work of variety and interest, an offer of support and further training as required, full computerised case management systems, medium size firm, job security, benefits as well as salary, career opportunities and progression encouraged. Salary slightly higher than the second firm. The second offer was within 15 mins drive with a sole practitioner based in poor quality offices in a run down & deprived area. The firm had no systems (computer or case management), very little administrative support, no career opportunities discussed and a salary offered lower than the first firm. The interview lasted for 1 hour with no offer of a drink, but a full and frank apology for the state of the offices. The partner had a good sense of humour and was pleasant, being described by the candidate as "quirky".

Firm 1

Firm 2

The candidate in this scenario opted for Firm 2, which would have scored higher anyway, despite Firm 1 having better prospects for her career.

Recruitment Consultants - a critique!

'Recruitment consultants view candidates as a means to an end'.

Recruitment consultants should not:

- Put candidates forward for inappropriate jobs

- Feign to have more contacts and opportunities than they actually do have;

- Fail to keep a candidate fully informed about the success or otherwise of an interview on a timely basis;

- Fail to secure adequate feedback from an employer (i.e., feedback from which lessons can be learned to improve the chances of future success);

- Pretend that they know more about an industry and its disciplines than they actually do;

- Pretend that they are “in a meeting” or “away from their desk” when a concerned candidate phones through for an update or guidance;

- Advertise jobs which do not exist to “reel” candidates in;

- Urge candidates to retain their services exclusively on the basis that employers get annoyed when they receive the same CV (resume) more than once;

- Fail to request a candidate’s permission before they send through a CV;

- Refuse to accept a candidate’s first response if they are not interested in an opportunity;

- Cold call candidates at their place of work – especially if they know that a candidate has only recently accepted an appointment;

- Use candidates to gain inside information of an organisation’s personnel.

Of course, this list is not exhaustive. But we believe that it fairly represents some of the chief complaints that candidates justifiably have of recruitment consultants.