Career Center Tip of the Day: Evaluating the Counteroffer — Should You Stay or Should You Go? (Part 2)

In the first part of our Career Center “Tip of the Day” series, focused on how to evaluate a counteroffer, we covered the importance of re-evaluating your current employment situation to remind yourself of the reasons why you began your job search in the first place. Today we’ll discuss how to assess what the new firm is offering you, and how to determine whether it addresses the issues with or shortcomings of your current firm.

More on tip #2….

After you evaluate the shortcomings of your current firm, you will have better points of comparison. For many attorneys, getting the first Biglaw job was a new and stressful experience. From the outside looking in, most law firms looked the same — the attorneys at each firm had similar credentials, each firm had nice offices in prime locations, and the websites at each firm had the exact same spiel about employment opportunities and firm prestige. Throughout law school, you probably heard random stories and opinions from fellow classmates about law firms, but you still had difficulty differentiating between firms. Now that you are a few years into your practice, you know more about each firm — and, more importantly, which firms to avoid. Additionally, you have actual experience in a law firm and know what features are important to you.

Once you are aware of these points, you know what aspects of a job to look for and what questions to ask. If you never want to have a child, you probably don’t care about the firm’s parental leave policy. If you are a transactional attorney, you probably won’t care about the firm’s great litigation training program. On the other hand, if you drive to work, you probably want to know about the firm’s parking policy, and if you are pressed for time outside of the office, you will probably appreciate the firm’s concierge services.

In addition to these perks, also look at some of the unique opportunities the new firm is offering. For example, if you are a litigator and your current firm is not giving you real litigation experience, the new firm may be giving you a better offer by immediately making you second chair at trials. Or if you are worried about partnership chances and you are always stuck behind the scenes at your current firm, is getting immediate client contact at the new firm a better offer?

You probably already considered all of these attributes before you even interviewed at the new firm, so this exercise might be just a review for you. Regardless, it is important to remember all of the problem areas at your current firm and see how the new firm stacks up.

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These tips are provided by the experienced recruiters at Lateral Link. In addition to providing you with sound career advice, they can assist you with a lateral move to one of hundreds of law firms or in-house positions they have in their network.

Earlier: Career Center Tip of the Day: Evaluating the Counteroffer — Should You Stay or Should You Go? (Part 1)

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