Scott Hodes
Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. Scott Hodes is a Principal and Executive Committee member at Lateral Link, where he oversees attorney placements and client services in Southeast markets, including but not limited to Florida, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Nashville. Scott focuses on placing associate and partner candidates with national, mid-sized and boutique law firms, and also works with candidates seeking in-house positions. Scott began his legal career as a corporate litigator for a full service firm in Boca Raton, Florida. Scott subsequently began practicing estate planning and prior to joining Lateral Link, Scott was a name partner in a tax and estate planning firm in Boca Raton, Florida. Scott holds a B.A. in Criminology, cum laude, from the University of Florida, a J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and an LL.M. in estate planning from the University of Miami.
It’s the 4th quarter… The game is tied… There are two minutes left on the clock… You have the ball in your hands… You look at your coach on the sidelines…
“What should I do?”
Do you try to score the game-winning touchdown? Or do you simply “take a knee,” let the clock run out, and put your fate in the hands of overtime?
This is the question that many attorneys face, so to speak, at this critical time of year when considering a lateral move. Sure, it would be easy to “take a knee and let the clock run out,” or put another way, to coast into the new year, use the holidays as an excuse for complacency, and say, “I’ll stay put and just start looking for a new job after new year.”
And of course, we all know the reasons: There is just too much going on right now to focus on making a move. Firms are not going to want to interview or hire me now because they have more pressing matters as they close out their year. I have plenty of time because everyone is waiting out the year. And my personal favorite, I want to wait until I receive my bonus.
All of the above are valid and very understandable reasons to put your job search on hold and resume after the ball drops on Times Square. However, there are several reasons why this approach could be costly, and why focusing on a potential move during this busy time of year can work in your favor.
- You are never too busy to invest in your future, and we are here to help – While this time of year can be tremendously stressful, with work, holidays, and especially the dreaded in-laws coming to town, your job search does not have to be particularly stressful or time-consuming. Consult with a knowledgeable legal recruiter who can navigate the process for you by identifying opportunities, introducing you to the firm, organizing interviews, and streamlining the entire process by working with both sides effectively and efficiently to ensure that your other obligations to work and family are not disrupted.
- Catch the rain while it’s falling – The simple fact is that this is a very busy time of year for recruiting and lateral movement. Although you might not actually start a new job until after January 1, this is the time when attorneys and firms alike are positioning themselves for 2017. It is a well-known adage in recruiting that you recruit in Q4 for lateral moves in Q1. That is to say, do not wait until it is too late, and in this case, “too late” means waiting until after Ryan Seacrest rings in the new year and gives you the green light to start looking around.
By that time, not only will many firms have identified candidates for their openings, but the lateral attorney market runs a risk of being oversaturated by like-minded individuals who “ran the clock out” and waited too long to focus on the next stage of their career.
- Many others are NOT doing it, so you should – This one is intuitive, and on some level a simple matter of supply and demand. What better time to get ahead and stand out from the crowd? When nobody else is doing it!! Firms have needs, and those needs must be filled. True, firms are very busy with year-end matters, but one of those matters is making sure they are fully staffed and prepared to replace any early year departures and avoid any lapse at the start of the year. As mentioned above, most of your colleagues are taking the wait-and-see approach, so you have the opportunity be different. Quite simply, there is less competition during this time. This is the time to be proactive, not reactive, and let firms know that you are ready, willing, and able, and they need not wait until the masses come knocking on the door during the second and third month of the year.
- You may not lose as much of that bonus as you think – This is perhaps the most common reason that attorneys wait until after the new year to make a lateral move. The year-end bonus! This is also the most understandable reason. You worked hard all year, reached and indeed exceeded your billable hours requirement, and it is time for your firm to “Show you the Money!” Who among us would walk away from that kind of money, which in some cases can reach six figures? Only the foolish among us, right? Well, hold the phone. There are two reasons why a move at this time of year may not be as devastating as you think.
One is strictly financial: Firms are well aware of this phenomenon, and more and more firms are warming to the idea of a sign-on bonus that can either make you whole or close to it, thus softening the blow of leaving your current job before you receive your year-end bonus.
Reason two is more philosophical, with a financial tie-in as well: You have already decided you are ready to move on, but you are sticking around to get some money in the bank, and rightfully so. However, what if that extra time, which sometimes can go well into the new year, just cost you that dream job or a chance to move to a firm that might actually result in a better financial situation in the not-too-distant future? While it is tricky to reconcile, it is very important to balance the benefit of receiving the bonus, which you rightfully deserve, with the notion of being penny wise and pound foolish when a great opportunity could be awaiting you.
So, this holiday season, I offer you some free advice. Look your coach in the eye and tell him you are going to stand up, play out those final two minutes with all of your heart, and let the other teams take a knee and put their fate in the hands of overtime. Make your own path and strike while the iron is hot.
Call your recruiter (or answer their calls!) and listen to what they have to say. Their advice and assistance may just put you in a better position in the next couple of weeks, so you can rest easily and wait for the ball to drop on Times Square, champagne in hand, toasting an exciting new road ahead in 2017!
Lateral Link is one of the top-rated international legal recruiting firms. With over 14 offices world-wide, Lateral Link specializes in placing attorneys at the most prestigious law firms and companies in the world. Managed by former practicing attorneys from top law schools, Lateral Link has a tradition of hiring lawyers to execute the lateral leaps of practicing attorneys. Click ::here:: to find out more about us.