Michael Allen
Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. Michael Allen is Managing Principal at Lateral Link, focusing exclusively on partner placements with Am Law 200 clients and placements for in-house attorneys.
With all the job resources available to attorneys these days, some question the value of using a recruiter. With access to a myriad of job boards and public postings, why should you use a recruiter rather than submitting yourself?
The answer is, it depends on the recruiter. A recruiter’s value depends on the strength of the recruiter and the relationships the recruiter has with potential employers. There are few barriers to entry in the legal recruiting market, so if you don’t first vet the recruiter, you may just be better off doing it yourself.
A good recruiter will bring to the table:
1. Inside Information. They will be familiar with the firms in the market and will share the inside “scoop” – good or bad – so that the attorney can make an informed decision.
2. Unposted Confidential Jobs. A good recruiter should be aware of job openings not widely known in the market place, in addition to those that are public. Firms will often open searches only to select recruiters, because they prefer to rely on a trusted recruiting firm to find them an attorney that fits their specific needs rather than being inundated with résumés from unqualified candidates.
The number of moves by associates in the first quarter illustrates the pervasiveness of unpublished openings. A total of 1341 associates lateraled between Am Law 200 firms during the first quarter, but a public job database listed only 455 jobs for the relevant period. At the same time, Lateral Link’s database included more than 1,700 jobs for Am Law 200 firms, because we are often asked to conduct exclusive and confidential searches. Without this insider knowledge, your best hope is that a self-submitted inquiry happens to align with the firm’s needs.
3. Support. Some attorneys believe they have a contact who can champion their cause at a desired employer. However, that contact is less likely to provide the “back story” for a move, follow up with firm recruiters as necessary, help prepare for interviews, manage the recruiting process, or negotiate an offer.
4. Relationships. Firms receive résumés directly from candidates as well as from recruiters who aren’t known to them – yours might be at the bottom of the stack. Well-established recruiters can leverage their relationships with Recruiting Managers to make sure the candidate’s résumé gets seen.
Without real market intelligence, a lateral search can only answer whether an attorney fits the criteria listed on a vague job description, which may not be perfectly aligned with the firm’s requirements.
Because of our credibility and experiences with the decision makers, we have real-time and authentic understanding of opportunities. You can’t get this intelligence from reading law firm guides.
As intermediaries, recruiters match firms and attorneys by leveraging this uniquely symmetrical and confidential information from both sides – while honoring “privilege” – to pair attorneys and firms together. This arrangement is why recruiters won’t become obsolete anytime soon.
As a recruiting firm, we pride ourselves on our relationships with firms, in-house legal departments, and lawyers. In fact, our team just departed NALP’s (National Association For Law Placement) 2016 Education Conference in Boston. We also hosted a party Thursday night with our recruiters and close friends from law firms. See if you can spot your Recruiting Manager enjoying the party. Don’t trust your career to just anyone. Do your homework.
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.