Firstly, congratulations! After all those years of hard work to become a top tier lawyer, the end is finally in sight. However, with such intense competition among trainees, the realisation may begin to dawn that securing a role in your preferred practice area is by no means guaranteed.
So, what’s your next move?
Apply to firms
You must apply to other firms to get the practice you want as a trainee. There are several reasons why. Firstly, your preferred practice area may be heavily oversubscribed – or perhaps there aren't any open roles. You may also find that your select practice area is your 4th seat, and you are at a disadvantage to those who came before you. On a more positive note, an excellent reason to apply to another firm is that they offer a much higher salary and/or have better quality work. Most importantly, having a backup option is never a bad idea.
In all of these circumstances, to compete for external NQ opportunities, you must use the services of a recruitment consultant.
Find a good recruiter
The NQ recruitment market is notoriously tricky to navigate for a trainee. You will be hammered with messages from recruiters vying for your implied business. Recruiters often lie to lawyers about where there are jobs, and lawyers lie to recruiters about what they really want to hedge their bets. As a result, CVs are flying around the City, clogging up the inboxes of Partners and recruitment teams, and it can all feel like the lawless Wild West.
A good recruiter will tell you all you need to know about which firms are recruiting and how to get the best from their services. Ultimately, the service a recruiter provides to a lawyer is entirely free – we get paid by the firm. In stark contrast to a typical commercial arrangement, it is really you -the lawyer, who gets the client treatment. We will only get paid for our work if we deliver a high level and successful service to our candidates in the months leading up to interviews, and then you subsequently accept an offer.
It is easy to assume that what is in a recruiter’s best interest – getting lawyers a job, is in line with the lawyer’s best interest – getting a job. However, this is not entirely true. The methods by which a recruiter can maximise their success through making the most placements can sometimes be at odds with the service a lawyer needs.
Top Tip: Remember, your CV is a precious commodity, don't let a recruiter send your CV too soon and make sure they ask for your permission before sending it to a firm. If a recruiter pushes you to send out your CV to a lot of firms very quickly - this is a red flag.
In an effort to deliver a high level of service to both our clients and candidates and build trusting relationships, our team at Sonder Consultants will always start our initial conversations with lawyers by explaining how our game actually works. We know from previous experience that trainee lawyers find this information invaluable in their search for an NQ role and for their career as a lawyer for the years to come. Overall, the trainee simply has to decide which recruiter to partner with.
Set your sights high. There is tremendous opportunity out there for an ambitious trainee who wants to start their qualified career at the truly elite level.
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