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Looking for a new role can sometimes be an exhausting and time-consuming exercise, especially when you’re already in a full time and busy role. When working with a recruiter, to help them do the best job for you, take a bit of time at the start of a process to do the following and you’ll get much more out of it:
Update your CV - this is also a useful exercise to get you thinking about any particular projects or matters you’ve been involved in so that you can really understand what skills/experience you’d have to bring into the next role you go into. Consider your CV as a summary of your professional brand. If you’re unsure about the structure, format or layout of your CV, send a draft to an industry specialist recruiter who will be able to give you advice on any changes you could make to the structure of your CV before it goes out.
Get advice from an industry recruiter on how your background will be received in the market and to get a feel for the type of options available to you. If you’re not actively pursuing a new role, this can still be useful, as a recruiter can keep you in mind for roles of interest, as they come up. Timing can sometimes be key in a job search and, if you’re busy, we can alert you on roles so that you don’t miss out.
Communicate your availability: Let your recruiter know if you have any upcoming holidays where you’ll be harder to contact or unable to interview. Also let them know your notice period and how you’re placed in the next few weeks to meet any potential employers for an interview. That way, if you do get an interview, a recruiter can work that into your schedule.
Identify 2-3 aspects in a role that will be most important to you when you make a change. You may be looking to move into a larger team or do a different mix of work or you may be looking for a better work/life balance - by allowing a recruiter to understand your push and pull factors, it will help us focus your search and bring relevant roles to your attention. If you’re looking at a change in role purely for salary reasons, this is not usually a good reason for a move unless you have already spoken to your current employer and they are not able to raise the salary to what you require.
Be realistic about your goals and expectations: Within the legal context, academic transcripts, the firm/organisation you’ve worked, the work you’ve done and the level of experience you have will all impact on the options that are realistically available to you. It also impacts on the salary that’s achievable. For example, if you have 2 years’ legal experience in a general practice law firm with a C+ average in grades then moving to a medium sized commercial law team is potentially achievable whereas a top tier is unlikely to be. To avoid a lot of time wastage and disappointment, it’s important to get some objective advice on what your realistic options are.
Job hunting can be full of uncertainty. But with us, you can be sure that we’ll do everything we can to get you to your ideal job. Send your CV to us to get started or search for the latest job vacancies and we’ll get the ball rolling.