Is the market improving? And when is a good time to speak with a recruiter?

The market is very slowly improving. When we start receiving job orders from law firms for associates in certain practice areas we generally take that as a good sign. These practice areas include corporate, trademark, and tax. We first see the changes in the East Coast, and then it spreads throughout the country’s major markets. 2010 will be better than 2009 but not as good as 2008. If you are thinking of moving to a new firm, my recommendation is to stay put BUT speak with a recruiter to see what is realistic. I generally recommend people stay at their current firm if there is nothing pushing them out and wait for another year to resume a job search. But, if you stay in touch with a trusted and honest recruiter, then you will be aware of what is happening in the market and of any unusually good job opportunities.

Litigators See Light

A couple of months ago, I suggested that the recession ‘skipped’ over the litigation uptick that usually occurs as more transactional practices struggle. The American Lawyer confirms that 2009 did not provide the wealth of litigation work that we expected to see.

http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2009/10/new-litigation-trends.html

Citing Fulbright & Jaworski’s litigation trend report, the American Lawyer notes that the forecast looks much more promising for litigation work. The good news is that patience will be rewarded, as the 2010 litigation budgets may very well be expanding.

Extreme Interviewing?

There’s setting yourself apart, and then there’s stalking. CNN is running an interesting story about the difference between a memorable candidate and a menacing one:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/10/05/cb.out.of.box.tactics/index.html

Of course, the law firm world isn’t necessarily quite so creative–I’m not sure I’d recommend to any of my candidates that they show up for an interview with musical accompaniment. It’s a good lesson, though. How do you stand out without freaking someone out?

Collecting Your Thoughts

I get a lot of calls from job seekers. For obvious reasons, there have been more calls from lawyers who are truly struggling with the market than I’m used to in a good economy. Though we are seeing the signs of recovery, no one who is in the market can afford to start getting sloppy in the way that they conduct themselves as they search for a job. Specifically, I get a lot of calls from folks who sound, well, panicked. You may *be* panicked, but take whatever time you need to collect your thoughts.

For example, I get voicemails where people forget to identify themselves. I get long rambling messages. I talk to people who sound out of breath because they saw a job they thought looked interesting and ran out of their office to call me from the street so they wouldn’t be found out. My personal pet peeve is a five minute message where someone talks a long stream of consciousness, and then speeds through their phone number so I have to listen to the message 3 more times to be able to decipher their contact information.

I’m not someone to stand on formality, but i do feel like more and more lawyers out there are sounding quite frenzied. A gentleman called me a couple of weeks ago and was very literally yelling about the fact that he had contacted other recruiters and they weren’t getting back to him. I understand why he’s frustrated, but yelling to a complete stranger isn’t really a job search strategy, is it?

I suggest that before you pick up the phone to pursue a job or a search, take 30 seconds to collect yourself and very briefly think through what it is you want to convey. It’s ok to feel desperate or frustrated or anxious about your job search, but don’t let that infect your presentation. I heard a judge give some amazing speech to lawyers recently. The gist of it was to be honest, be funny, and be brief. Amen.