Unemployed? STAY BUSY.

A year ago, if someone had told me that the vast majority of associate-level candidates I would see during 2009 were going to be unemployed, I would have laughed (or cried). But it’s true. Unemployment is a reality for associates in all areas of law and at all levels. Lately, I have seen these associates fall into two categories: those who believe that staying busy in their substantive area of law will benefit their marketability to firms, and those who think now is the time to become one with the couch and rekindle their love affair with soap operas.

To most of you, I hope this is an obvious statement: the attorneys in the first category are going to get jobs long before those in the latter category. It feels almost ridiculous to have to say something that obvious. But I have my reasons. For example, I recently spoke to a candidate who called me about a new job posting on the BCG Attorney Search website. He has absolutely fantastic academic credentials and law firm experience, but in 2006 he left his last firm to obtain an additional graduate degree, and while doing so the market crashed. Consequently, he has been out of the law firm world for almost three years (two while in school and a year since graduation). Naturally, one of the first questions I asked him was to explain what he had been doing since earning his graduate degree a year ago. Imagine my surprise when he replied “not much.” I followed that up with “Have you been keeping up with the ever-changing rules and regulations of your practice area?” “Ah, not really,” he mumbled. “What about attending CLE classes?” I asked. “Um, that’s a good idea. Hadn’t thought about that.” (Really? Is that possible?) “Volunteering or doing contract work?” His reply: “nope.” You get my point. The guy had been doing nothing to help explain the growing gap on his resume (other than search the web for a permanent job).

As a recruiter, this makes my job infinitely more difficult. The first question a firm is going to ask me when I submit this candidate’s resume is to explain what he has been doing for the last year. Make no mistake, the majority of firms I work with are not turned off by a candidate who has been laid off from his firm, but they do want to know that the candidate is motivated to keep up with his legal knowledge and skills. Think about it. If you were the hiring partner at a firm, wouldn’t you prefer to interview the candidate who has been taking CLE classes, volunteering at a legal aid clinic, seeking out contract work where available and networking with former colleagues and friends all while contemporaneously looking for a permanent job over the candidate that has just been looking for work for the last year? Firms are not stupid. They know that while a job search is very time consuming, it does leave time for other activities. And in this economy, no matter your credentials, if you are not out there doing extracurricular activities, the guy sitting next to you (who has equally impressive credentials) is– and he is going to get the job over you.

So, get out there. I guarantee that it will help you land a solid job.

Consider both the specific legal market and the cost of living when making a geographic move

Many of you probably read the title of this post, rolled your eyes into the back of your head and thought “wow, this woman is a real genius.  Who woulda thought cost of living mattered?”

Yes, I get it.  Everything thinks about cost of living when they contemplate a geographic move, but apparently not everyone believes that it will apply to them or thinks that each specific legal market differs in terms of compensation.  For example, I recently worked with a delightful corporate associate who wanted to move from the East Coast to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  He had about two years of solid, sophisticated corporate experience from a firm that paid him a base salary of $170K a year.  When we began the search for a new job in Milwaukee, I explained to him that firms pay much less there than they do in Washington, D.C., partly because of the difference in cost of living, but also because the market simply supports lower salaries.   I even went so far as to say that the major firms in the area start their first year associates at $110K to $115K.  My candidate responded to this by saying that he understood this and was prepared for a significant decrease in compensation.  However, when an offered rolled in at $119K, this candidate was less than impressed.

Let’s just say that I was confused, to say the least.  After all, I had warned him of the market and the cost of living change, and he claimed to be prepared.  When I asked him for an explanation, he said that he had gone to a website that calculates the difference in cost of living between specific cities, and according to that calculator, my candidate’s $170K salary on the East Coast should translate to $125K or more in Milwaukee.

Now, I am a big proponent of due diligence, and I have no problem with the various cost of living calculators out there on the internet (although none of the websites that I have visited provide even remotely similar calculations to one another), but a generic cost of living calculator is not going to take into account the specific legal market and what types of salaries it supports.

My candidate was right– according to a number of cost of living calculators in the internet, someone making $170K in Washington, D.C. should make around $125K in Milwaukee.  But for the most part, Milwaukee law firms do not care what the equivalent salaries are in various cities.  They care about their competition in the market and what the other firms are paying their attorneys.  For whatever reason, the large firms in Milwaukee generally pay a little less than their equivalents in Washington, D.C., and it is a candidate’s job to understand this before undertaking a job search.

Frustrating as it might be, a law firm is not going to pay an associate more than it pays everyone else because s/he is coming from a market that pays more, even after adjusting for cost of living, so if you want to move to a city in which this is the case, you must be prepared.  If not, you are bound to be disappointed at whatever offer(s) you receive.

I bet that most of you reading this think you know how things turned out for my candidate in Washington, D.C.  Sadly, most of you are wrong.  Even after I explained the differences in the legal markets, my candidate still felt under-compensated at $119K, and he ultimately turned down the offer, admitting that Milwaukee might not be the best place for him after all.   And you know what?  I think he is right.

Make no mistake, I do not fault this candidate for turning the offer down based on a salary that was $6K less than he thought he deserved, and it is not my place to judge him for doing so.  In fact, I give him a lot of credit for recognizing that he would be unhappy at a lower salary, even if everything else about the job and firm was perfect for him.  Having said that, I can guarantee that I am not going to allow this to happen in the future, even if it requires me to drill into my candidates’ heads that cost of living is not the only thing to consider when moving geographic locations.  Each market is different and pays its associates what the market will support, and every candidate that contemplates a move needs to know this from the start.

Writing good quality articles and publishing them can work wonders for your firm’s marketability (and your own marketability as a partner or associate)

Adam Stock and Adrian Dayton recently published this article for the National Law Journal entitled, “Write, Share, Get Noticed.” Their article makes the point that it’s easier than ever to garner widespread dissemination of your work due to the internet and social media, but make the point that quality also really counts.  They encourage associates and firm marketers to write extensively on their practice areas, but to make sure that the content is excellent.  Below are the salient points they make in the article:

1. Publish online content regularly. Content is the key to visibility online.
2. Publish good, helpful content. The more people like it, the more they will share it and the more visibility you will get. Be smart, but be accessible.
3. Write about what you know. No matter how specialized you are, there is an audience that you can now reach through the “magic” of the Internet.

Here is the article:

http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202534594631

What do you have to offer your future employer?

Here’s some practical advice for senior associates, of all practice areas, looking to make a lateral move: start thinking about your business development prospects and what you can do to market yourself to potential clients once you make your lateral transition.  While this advice is of particular importance when considering lateraling from a large national or international law firm to a smaller national or regional law firm (as these firms almost uniformly ask about a candidates business development plans prior to or during the interview process), it also holds true for senior associates looking to transition to larger firms as well.

Consider putting together an informal business development and marketing plan that explains to law firms what you have done in the past to network and establish your presence in the market, as well as what you plan to do in the future. For example, be prepared to discuss your prior and future publishing activities, including articles, client alerts, blog postings, and white papers. You will also want to discuss any conferences you have attended and/or presented at, as well as online networking activities (again, blogging comes to mind).  You should also consider prospective client contacts, both among existing firm clients, law school classmates, personal contacts and other possible sources of referral business.

You should offer to provide this information to potential employers even prior to being asked for such information. Presenting this information to prospective employers in a thoughtful and concise written format will often make the difference between receiving and not receiving an offer. Although law firms don’t necessarily expect senior associates to come in with a book of business, they do want the assurance, particularly at smaller or more regional law firms, that prospective hires are business-minded and are thinking about their potential long-term contributions to the firm.

The Best Way to Prepare for a Job Search and Interviews

Several years ago when looking for a position in Los Angeles I interviewed with numerous law firms.  In virtually every one of these interviews I ran across an attorney who knew not one, not two, not three—but numerous, numerous attorneys in my current firm.  If this is the case in a market the size of Los Angeles (and the market in Los Angeles is huge), I cannot even imagine what it must be like in smaller markets.  For example, I am from Detroit.  I grew up in  a suburb of Detroit.  When it came time for me to decide where to work in law school, when I started interviewing with firms in Detroit I knew many of the attorneys before I even arrived at the interviews–they were the parents of people I grew up with.

The following are my suggestions for the best way to prepare for a job search and interviews:

1. Know you are always being watched, observed and judged

When I was in high school I remember that one of the best looking girls in my school was known to be a prude and someone who would date boys but never let anything all that exciting happen.  She was also a star athlete and a student counsel leader and a very respected student.  My parents were divorced and lived about an hour apart.  I lived with my father.  The funny thing is that this same girl also had parents who were divorced and spent a lot of time in one city visiting a parent.  The funny thing about this girl was she had the exact opposite reputation in the city where she did not live full time.  Her strategy it seemed, like the strategy of many, was to have two separate personas.  She knew that if she behaved one way in her school and around people there she would experience fall out.  She also knew that by keeping her “wild side” in another town this would not affect her directly in her own back yard.

In life we are always being observed.  We are being observed in our communities.  We are being observed in our jobs.  We are being observed by our peers.  We are being observed by our superiors.  There are a lot of people out there who understand that.  The smart woman discussed above certainly understood that (albeit, in a different context).

When I went to look for a job in Detroit, despite the fact that I had not spent time in the city since high school I already knew which firms I would likely get jobs in and which ones I likely would not.  This had nothing to do with the prestige of the firm-it had to do with the people inside the firms.  I knew that I had been close to certain people growing up and their parents like me.  I also knew that I had not been close with others and had made some enemies along the way.  Sure enough, when I started applying for jobs in Detroit I was preceded by my past.  The Detroit legal community is small enough that most people know one another.

In everything you do in the public arena you are likely being observed, watched and judged.  The people you need today will likely have some impact over events that may happen to you tomorrow.  It is as simple as that.  Like the woman discussed above, you need to do everything you can to maintain a strong public face at all costs.

One thing about interviewing in law firms is that there will likely almost always be someone there you have known from a time before.  That person will likely have a say in what is happening to you in your new position.  Be aware of this and you will be preparing for interviews every second of every day.

2. Remember that the best lawyers can spot other good lawyers and you cannot “fake it”-you are always preparing for interviews just by doing a good job with your current work

There are many people out there who go to work in jobs and for whatever reason are not challenged.  Most often the people who claim they are not challenged are the same people who go out of the way to not challenge themselves.  We all know the type of person who does not challenge themselves in the job.  These are the sorts of people always looking for shortcuts and other methods to do as little work as possible.  I have never understood this sort of person-but they are there.  This sort of person is also the same one who is likely to be very defensive when asked about something they do not know but think they should know-”oh, I already know that!” they will say.

When you are good at something and really doing your job you have the tendency to get “immersed” in your subject matter.  Over time the subject matter and its intricacies and innuendos becomes almost second nature to the good student.  You also become more astute and a level or presumed understanding emerges between people who understand the subject matter well.  Little tidbits and other bits of understanding emerge.  Two people who are very good at something share a similar understanding.

When you are interviewing with a truly excellent lawyer, they will also be able to tell if you share this level of understanding.  If you are a slacker and not a hard worker, or someone who does not consistently challenge their mind, they will see right through this.  This level of understanding is particularly important at the higher levels.  You need to always be working hard and doing good legal work even when you may not want to make long-term plans to be at your current firm.  This is essential.

3. You need to go into your job with a sincere and 100% desire to make it work and switch jobs infrequently-if at all

Until the 1980s, the majority of workers in America and in law firms rarely changed jobs-if at all.  One of the major changes that happened was when the Japanese started importing cheaper and better cars into the United States.  American car makers (a major industry at the time) could no longer afford to be as loyal to their employees and mass firings and layoffs became increasingly commonplace.  Furthermore, pensions were fairly rapidly phased out at most companies in favor of 401ks-because employees began to be more “portable” in their jobs.  Much of the changes that were occurring in corporate America soon found themselves into law firms and other legal hiring organizations.

Despite that fact that attorneys can switch jobs at a whim in the current economic climate, switch jobs is not always the smartest thing to do.  Young lawyers (especially) like to feel as if they are in control and more valued by their employers than they value them.  In addition, young attorneys are likely to move for a slight bump in salary, an attorney in the firm they do not like, or some other trivial sort of factor.

These are not good reasons to move.  In fact, there are few good reasons to leave most legal employers.  The best reason and the only reason is if there is something inside your current firm that is so endemic to the firm and so pervasive that unless you leave your career will never go forward.  These factors also should be near 100% beyond your control.  When you join an employer it is much like getting married.  If you show a lot of commitment to your current employer you will be respected if you have to leave due to factors outside of your control.

The reason all of this is important is because the person interviewing you wants to trust you.  If the person or organization interviewing you does not trust you and believes you may leave for a trivial reason then they are will be unlikely to hire you.  If your reason for leaving is sound and the next firm who hires you believes you are likely to remain on board in the face of adversity then they are more likely to hire you.  People want to have people with staying power in their organizations.  No organization is perfect and all organizations go through ups and downs.

Conclusions
In everything you do-both inside and outside of work-you are always preparing for your job search and interviews.  You need to remember that the time to prepare for interviews and a job search is before you ever know you will need to prepare.  Being a good attorney and a job searcher is something that takes the same amount of time and effort to achieve.

Patience is a Virtue – Especially During Your Job Search

Over the last 12 months the legal market has shown signs of recovery from the recession. For the most part, lateral hiring has increased across all regions and most practice areas. However, it may still be difficult for you to find a job in today’s market. First, the job market is extremely competitive. For every job listed, firms are receiving hundreds of applications from highly credentialed attorneys. Second, firms are taking their time to collect resumes, evaluate and interview candidates and to extend offers. Law firms are hiring judiciously and are taking longer than average to make hiring decisions. It is not uncommon for a firm to respond to an application two or three months after receiving it. Interviews are taking longer to schedule, offers are delayed, and as a result, applicants are forced to play the waiting game.

What can you do during this wait and see period?

1. Reset Your Expectations: To avoid frustration, try to think of your job hunt in terms of a marathon and don’t expect to sprint to the finish line. Give yourself at least 6 months to find a new job. If you are practicing in an area with fewer opportunities (T&E, Employee Benefits, even Litigation in some markets), you may need to give yourself a year to find the right job.
2. Cast a Wide Net: To increase your chances of finding a new job, make sure you consider all of your options and keep an open mind. Don’t rule out firms based on size, location or reputation. You will never really know what a firm is like until you have had an opportunity to meet the partners and associates and get a feel for the work, the culture and the people. You can always turn down an offer – just make sure you put yourself in a situation where you have offers to turn down!
3. 3. Continue to Do Good Work: Don’t slack off at your current firm just because you have decided that you don’t want to be there long term. Continue to gain great experience and update your resume to reflect the new matters on which you have worked.
4. 4. Network: Attend industry events and stay in touch with law school classmates and former colleagues. It is important to stay connected and plugged into the legal community. You never know who may be able to recommend you for a position or fast track your application.
5. Stay in Touch with Your Recruiter: The more often we hear from you, the more interested we know you are in making a move. We are your biggest career advocates and we will make sure to keep you informed of new opportunities that hit the job market as well as provide updates regarding your outstanding applications. Trust that we are going to do everything in our power to move your application forward, collect feedback and stay in touch with firms regarding your candidacy. However, if you don’t hear from us, it is simply because we don’t have anything new to report.

How Do I Increase My Marketability After a Layoff?

As I currently approach my 4th month of unemployment after being laid off from a major firm, I am wondering if there is anything I can do to increase my marketability to law firms? I cannot change my past work experience or my law school credentials, obviously, but is there something else I could do that I am overlooking?

Being out of work is frustrating, for sure, and the feeling that there is nothing you can do to change your current situation probably increases your stress level exponentially. As you said, what’s done is done, and you have to focus on the future. We have seen far too many attorneys literally give up on the practice of law entirely after getting laid off during their first few months of practice. In the past several months we have seen attorneys who graduated from Top 25 law schools and worked for a few months at AmLaw 100 law firms before getting laid off become (1) a restaurant hostess, (2) a garbage man, (3) a salesperson in a men’s boutique clothing store and (4) a trainee assistant manager of a Pizza store. Nothing is wrong with any of these occupations; however, if these choices were motivated by the perception that no attorney jobs were available, these occupational choices were wrong. More often than not, the attorneys who give up are those coming from the largest and most prestigious firms. Their thoughts run something like “If I cannot practice at a very high level, I do not want to practice at all.” We believe this thinking is severely flawed because, as this article will demonstrate, you can find another job if you approach your search in the right manner.

First, you need to think geographically. You are currently living in the worst market in the country. Barring circumstances that tie you to the Seattle region indefinitely, a move to a healthier marketplace will provide you with more available opportunities, which will give you more opportunities for success. One of the strangest phenomena we have ever witnessed is talented attorneys who give up on the practice of law because they refuse to move. Detroit, Michigan used to be one of the largest legal markets in the United States several decades ago and, by today’s standards, there are fewer than 10 large law firms there. If attorneys continued to stay there instead of following the jobs, their chances for employment would be significantly reduced. While the change from an industrial-based to an information-based economy is certainly beyond the scope of this article, the fact of the matter is that certain legal markets simply contract at various points in time. Many of these markets never return to their former glory. Who knows if Silicon Valley or Seattle, for that matter, will ever be what they once were. The point is you should not let geography influence your future. You went to law school for a reason and your current geographic location should not be something that you let influence the next 25-plus years of your life.

There are tens of thousands of law firms throughout the United States and the idea that one of them does not have a job waiting for you is an absurd thought. Unfortunately, far too many attorneys accept this thought. Does this really make sense to you? If you have been practicing long enough for a legal recruiter to represent you (usually one year), then you should contact one and let them help you in your search. If not, you should find a way to apply to as many of these law firms as quickly as possible in order to increase your chances of getting hired. While job boards do not traditionally have advertisements for entry level attorneys, you should review as many potential openings as possible. In addition, you should investigate using a service such as Legal Authority to try to apply for positions in your existing market or other markets that interest you. It is extremely unlikely that you will not find a position with an aggressive approach.

Second, if you are just considering the largest, most prestigious firms, you may have to aim a little lower. While we most likely would not have said this in the heyday of the economic boom, at a time when many large firms are severely restricting their hiring, it may make sense for you to consider taking a position at a less prestigious firm. You may come across a smaller firm that might actually be in “growth mode,” unlike larger firms in the area that are experiencing financial troubles. While we are not advocating working somewhere that you regard as beneath you, giving smaller-to-midsize firms a chance should not necessarily be considered settling. When the economy does recover, your resume will look a lot better for having worked somewhere than if you were to be unemployed for a few years. It is possible that you will like the different atmosphere of a smaller firm, and perhaps your experience and know-how can even help that firm grow.

Third, you may be able to find immediate employment with the government. Clerkships, often seen as the domain of newly-minted attorneys, can increase any attorney’s marketability. More law students are likely to search for a clerkship as first-year associate hiring dwindles, so the competition may be tough, but your experience may impress a judge enough to take you on. Not only will you be working, but you will be learning more about the justice system which can only help when the clerkship ends and you want to seek out a law firm opportunity. In addition, you may be able to locate an opportunity in a local prosecutor’s office. In any of these jobs, you will begin to develop the skills of an attorney that you do not necessarily learn during law school.

Fourth, your law school record may be etched in stone, but there is always the opportunity to go back to school and further your education. While LL.M degrees are not for everyone, they have proven to be an asset to some attorneys who can get them in the right areas and at the right schools, especially for those with somewhat unimpressive law school records. Similarly, for intellectual property attorneys, getting an advanced degree in engineering or even one of the natural sciences could help your cause.

In conclusion, while none of these methods are guaranteed to get you a job, anything is worth a shot in dire times. The economy will recover, as it always does, and when that happens, it will be better to have built up some experience and improved your resume than to have sat back and ridden it out. The holy grail of many firm lawyers is partnership at a large firm, and the best way to obtain that is by proving yourself consistently throughout your career, no matter what roadblocks stand in your way.

Sometimes a Lateral Law Firm Move is the Best Path to a Solid In-House Position

A large percentage of the people who contact us for recruitment assistance are currently working in-house and are looking to return to the law firm sector or break into it for the first time. What most of these candidates don’t realize is that it is generally much more difficult to transition from an in-house position to a law firm position than it is to lateral from one law firm to another.

Many of those who end up moving from a law firm to an in-house position tell us that they preferred the law firm environment. Their reasons vary, but some common themes include: same stress, different hours; a lack of substantive and/or interesting work; a feeling that their skills are not developing at the appropriate pace; the sense that they are stuck working on matters that are not of interest to them or are not within their areas of expertise; a lack of meaningful promotion/progression prospects; and the belief that the companies they are working for are not growing at the pace the candidate expected.

Because so many of the candidate who contact us are in-house and are unhappy and because it is often very difficult to make the transition back into the law firm environment, I often find myself explaining to candidates why, in many cases, the best path to a reliable and fulfilling in-house position is a solid law firm lateral move.

There are multiple reasons for this. First, since the economic downturn, there has been a shift in the amount of experience companies look for when searching for qualified in-house counsel. Prior to the downturn, it was often said that corporate attorneys could comfortably look to make an in-house transition after 5 years of experience, while litigators had more success in or around the 8-10 year range. However, as a result of the downturn, many highly qualified and experience senior-level government employees, law firm partners and senior in-house attorneys suddenly found themselves on the job market, either as a result of lay-offs, department collapses, or company mergers and dissolutions.

As a result, at the height of the downturn, there was suddenly an overwhelming number of highly qualified but unemployed attorneys, often with excellent credentials, who were now vying for the same in-house jobs as the corporate attorneys with 5 years of experience and the litigators with 8-10 years of experience. Companies started to realize that they could hire attorneys with twice the experience and could do so at the same pay grade. As a result, demand for years of experience crept up, as did demand for credentials, and companies began looking for corporate attorneys with at least 8-10 years of experience and litigators with at least 10-15 years of experience. This trend still holds in many respects, especially as companies continue to outsource less of their legal work in order to keep costs down and, as a result, require more seasoned and experience inside counsel to handle the company’s legal matters.

Attorneys who choose to make a strong lateral law firm move put themselves in a position to continue developing their legal skills while simultaneously honing niche practice area expertise that will, in the long run, make them more marketable in the in-house job sector. Those candidates who genuinely want to make an in-house move will have far greater and far better in-house job prospects – at least in the current economic climate – if they get the level and degree of experience in-house companies are now demanding. Additionally, candidates who take the time to further refine their skills and their practice area strengths before making an in-house move are less likely to feel that they are not being challenged, are working on matters outside their area of expertise or interest and/or are not further developing their legal skills.

Additionally, making an informed lateral move to another law firm can actually aid candidates in making a good in-house move down the road. Many of the “currently in-house” candidates who seek our recruiting services in order to return to the law firm sector tell us that they are unhappy in their current job and that the position is not what they were expecting. In other words, they accepted their current position without knowing enough about the company they joined and the legal work that the position involved.

While it is difficult to know what a job will entail before beginning that job, one way to protect against this is to get meaningful client contact while working at a law firm and then use that contact, and the resulting client relationships, to make an informed in-house move. In other words, if you want to make a good in-house move,  first focus on making a lateral move to a law firm that will allow you the opportunity for meaningful client contact. This is critical, not just to allow young attorneys to further develop their skills and begin managing cases, but also because it puts attorneys in a position to develop client relationships that can have long-standing benefits.

Meaningful client contact can open the door to possible in-house positions with clients (or client subsidiaries) you have come to realize would be good fits for your long-term aspirations. Having worked directly for the client and repeatedly interacted with members of the legal department, you will be much better positioned to know if the company will be a good fit for you. Relatedly, meaningful client contact can result in secondment opportunities, where law firm attorneys are seconded out to the client and actually working at the client site, in the client’s legal department, while still functioning as a law firm employee. This is a fantastic way for attorneys to “test drive” a prospective in-house employer while still having the security of their law firm job (and salary).

When interviewing with law firms, let them know at the outset that significant client contact is very important to you. Most firms will understand that it is also in their best interest to allow their associates to interact with clients – not just because it helps the firm’s attorneys develop their skills and frees partners up to develop additional business, but also because it is simply good business. When former law firm attorneys lateral to a client site, generally speaking, those firms are guaranteed continued business from that particular client. In other words, everyone wins.

Lastly, many candidates who initially contact us in search of in-house opportunities ultimately realize that they are more excited about, and a better fit for, positions at boutique or mid-sized firms or even satellite offices of larger firms. Often these candidates are searching for a more intimate work environment, and the opportunity to work on a variety of legal matters, or they simply want to be in an environment where they feel they can make a greater contribution and are more consistently valued. We have seen a number of similarly situated candidates lateral to a smaller firm or a satellite office of a larger firm only to realize that they don’t actually want to transition to an in-house position after all. In other words, by making a smart and strategic law firm move, these attorneys often discover that what they were really seeking was a different, or more compatible law firm environment rather than an escape from law firms altogether.

The legal market is extremely competitive right now, with law firms typically seeking lateral attorneys from other firms and paying little credence to in-house attorneys (notwithstanding those attorneys’ prior law firm experience). My hope is that, with the above in mind, attorneys can limit the number of obstacles they have to face in the current job market, both by really considering the benefits of lateral law firms moves and by making well-informed decisions about possible in-house opportunities.

Preparing For Your Law Firm Interview

If you’ve been out of the job market for a few years you may be ready to make a lateral move.  Interviewing for jobs as a lateral attorney is much tougher today than it was when prior to the recession, when firms were hiring anyone with a pulse and a law degree.  Although the job market is opening up for lateral attorneys, the competition is intense and often times firms are selecting candidates from large pools of applicants.  If you get an interview, you must be able to prove to the firm that you have the experience and the personality required to succeed.  Therefore, it is imperative that you brush up on your interview skills prior to interviewing for a new job.

Preparation is key. Do not try and “wing it” and go to an interview unprepared. Understand what the goal is when you go into an interview — getting hired. Back in the good ole days, your résumé alone was sufficient to get you a job. The interview process was merely a formality and a way for firms to screen out people who were completely socially inept. Today, the résumé is only one component of your candidacy….

Your credentials may have gotten you through the door, but a well-prepared interview is what is going to seal the deal. Good preparation demonstrates interest and seriousness of purpose on the part of a candidate.

• Know your résumé inside and out, and be prepared to speak in detail about the work you have done, the cases or transactions you have been part of, etc. You do not want to get caught off guard when asked about something on your résumé. The interview is your opportunity to expound upon key bullet points in your résumé and how they relate to the position you are seeking.
• Practice talking about yourself — it is not everyday that you have to spend hours discussing your accomplishments. You need to develop a simple sales pitch highlighting your strengths, accomplishments, experiences, etc. You must get used to self-promotion without sounding overtly cocky. There is a balance, but you need to practice to make that pitch work.
• When speaking about work experience,  come up with 3-4 times you felt your work really stood out OR you got great experience.  It’s better to show than tell. Interviewing is a chance to talk about success stories and BRAG about oneself.  Don’t just say you are a great lawyer — give examples of why that is the case. What types of things did you do that made you stand out from the others?  Do not be shy in telling others compliments you may have received from partners or firm clients about your work.
• Have a well thought out answer as to what you are looking for in a firm.  If the move is purely geographical, then the best answer is that you are looking for good quality work and a similar work environment to your current firm. Explain what you like about where you are and what you hope to find in the next firm.

Please remember that being a prepared and informed candidate will make you stand out as a truly motivated and diligent candidate. The candidate attending an interview without sufficient preparation demonstrates to the hiring partner that you lack interest, which will ultimately result in your candidacy being overlooked.

Don’t Panic Over Law Firm Silence

I am currently working with a candidate who specializes in a very unusual area of law and who is quite unhappy in her current position. She came to me looking for a new position in the same of the law but at a firm with a better culture. Finding such a job was not easy, especially in this market, where the need for associates in general is not particularly high.

After about 6 weeks of working together, I was able to obtain an interview for this candidate at one of Chicago’s premier law firms with a strong practice that matched her experience. She had a fantastic interview, loved everyone she met with and walked out of the interview believing that she had just found the perfect firm for her.

As I always do, I warned this candidate that firms tend to move much slower in this economy, and that it may take a few weeks to hear back as to whether the firm was going to extend her an offer. She appeared to be fine with that, although she admitted that she was anxious about it.

A week passed, during which I had followed up with the firm to see where they were in the process. I learned very little in terms of details, other than the firm was still considering my candidate. I reported this to candidate, who was becoming increasingly anxious about the job. She kept asking me what was taking so long and suggesting that if the group really liked her, they would move faster.

Another week passed with no updates from the firm, despite my efforts to follow up. With the passage of this time, my candidate began to rethink the firm and her opinion of the people she met. “Maybe they weren’t as nice as I thought.” “Maybe they don’t do quite the type of work I want to do.” “Maybe they aren’t as great of a firm as I originally thought.”

By the time I heard back from the firm three weeks later, my candidate had convinced herself that she hated the firm, did not want to work there and was not going to accept an offer if given to her. As she put it, the fact that the firm took so long to get back to her was a “clear indication” that they didn’t really like her and she therefore did not want to join them. Of course when she learned from the firm that they were, in fact, extending her an offer, she didn’t know what to feel. After all, she has initially loved the firm but spent the last month talking herself into hating it. Now what?

Talk about mentally sabotaging a possible job opportunity!

Remember that firms spend significant time collecting and reviewing resumes, eliminating those they aren’t interested in, and narrowing it down to a reasonable number of candidates to interview, they have to schedule and actually interview the candidates. Finding a single day that 5 or 6 busy attorneys can interview a single candidate can take weeks. Scheduling multiple candidates to interview can be next to impossible. Furthermore, even after the firm interviews the candidates, each individual lawyer has to complete and return an evaluation form, and we all know that attorneys are notoriously terrible at doing these types of administrative things. Once the evaluations are collected, they must be reviewed, often by a committee of attorneys, and then a decision made. All of this can easily take weeks, especially when you factor in that attorneys would much prefer to service their clients than deal with recruiting and hiring.

So, remember this: Firm silence does not mean that the firm is not interested in you. Don’t torture yourself or talk yourself out of what could be a fantastic job opportunity simply because the firm’s attorneys do not move as fast as you would like.

After much discussion, my candidate took the job with the firm that sent a “clear indication” that it was not interested in her…. And you know what, she is back to loving the firm and the people with whom she works.