Career Clinic: Is the recruitment market likely to pick up in 2010?

My good mate is having a similar prob.

He found recruitment agencies to be utterly useless and at times very deceiving in terms of advertising jobs which are not available.

Therefore, I would recommend you contact firms/organisations directly and sell yourself. Even if it means doing a week’s worth of unpaid work where you can have the opportunity to shine.

Also, look at your CV again. Is it very strong?

Good luck.

Metallica -04 Jan 2010 | 11:36

The short answer is yes, compared to 2009. But by the general standard of the last 15 years, it's still gonna be a lean year in recruitment terms. The first quarter will still be tight, though it should pick up some steam from then onwards.

Hmmmm -04 Jan 2010 | 13:38

No idea, I'm a solicitor not a soothsayer/prophet/magician!

You need to keep in touch with the business press and look out for signs of increased activity that suggest more demand for legal services may follow.
Your position is a hard one to be in and you are not the only one.

Your biggest challenge is staying in touch with what is going on in the legal world. I don't think it would be a bad idea to do voluntary work that has a legal/business bias in your spare time.

Have you considered becoming a Business Mentor for the Princes Trust? Or you could help in the Princes Trust office for your region. They are always on the look out for talented volunteers. I have been doing mentoring in Birmingham for 4 years and I have met many very interesting and able volunteers through this. All of the Mentors have past or present experience in the business world. The Mentors you meet at training events may be able to put you in touch with useful contacts. I have met Chartered Accountants, Surveyors, Managers, even solicitors at the Birmingham events.

Also, you really ought to investigate the availability of networks for Young Solicitors and Professionals in your area and join them. Is there a JLD group where you are? Do the Chamber of Commerce have a junior Chamber? Or there is Round Table, which has social events and raises money for charity. I know several chartered surveyors who swear that being in those networks when they were younger helped them develop their contact base when they were starting out in their careers.

If you are a woman, there is also AWS. Is there an active AWS group in your area? They may be looking for young talent to boost the ranks and organise events. That will put you in touch with women solicitors. I'm not sure if they still do such a thing but they used to have a Mentor scheme where another AWS member could help you resolve professional problems. That probably includes job hunting.

Also, if you are a woman have you considered the Siroptomists? It's like a lady's Round Table. I was invited to a supper meeting several years ago in Leamington and discovered all sorts of business women were in it - including a Head of Legal Services in Local Govt.
Remember that when you are developing contacts it is not a quick fix - it's like BD when you are in practice. But partners like young solicitors who are personable, show interest in BD and have contacts in the outside world. Especially in the smaller practice where you need finders as well as grinders.

Good luck ! And enjoy meeting new people - the worst thing about being out of the legal world is fewer networking opportunities fed to you on a plate. Which is why you have to go out and grab them!

high street solicitor -04 Jan 2010 | 14:03

My firm's Manchester office and at least two other firms in Manchester are actively recruiting junior litigators at the moment, so I presume you must only be after non-contentious work, otherwise (no offence intended) you're not looking hard enough.

National Firm -04 Jan 2010 | 16:49

Recruiter's perspective

Hi, I'm in legal recruitment and to be honest with you it's still a very tough market for NQ's. In the last six months I've seen some of the best CVs in terms of academics and training contracts from people who now simply cannot find work. If you can't find legal work it might be worth looking for something in a banking/finance type role that can sustain you until the legal world picks up. However, my opinion is that when the recovery does really kick in a new batch of NQs will be coming through meaning people like you will probably still not be able to find legal work. That's the nasty truth in my opinion. I think a whole generation of NQs such as you will just be written off, I’m sorry to say. Good luck but it might be time to commit to something else altogether outside of the law.

Wynder -04 Jan 2010 | 17:23

New Budget

Yes. It will.

New Year = New Budget Year for a lot of companies. Which = FD opens the coffers a little bit more and allows the GC to hire more staff to mop up the BAU work we all ignored in a desperate attempt to close that big deal pre-Christmas.

Which means...there may well be some interim roles going in-house in the next month or two. It may say paralegal on the job ad, but you can negotiate that to say legal adviser. Then, in six months to a year, you're more qualified, have in-house experience, and have the ball rolling for either a permanent role in-house, or, should you lack outside interests and ways to spend your evenings, a return to private practice.

Good luck though, it is not a fun place to be. Just keep wearing out the shoe leather meeting recruiters, scan the job ads in all possible online locations and something will come up.

As for networking - former classmates at law school and people you met at your old firm is as good a place to start as any!

Stupot -04 Jan 2010 | 17:58

Magic Circle Partner

I think you are best advised to focus your energies securing something in-house. It will be hard to secure a private practice offer for at least another year, with the possible exception of small regional firms if you are lucky to find vacancies even there.

The larger City and regional firms will look to their own NQs first (not least to maintain decent retention figures for graduate recruitment purposes). Your position, and that of many others like you is very tough. I certainly have a great deal of sympathy for your position. If it is any comfort, my own firm has been forced to let go many excellent candidates who in any other market would have been kept on.

So - what can you do? The more people you can network with, the more likely you are to get something. So, try not to focus on the negative side (force yourself to think of the positives eg: you are now qualified which is a great achievement). Don't take it personally (unless you were a careless trainee). If you were careless, use this to learn the vital lesson that everything you do in law requires 100% client focus and concentration.

Any work in a law related field, as you are doing now, will be valued and people will understand the situation you are in when you apply elesewhere.

You really can make this work if you stay flexible even if it takes some time. Best of luck.

NB. I think Legal Week and other journals should offer some more stories about the current NQ difficulties with advice from senior legal professionals. The issue is a very important one which needs more coverage to support people.

anon -06 Jan 2010 | 10:41

Metallica in the first post got it right. Law firms, like anyone else, pay recruitment agents to find them candidates either in short supply or when they don't have time to look and undue delay in recruiting will easily outweigh recruitment agency fees.

At present there is an over supply of NQs and most people have the luxury of time to look for the best on offer. To put it bluntly - why would a law firm pay a premium on top of salary to recruit a readily available resource or take seriously someone not sufficiently motivated to make the effort for themselves!

Michael -06 Jan 2010 | 16:51

N E T W O R K

As my title suggests - N E T W O R K!!!

Use this time as an opportunity to network - linkedin.com is the best! Create a profile and start networking. Unfortunately the times have changed! We have got to be bold and start asking people as we are at the receiving end.

With regard to the market - one never knows whether it will pick up or not, but I can guarantee one thing - that law firm managers are keeping a very cautious watch! So brace yourself and wait for lady luck to smile on you for an opening! Good luck!

lawlexicon -07 Jan 2010 | 11:56

The truth is that there are far too many lawyers out there.

Hence smokescreen issues about gender diversity and the rest.

Add to this the unprecedented economic challenges we are having to live through.

These are interesting times as the Chinese say.

The lucky or sheer dogged will perhaps survive. But there won't be many.

Old Geezer -12 Jan 2010 | 10:25

let's face the reality

The recruiter's post hits the nail on the head.

A whole swathe of NQs and junior lawyers who lost their jobs in 2008 will never return to the profession because they will be replaced by the most current batch of NQs when the recruitment market does pick up.

This is particularly so with commercial property qualifiers.

NQ who has left the law -12 Jan 2010 | 15:24

emigrate

The situation is much better in Australia, particularly regional areas. If you like it hot, check out Darwin.

Aussie girl -19 Feb 2010 | 11:07