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Making a Move

It is now accepted that most lawyers will move once, twice or even more during their careers. All firms are not the same, and it may take several attempts to find a good 'fit'. However, moving from one firm to another can be a daunting experience, particularly if you have never done it before.

When to move

The decision 'when to move' will differ from person to person. There is no right time to effect a move. Sometimes you will have a choice, sometimes events (particularly personal ones) will make a move desirable or even necessary.

Like it or not, many firms still attach a stigma to moving under certain circumstances. Moving before you have spent at least a year at a firm can be a negative. Moving several times in quick succession will always set alarm bells ringing in the mind of a future employer. And moving under some sort of cloud is always tricky.

The key thing to remember is to consult a recruiter early on. Finding a decent, professional recruiter can save you a lot of hassle and heartache. It doesn't cost anything - recruiters are paid by the client - and a good recruiter will consult properly with you about your long-term aims and advise you accordingly.

Also remember that at no stage - until you have signed a contract with a new firm - are you committed to anything. Just because you pick up the phone to a recruiter, it does not automatically make you disloyal or mean that you 'have to' move. You are simply trying to act in your own best interests with appropriate professional advice.

It is also worth noting that some recruiters are 'tied' to particular firms - this is especially true of search agents or headhunters who approach you with regard to a particular assignment they are working on - whereas others are able to look at the full spectrum for you. You may find this latter approach advantageous if you have been headhunted, allowing you to compare the headhunt approach with what is available elsewhere in the market, something the search consultant will not be able to offer you.

Early on - writing a cv

Try to assemble a cv before you start anything else. This will focus your mind on the task ahead and may surprise you if you have not done one before.

The basic structure should include educational achievements (including higher study grades ('A' level and degree in particular)) in chronological order, with institutions attended and relevant dates of any qualifications achieved. It should then go on to list work experience in reverse chronological order (ie most recent first). Don't try to hide poor degree or 'A' level grades. Law firms will only ask anyway, and it will just be embarrassing at a later date. Some firms insist on top quality academic qualifications from every candidate, from NQ to partner, and if you haven't got them, they just won't look at you. There's no point railing against it or blaming your recruiter, it's just life. To other firms, it often won't matter provided you have the experience and practice to fit the bill.

The aim of the work experience section is to show breadth and depth. Use bullet points to avoid creating large blocks of text which are uninviting to the reader. Grouping experience 'thematically' under sub-headings can be helpful (eg all asset finance deals together if you are a lawyer in private practice, all administrative experience together if you are going for a position in-house). Think what you would want and expect to see in a competitor's cv or someone approaching you for a position.

Deal values and information relating to the type of deal or salient points of a case are important, as well as your involvement in the matter. Client names can be used if you wish, although many people tend to make them generic (eg 'a large international manufacturing concern'), particularly if there might be sensitivity (eg if you are a family lawyer talking about specific cases).

Your aim is to demonstrate your range of expertise to a future employer. For lawyers in private practice, client following can be referred to if relevant, although this is better expressed within the context of a business plan (see Business Plan Best Practice for more information on how to write a business plan).

Don't worry too much about length. Legal cvs tend to be longer than other cvs, and three or four pages is quite usual for someone mid-career.

Do not include unnecessary 'marketing' type information such as Key Strengths or some form of Objectives statement, especially if you are a legal fee-earner. A cv being presented to a law firm should be factual in the main. There is nothing a lawyer dislikes more than a self-assessment incorporating platitudes such as 'a commercial lawyer comfortable working independently as part of a team' or 'a proven problem-solver'.

Do include interests. The purpose of a cv is to provide jumping-off points for conversation and law firms, in general, like to employ rounded individuals who have some sort of life outside work.

Talking to a recruiter

Choose your recruiter carefully. This person will be your agent in the market, and it is important that you have confidence that they both understand you as a person and will be able to give you pragmatic, realistic advice.

Certain ethical and professional standards are necessary, but should not be assumed. Make sure that your recruiter is not sending papers to any third party or disclosing your name to any third party without your express consent (you'd be surprised how often this goes on, even in supposedly reputable agencies). Although the entire process is confidential, you should feel that you are in control. You are your capital, and it is important that capital is employed carefully and correctly.

Once you have found a recruiter you are comfortable with, make sure you communicate with them. Talk to them honestly - particularly if there are any difficult issues, such as time off for illness or any major personal issues they should be aware of. Being upfront about things at the start will avoid heartache and embarrassment later on.

Listen to them. If you feel they are giving good advice, take it. If you feel they are giving bad advice, try to articulate that and ask questions. You may wish to get a second opinion, but make sure that you are in control of the process at all times and that you know which recruiter is approaching which firm on your behalf. It is of course within your power to disinstruct a recruiter if you do not feel they are representing you effectively.

Respect them. Remember that this is a business relationship. You do not lose anything by instructing a recruiter to act on your behalf, quite the contrary. It is quite unacceptable, for instance, to get a recruiter to do a lot of work for you in coming up with possibilities and then going ahead and approaching the suggested firms personally, whether or not you have contacts at the firm.

And remember, well though you think you know your own market, you cannot be better informed about who is recruiting and who is not than an agent, whose job it is to make sure they are on top of vacancies for their candidates. Best to stick to lawyering, which is what you do well, and let the full-time recruiters get on with what they are paid to do.

Remember also that a recruiter is useful in sending cvs, chasing around for interviews, getting feedback from the firm after interview, negotiating your remuneration package and advising you on market norms. Do you really want to have to negotiate your own salary/package with your future partners? Leaving it to your recruiter puts a discreet distance between you and the matter, and allows you effectively to bid things up or indeed make certain sacrifices without losing face.

Managing the recruitment process

Don't try to micro-manage your recruiter during the process. Although you will have particular views on how firms might be approached, leave it to the good recruiter to know the best way. Although, for instance, you may think it wise to talk directly to partners rather than an HR director, if a law firm has a centralised HR function then circumventing that - and effectively going against agreed budgets and a central recruitment strategy - can be counterproductive or even disastrous to your approach.

A named approach is always best where a firm has a stated, specific need. Anonymous approaches can be useful where a recruiter is simply ascertaining the likely demand for an individual such as yourself, keeping your powder dry for future exploration, but otherwise just add an unnecessary stage to the process.

Law firms can take time to respond to approaches, whether named or unnamed. Again, your recruiter will know the best way to chase. You may find that incessant pestering of your recruiter ends up being counterproductive (see micro-management, above...). It may be that you never hear anything from a particular firm or firms. Do not take it personally. Law firms receive dozens of approaches every day but many will only respond if they are actually interested in a candidate. This is particularly the case with anonymous approaches, where it is rare to hear when a firm is not interested.

Prepare yourself for some rude shocks during this part of the process. Never assume that a firm will want to see you. There can be a tendency to blame the recruiter (typically: "if the approach had been made properly or to the right person, then I might have got an interview..") but this is rarely the case if your recruiter is any good. There can be many reasons why a firm doesn't want to see you. Perhaps they don't think your business case is strong enough, one of the partners doesn't like you, you have a reputation in the marketplace which is slightly less stellar than you think or perhaps they feel you'd be too much of a threat or upset the delicate structure they've taken a lot of time to achieve. Just take rejections on the chin and move on.

The first interview

It is important to make yourself available for interviews when you can. Law firm partners are busy people and it is often difficult to co-ordinate several partners' diaries at once. Think about what time of day you prefer - if you are terrible first thing in the morning then avoid that; equally, if you are worn out by the end of the day, an evening meeting is not advisable. It sounds obvious, but it is amazing how many people don't consider such a simple thing and end up not putting their best foot forward.

Reflect on why you are doing what you are doing before you start preparing for the first interview. The law firm is keen to talk to you, so you should equally be keen to talk to them. Try to find out as much as you can about the firm by asking your recruiter and researching on websites, not just the firm's own site but also news-sites such as www.thelawyer.com and www.legalweek.com, both of which have good news archives.

Do not expect the firm just to be selling the proposition to you. You will have to sell yourself to them as well. The worst trap some lawyers fall into is to feign ambivalence. Do NOT give your interviewer any reason not to want to invite you back again or offer you a job. By presenting yourself in the best possible light, you are NOT accepting an offer to join the firm. Bear in mind that you cannot accept (or reject for that matter) an offer that is not made!

Before you go into the interview, think about your personal presentation. This is a comment almost - but not completely - exclusively targeted towards men for some reason (despite the trend in recent years towards men's grooming, many are failing dismally in even the most basic ways...). You are selling yourself, remember, so it is important that the external package - which after all will be the client-facing part - reflects the inner ability you feel you have.

Wear a good suit (if yours have seen better days, invest in a new one, preferably dark and single-breasted), polish your shoes (if they're old or tatty, buy some new ones), make sure you have had a haircut (at least within the last few weeks) and avoid wearing a tatty shirt or egg-spotted tie. Careful with bright shirts, ties and socks. While you may see them as an expression of your quirkier, perhaps more humorous side, this is a disaster waiting to happen. You do not want the interviewer to be wondering why you decided to wear red socks or a dreadful printed-silk tie depicting snowmen, reindeer or Mickey Mouse (even if your mother did give it to you) when you want them to be marvelling at your breadth of securitisation experience or at your deft handling of a sensitive compromise agreement. Also a final nod to personal hygiene, in ALL its manifestations. We should need to say no more...

Arriving well-presented is half the battle. The initial chemistry of any relationship is, some psychologists will tell you, established in the first 15 SECONDS. A firm handshake (not too firm!), looking the other party directly in the eye and smiling (hopefully without exhaling garlic from lunch or, worse, that half-bottle of chardonnay...) will set things up nicely.

Do not expect just to 'wing it' or labour under the delusion that interviewing should just come naturally. Before you go in, re-read your cv and familiarise yourself with it so that you can answer questions on it. Prepare to answer tough questions on why you are leaving (firms tend to dwell on that), following and client relationships. Do not expect a warm reception. Expect cordial neutrality. Prepare for stony. That way, you will not be overconfident.

Prepare some questions of your own. Take some time to think about what you really want to know. How is the department structured and how are teams organised? How is work apportioned? How does the department interface with other departments? What strategic plans does the firm have for this department? How does business development work? What kind of support is available?

NEVER assume that things are just going to work in the same way as they do at your firm. The more you understand about the way another firm works, the better able to judge you will be. The more you know when you make your judgement, the more the move is likely to be a long-term one.

If you feel you need some help with this, or it is a long time since you have interviewed, don't be shy to ask your recruiter to take you through a mock interview. That way you can avoid some of the worst pitfalls.

In terms of approach, be open and honest about things. Don't duck questions, particularly the one about why you are leaving. Be honest, but don't fall into the trap of being negative about your current employer, however big the temptation. This never plays well. Keep your answers concise and to the point at all times, unless specifically asked to elaborate. However, all the information you give should be relevant to the question and to the point you are trying to make.

It is unlikely - although not uncommon - that the question of remuneration will come up at a first interview. If you are asked, answer truthfully and honestly. Don't duck the question. It may be that you want a huge pay rise (who doesn't?) but that is something for your recruiter to discuss and for you to decide at a later date. Don't get drawn into a protracted discussion about remuneration at this stage. It will probably be that the firm already knows how much you are paid/draw, in which case you will simply be restating what they know.

Don't, either, get drawn into questioning the interviewers on bonuses, benefits or commission arrangements at this stage, although they may choose to talk about it, which is fine (although try to leave your options open). That will make you sound unnecessarily mercenary. The opportunity is and will be the more important thing. Psychologists, again, quote studies showing that the positive effect of a pay rise, given similar roles, disappears after three months. If you are going for a step-change in your career, then remuneration should not be the first concern.

After the interview

Call your recruiter (if they don't call you). While it is fresh in your mind, relate your experience of the interview, how you think it went and whether you would like to take it to a next stage if offered the opportunity. The recruiter will then go back to the firm and find out what they thought.

It is not uncommon to find that the two parties have radically differing views of what went on. A good interviewer will be trained to present a neutral front to a candidate so that options are left open to them. An experienced interviewee can usually pick out certain 'buying signals' though. Length of interview is one good sign. If you're out of the door in half an hour, it's not usually a good sign, and if you're there for two hours (or end up in the pub) then it's usually pretty positive! Asking you about remuneration and staying on the subject (or asking about whether you would consider a commission-related deal and talking about how that might work) is another positive sign.

Try to learn from negative feedback you might get. Again, listen to your recruiter. Most recruiters will tend to sugar-coat the feedback to some degree, as is only human, so try to pick out the underlying message in what they are saying.

The most commonly-given reason for rejection is 'practice fit'. This is a suitably euphemistic term which can mean anything (and is therefore a useful get-out for firms) but usually just refers to an unspecific 'gut-feel' on behalf of the recruiting firm that you would not fit in at the firm.

Money is not usually a rejection reason, because they wouldn't be interviewing you if they didn't think they could afford you, but can be indirectly if your following doesn't stack up (see Business Plan Best Practice for more information).

Other reasons might be ignorance of the firm or practice area, overconfidence or arrogance, lack of confidence or nervousness, talking too much or too little, not listening enough or being underprepared on your own cv.

The second and further interviews

If things are positive after the first interview, a second interview, usually with more partners, will be arranged. You may be asked to prepare a business plan ahead of this second meeting (see Business Plan Best Practice).

A third meeting will usually also be necessary if things are progressing, although with smaller firms this might not be the case. This will be to meet still more partners and perhaps assistants, or to talk through business plans in more detail. A further meeting, usually with a finance director, may be necessary in the case of equity partners. Requesting a copy of the accounts is also pretty standard if they are not actively offered (which is usual for partners).

This point is where recruiters come in handy. If you are seeing more than one firm, it is very helpful to have all the horses running at the same speed, as it were, and your recruiter should be able to achieve this or certainly put appropriate pressure on firms to try to keep them up to speed where necessary. That will allow you to compare and contrast effectively.

In due course, an offer will hopefully be made. Here, you will need to be guided by your recruiter.

It is at this point that pride and principle should go out of the window. They are two completely unnecessary considerations. The key question is: do you want this move?

It may be - shock, horror - that you are overpaid where you are. If you are (and your recruiter may have given you hints), then it may be that a recruiting firm seeks only to match your salary at best. The likelihood is, particularly if it is a smaller firm than the one you are at, that they will offer you less than you are getting at the moment. Do not try to battle too hard on this point. If you have gone down the line with a firm and the chemistry is good and you are convinced that it is the right opportunity for you, the fact that you're having to take a £5,000 pay cut to do it should be neither here nor there. Any pay cut is likely to have been foreshadowed right at the outset in any case, so it shouldn't come as a surprise. If it does, your recruiter will have forcefully made the point to the firm that they should try to at least match your salary if they can, don't worry! There will usually be some good reason why they can't or won't. Again, trust your recruiter to get you the best possible deal and one which is in line with market norms.

If you need to negotiate the salary upwards, your recruiter can do the horse-trading for you. Do NOT get involved personally. It muddies the waters and is unprofessional. Don't negotiate on benefits. Benefits are pretty standard items and you won't do yourself any favours by trying to change the size of the pitch before the match (hint: it won't work). The one exception is, possibly, regarding pensions contributions, which is a whole minefield all to itself...

In terms of how you react to the offer, there is only one response. You are delighted to get an offer, and you will take a SHORT amount of time to think about it.

This is make-your-mind-up time! Now is not the time to protract the process still further if you have been talking for months about it. Now is also NOT the time to have the conversation with your girlfriend about moving to Hong Kong or Milton Keynes (try ahead of the first interview...).

Keeping a firm hanging on is not a good sign, particularly if you have a serious intention of going there. It does not send the right message at all.

Counter-offers

Don't be seduced by your current firm into staying if you really don't want to. A pay rise will wear off within three months, however fulsome; promotion or restructuring may be a different prospect, but ask yourself: does it change the underlying picture? If it does, great, but think very carefully whether this is the case or not before you decide to stay. If you have interviewed with a number of firms and decide to stay where you are it may compromise future market explorations. Memories can be long, and unless you are careful, it can make you look like someone who will play one firm off against another in order to get a better deal where you are. See Resigning and the Counter-Offer for more information.

Finally, try to do everything with grace, thanks and regret where necessary. It will go a long way if you do find yourself in a sticky situation of this kind. If you feel that you want to maintain a good relationship with a firm you have got close to but have ultimately rejected, make a personal call to the partner who was the main sponsor of your candidacy, apologising and thanking them for their time. Good manners cost nothing and you never know where you - or that interviewing partner - will end up in future.

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