How to handle a bad performance review

Getting a bad performance review – or even a less-than-great review – can be a career nightmare. But before you start drafting an angry resignation letter, remember there are ways you can turn the situation around without moving on. In fact, the way you deal with a bad performance review could be a great opportunity to prove them all wrong and show just how professional you really are. So here’s how to handle those first few weeks after the review in five steps. 1. Stay calm. No matter how you’re feeling on the inside, the worst way to handle a bad review is to show anger or defensiveness. Now is the time to be completely businesslike in everything from emails to your manner during meetings. Out of office hours, take the time you need to talk to friends, hit the gym or do whatever it takes to stay cool,calm and collected at work. 2. Re-read and evaluate your feedback. Take at least 24 hours to clear your head. Then, sit down to read through the feedback on your own. Pay close attention to specific complaints (eg ‘Regularly arrives late to meetings.’) and even closerattention to anything that isn’t specific enough (eg ‘Appears disengaged at times’). Speaking of which… 3. Ask for specific ways to improve. Make a time to talk to your boss about any part of your performance review that isn’t totally clear. Remember to approach this meeting as openly as you can. This isn’t the time to make your case against the review, but to find out exactly what the people above you most want to see changed. Remember perception is key here. 4. Set concrete goals. Once you know what’s expected, turn your feedback into concrete actions. Take each section and turn it into something you can actually do. For example,‘Appears disengaged in meetings’ becomes ‘Note at least one action from each meeting’ and ‘Does not collaborate with team’ becomes ‘Regularly ask colleagues for input in person and/or by email’. 5. Follow up. Give it at least a month before asking for more feedback – you want people to have enough time to notice the effort you’re making (and to see these aren’t temporary changes). Then set a time to meet with the people who gave you the original feedback to ask whether things are moving in the right direction. What if none of that works? It’s unlikely, but in a worst case scenario, none of the above steps will have an effect, and you’ll end up back at square one. If you think the situation isn’t being handled well and things aren’t getting better, it could be time to seek another opinion or start looking for a new opportunity. ____________________________________________________ Jason Elias runs Elias Recruitment, a boutique legal recruitment consultancy specialising in finding lawyers for law firms, NFP’s and corporate in-house teams. Jason is also co-founder of Bulletpoints.com.au – a one-stop shop that simplifies CPD for lawyers. Get in touch at [email protected] . Source: Blog

6 reasons to use a recruiter when hiring

I am obviously a recruiter and of course I would be telling you to use a recruitment agency – but here’re good reasons why…… 1. Don’t waste your advertising time & dollar Advertising is not as easy as it seems. There is an art to writing up the right advertisement and to target the right talent. A lot of mistakes are made by employers who simply throw up a never ending job description as a way of attracting top talent. With most candidates applying for multiple jobs in a day, your ad has to stand out to make them want to press the “Apply Now” button – majority of candidates either go straight to the section on what is in it for them, don’t read past the job title/salary or have no idea they applied as they have set up multiple accounts on various job boards and activated “auto apply”. Even if you have the job ad right, it doesn’t automatically mean that the best candidates are going to see it. There are hundreds of job boards and industry-specific publications, websites and blogs, each with multiple categories and sub categories making it difficult to successfully navigate these online advertising black holes! The good recruiters understand these pitfalls and can have your job placed in the right way and in the right place. Without their expertise, you could be wasting your advertising and marketing dollar on ads that might never be seen, as well as sitting back and waiting for that perfect candidate that never applies. 2. Increasing the candidate pool Recruiters are known to place approximately 80% of their placements with a candidate from their existing talent pool. Good recruiters don’t simply “wack up an ad” – Employers with little or no Recruitment experience can do this, albeit a lot of the time not very well. But even with a good advertising search, there is a large part of the talent pool not actively looking at job boards. Recruiters are constantly busy making connections and networking their talent who are in the “passive” market. They are those candidates who are currently employed not having the time to look themselves, and would like their recruiter to let them know “if there is ever a job like that one that ever becomes available”. Make sure the search for your new employee is coming from a broad-based search utilising your recruiter’s database and network and not just the best of the small group that happen to find an advert by luck. 3. Clearly defined position/hiring outcomes and expectations The positions vacant are pre-qualified before going to market. It is not just a one-way street and every good recruiter will know their employer and the employer will trust the advice of their recruiter. Most new vacancies start with an interrogation of the job role as it is a good opportunity to possibly redesign the position. It might also be an opportunity to discuss why perhaps the role has not worked out with several different candidates, a continual problem within the job responsibilities itself. This is also where the recruiter will advise you of what has worked in the past, what is popular in the market, and other useful information that you wouldn’t have access to when trying to hire on your own. Successful recruiters will walk away with realistic expectations of the employer and a clear defined job description for potential applicants. 4. Expert hiring advice Recruiters will always interview and gain a good understanding of what a candidate is really looking for in a new job and employer… well the good ones will! Recruiters usually get to know their candidates and gain a better understanding of their drivers, strengths, weaknesses, their work history and reasons for changes over their career. It can sometimes just be down to a recruiter “gut feel” about the candidate – instincts that are developed over time with extensive experience. Salary expectations is another issue a good recruiter will manage with a prospective employee. This conversation is sometimes difficult to have between and employee/employer – an employer trying to cut costs for the firm while an employee trying to beat up their salary. There is an element of trust with the recruiter that makes this conversation more realistic. 5. Speed and adaptability Sometimes a new hire is required immediately which is something recruiters are good at – they have a broad range of candidates already in their database and have the ability to act quickly. They normally have an active list of candidates who are able to move at a moment’s notice. They also have a pool of temporary candidates who may be able to step into the role and offer cover while the permanent talent search is being conducted. 6. Getting it right the first time One of the best reasons for using a recruiter is that their work is guaranteed. Guarantees can range from the standard industry three-month period out to six months which lines up more and more with the standard probationary period. Recruiters hate doing a refill and let’s face it, no one likes working for free, so they are making a concerted effort to ensure they get it right the first time with the best candidate possible. Using a recruiter will save you time and money by not having to run the process yourself and also safeguards against making a wrong hire. Making a wrong hiring decision costs an organisation precious time and therefore money as well. If you are looking to fill a role within your organisation, consider using a recruitment agency that specialises in your industry and hire the correct candidate for your company. ____________________________________________________ Jason Elias runs Elias Recruitment, a boutique legal recruitment consultancy specialising in finding lawyers for law firms, NFPs and corporate in house teams. Jason is also co-founder of Bulletpoints.com.au – a one-stop shop that simplifies CPD for lawyers. Get in touch at [email protected]. Source: Blog

Legal Job Index – Legal Vacancies Report for 1st Quarter FY2016

Strong legal jobs market shows Sydney and Melbourne booming Sydney and Melbourne’s law firms are creating new jobs in areas usually associated with a growing economy, the Elias Legal Job Index reveals. The Index tracks trends in the commercial legal jobs market by measuring the number of jobs posted directly on major firm’s websites in Sydney, Melbourne and Newcastle. The first Index, which tracks job posting between July 2015 and September 2015, shows 229 were jobs advertised in the three cities’ major commercial law firms. And the biggest hirers were M&A, corporate, property, banking and finance and litigation practices. “The hiring intention of major commercial law firms is often an early gauge of how the economy will fare over the next little while. When firms are ‘lawyered up’ they usually have a good reason to suspect there will be a significant amount of activity in the area,” Elias says. “So when they’re looking for fee earners in practices such as M&A and corporate, it’s usually a pretty good sign that they expect to be busy.” “It’s not exactly the same story of ‘doom and gloom’ we’re being sold by many sections of the media.” “That said, some of the roles are replacement roles rather than growth roles and we should probably keep that in mind before we get too carried away by just how bullish law firms have become.” Here are some of the trends the Index reported in the period between July and September. Big numbers in Corporate/Mergers and Acquisitions Corporate/M&A and Property practices recorded the highest number of vacancies: Corporate/M&A was responsible for 17% of advertised jobs, followed by Property with 15%. Meanwhile, Banking/Finance and Litigation were equal third registering 13% of advertised vacancies in each area. “No one who knows anything about the property market will be surprised about these numbers,” Elias says. “Firms have been looking for good property lawyers for some time now and they’ve found it close to impossible to keep up with demand from clients. But most of the headlines have focused on the residential housing market whereas these firms deal with much larger-scale constructions.” “The buoyant jobs market in M&A, corporate and banking and finance also shows that there should be a lot of deals getting done at the big end of town over 2016.” Lower numbers in Insolvency, Regulatory/Competition and Employment These three areas experienced the lowest rate of hiring growth for the quarter, each accounting for just 3% of jobs. The two areas with the fewest advertised vacancies were Family Law and Energy, both with 2%. “This wasn’t unexpected because our data focuses on larger firms in markets away from the major energy industry centres of Brisbane and Perth as well as the small number of firms in this category who practise family law” Elias says. “That said, anecdotally the number of jobs in those cities is nothing like in the major two capitals – which suggests that the economy may be again be two- speed but with finance and construction leading the way this time rather than mining.” Times still tough for recent grads Most of Q3 vacancies were for jobs at the mid-senior level, which isn’t great news for the vast number of recently graduate lawyers struggling to get a job. In fact, 60% of available jobs were at Associate level, 30% at Senior Associate level, and only 5% graduate or Junior Associate roles. “Firms are looking for lawyers who are already experienced and often come with their own client base. That’s especially true for roles where they’re looking to replace lawyers who have left,” Elias says. “However, firms often tell me that clients are wary of the idea of junior lawyer ‘practising’ on their accounts. Who knows where this is heading because lawyers do have to learn their profession somehow? But It’s going to be tough for recent graduates for some time to come.” The pace of hiring slowed slightly over the quarter In July, 92 roles advertised, followed by 81 in August and 72 in September. “Firms often wait to the new financial year before hiring,” Elias says. “So it’s natural that there’s a bit of a peak in July. As people slow down in the move to the holidays, we’ll probably see the pace of jobs growth slow down too before getting back to the same levels in February 2016.” Sydney racing ahead In a two-horse race between Sydney and Melbourne, it’s the harbour city showing the vast majority of advertised roles with 68% of all vacancies for the quarter, while Melbourne accounted for 28%. “Sydney is the centre of the current property boom, as well as Australia’s main city for finance and M&A activity,” Elias says. “So it’s little wonder that the vast majority of jobs are being created there.” The other major area covered by the data was Newcastle, which accounted for 3% of jobs advertised. Top firms by advertised vacancy The top firms in terms of number of vacancies advertised for Q3 are: 1. King and Wood Mallesons (13 jobs advertised) 2. Minter Ellison (12) 3. Sparke Helmore Lawyers (12) 4. Clayton Utz (10) 5. Gilbert and Tobin (9) 6. Allens (9) “It’s interesting to note Sparke Helmore ranking third on this list, with jobs advertised across a range of practice areas, despite their comparatively small size,” Elias says. “And outside these firms, a number of choice in-house roles going at places like Suncorp caught my eye.” The Elias Job Index for Q4 will be released in January 2016. For further information or interviews, call Jason Elias on (02) 9362 1859. _______________________________________________________________________________ Jason runs Elias Recruitment, a boutique legal recruitment consultancy that specialises in finding lawyers for law firms, NFPs and corporate inhouse teams. Get in touch at [email protected] Source: Blog

Six Ideas for painless CPD points

Building up your CPD points doesn’t have to feel like a chore. There are ways to meet your requirements while actually enjoying yourself. Today we’ve done the legwork and found six of the best options coming up soon: Six Thinking Hats with Rebecca Stewart, Managing Director, Chalmers International Dr Edward de Bono’s system is still one of the most effective ways to help you (and the people around you) generate high quality solutions to everyday challenges. It’s particularly useful if you need to bring together team members who have different attitudes to problem solving, or if you regularly deal with circular, unproductive meetings. Superstar Lawyer with Shelley Dunstone, Principal, Legal Circles We all know how important our personal brand is, but what are the concrete things that you need to do to make sure you stand out? In this course Shelley Dunstone shares her expertise from over 30 years in the legal profession, along with her passion for helping lawyers build careers they truly enjoy. Mindfulness Bootcamp with Dr Paul Phillips, Psychologist Over the past ten years the word ‘mindfulness’ has shed its new-age undertones and is now seen as a key tool for stress reduction in the workplace. In this course, Dr Paul Phillips shares how easy it is to learn mindfulness techniques and how quickly they can start to make a big difference to your daily work routine. Meditation in a Mad Minute with Nigel Myers, Solicitor It’s easy to write off meditation as something a busy legal professional couldn’t possibly have time for. But what most people don’t realise is that mediation is not only simple to learn and practice, but it can also have hugely positive effects on your mood and your productivity. Business Development for Law Firms with Sue-Ella Prodonovich, Director, Prodonovich Advisory, ALPMA Speaker of the Year With experience of the inner-workings of successful law firms in Australia and the USA, Sue-Ella Prodonovich knows a thing or two about winning work. In this practical course, she brings together ideas from both sides of the Pacific, showing how you can put your ideas for winning new business into action, without interrupting the flow of work for your current clients. Triple Your Memory and Confidence, and Halve Your Stress with Jonathan Robinson, Senior Associate, Frank Sanitate Associates Who would turn down a chance to remember more and stress less? If you feel like you’re running on fumes, this course will give you practical ways to get back in the game, covering everything from remembering names and faces to staying motivated and maintaining work-life balance. Ready to sign up? Register for these courses and find many more at bulletpoints.com.au You can also keep track of your CPD points via our CPD tracker, find local events, and sign up for online learning options. ____________________________________________________ Jason Elias runs Elias Recruitment, a boutique legal recruitment consultancy specialising in finding lawyers for law firms, NFPs and corporate in house teams. Jason is also co-founder of Bulletpoints.com.au – a one-stop shop that simplifies CPD for lawyers. Get in touch at [email protected]

Hottest Legal Jobs – Latest Elias Legal Jobs Index

The end of 2015 saw continued growth in corporate and M&A recruitment but property law roles started to dry up, according to the Elias Legal Jobs Index for Q2 FY2016. A change in Canberra bringing confidence? Over Q2 FY2016m the total number of legal vacancies in the Sydney and Melbourne markets dropped from 229 to 183, which reflects the usual dip in hiring activity over the Christmas/New Year break. That said, corporate/M&A vacancies saw an uptick of 2% to a total of 41. To me, this shows a feeling of confidence in the Sydney and Melbourne corporate sectors, which could partly be explained by the change of leadership in Canberra. Buzz in Sydney, but not for property roles Around half of the corporate and commercial law roles this quarter were advertised in Sydney, which suggests Sydney firms are ramping up their hiring activity to prepare for deals in 2016. Family law vacancies also slightly increased over the quarter, but openings for property roles saw a dramatic 10% dip to just 10 vacancies. This is likely due to the slowdown in the domestic properly market – a result of China’s poor economic outlook. Vacancies in banking and finance also dropped 3% from 31 to 27 openings. And, if you were looking for a role in the tech/media field, this probably wasn’t the quarter to be job hunting – we saw a drop from 15 openings in Q1 to just 1 in Q2. The full picture See the table below for a complete breakdown of where each vacancy was across both Q1 and Q2 FY2016: Area Q2 FY2016 Q1 FY2016 % of total: Q2 2015 % of total: Q1 2015 Corporate/M&A 41 38 18.6 16.6 Property 10 34 4 14.8 Banking/Finance 27 31 10.4 13.5 Litigation/Disputes 31 30 14 13.1 Insurance 19 20 8.6 8.7 Commercial 14 17 6 7.4 Tech/Media 1 15 0.4 6.6 Personal injury 5 9 2.2 3.9 Tax 8 8 3.6 3.6 Employment 5 7 2.2 3.1 Regulatory 5 7 2.2 3.1 Insolvency 0 6 – 2.6 Energy 2 5 0.9 2.2 Family 4 2 1.8 0.9 Construction 6 – 2.7 – IP/IT 5 – 2.2 – TOTAL 220 229 ____________________________________________________ Jason Elias runs Elias Recruitment, a boutique legal recruitment consultancy specialising in finding lawyers for law firms, NFPs and corporate in house teams. Jason is also co-founder of Bulletpoints.com.au – a one-stop shop that simplifies CPD for lawyers. Get in touch at [email protected] Source: Blog Posts

It’s time you really spoke your mind!

Australian Legal Community Curated content for lawyers. We’ve just launched a new website for the Australian legal community. australianlegal.community gives Australia’s lawyers access to the best unfiltered content about what it’s like to practice law in Australia today. And we want you to be a part of it! A one-stop shop We’re hoping australianlegal.community becomes a one-stop shop for Australian lawyers that will keep you connected to the latest trends, issues and career opportunities. For that reason, the site brings together news from the best sources across the web—including Lawyers Weekly and Australasian Lawyer—to cover legal news in what’s happening in the law, the jobs market, and look at developments around the globe. Real-world, unfiltered perspectives on life as a lawyer But most importantly, we’ll be publishing real, unfiltered perspectives from people working in the Australian legal industry today. So this is your chance to hear their perspectives, understand their challenges and get the jump on any changes that are happening in our industry before they hit. Along with keeping you up-to-date with the latest news and trends,australianlegal.community will also keep you connected to legal job opportunities and provide information about how you can take the next steps in your career through CPD. Want to be part of the something If you’ve got something to say about working as an Australian lawyer today, we’re looking for real, honest contributions about life in a law firm, or what it’s like to be an in-house, community or government lawyer. We’re particularly interested in your take on what it’s like to be building a career and honing your legal practice. We also want to hear about your experiences as part of a firm. What are the biggest challenges? Which approaches have made things easier for you? And what are some of the things the industry needs to change? How to contribute Don’t be shy—we want your thoughts and we know other lawyers are keen to hear what you have to say. Check out the site at australianlegal.community, then email your contribution to us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from YOU!

Quick tips to get your resume read by decision makers

The average time spent reading a resume by an HR manager or recruiter is 6.25 seconds, so you have to make sure your resume is easy to read and stands out (and not in an “bright pink font, fancy border and cheesy headshot” kind of way). First impressions are crucial and your resume is your first point of contact with whoever is hiring, so make sure its not also your last point of contact by following these outlines. DO: Use formal language Use the first person Check your spelling (get a friend to double-check) Make sure the skills, etc. that you have written are described well BUT succinctly – more words = more likely it is to be skimmed over. Explain gaps in your employment e.g. parental leave, travel to Europe, LLM Be truthful and accurate – don’t embellish or eliminate roles. What to avoid when filling out your resume, DON’T: Include photos – even if they are professional headshots, it is not appropriate. include potentially discriminatory material e.g. DOB, marital status, children, religion. If you write your CV so that it is easy to read and highlights your relevant experience for the role you are applying for, then you will have a much better chance of getting the desired outcome – an interview. A great simple CV format to follow is as follows: Name Contact details – (mobile number and professional email – not “crazyrob87”) Education/ qualifications Graduation year and University Admission dates and jurisdictions Employment history Firm, title, period of employment (month and year) Duties and responsibilities Achievements (repeat for each role) Skills (list) Memberships (as relevant to your professional experience) Hobbies and interests Referees ____________________________________________________ Jason Elias runs Elias Recruitment, a boutique legal recruitment consultancy specialising in finding lawyers for law firms, NFPs and corporate in house teams. Jason is also co-founder of Bulletpoints.com.au – a one-stop shop that simplifies CPD for lawyers. Get in touch at [email protected] [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

How do the 10 National Employment Standards (NES) apply to you?

The National Employment Standards (NES) are apart of the Fair Work Act 2009 and contain 10 minimum standards for employment. What are the 10 National Employment Standards? Maximum weekly hours of work – 38 hours per week (plus reasonable additional hours*). Requests for flexible working arrangements – employees in certain circumstances can request a change in their working arrangements. Parental leave – up to 12 months unpaid leave per employee, (plus a right to request an additional 12 months unpaid leave*). Annual leave – 4 weeks paid leave per year. Personal/carer’s leave and compassionate leave – full-time employees are entitled to 10 days paid personal/carer’s leave, two days unpaid carer’s leave as required, and two days compassionate leave (unpaid for casuals) if required. Community service leave – entitled to unpaid leave for voluntary emergency activities and leave for jury service (plus an entitlement to be paid for up to 10 days for jury service*). Long service leave – a transitional entitlement for employees as outlined in an applicable pre modernised award.* Public holidays – a paid day off on a public holiday (except where reasonably* requested to work). Notice of termination and redundancy pay – up to 5 weeks notice of termination of employment and up to 16 weeks severance pay on being made redundant (determined on length of service within organisation*). Provision of a Fair Work Information Statement – All employers must provide and present a Fair Work Information Statement to all new employees and outlines employment rights, conditions, and entitlements. *in correlation to the Fair Work Act 2009. So what does this mean for Employees? The NES covers all employees under the national workplace relations system, however there are certain entitlements that differ slightly depending on employment status (i.e. full-time, casual, part-time, etc.)more information here. What does the NES mean for Employers? For Employers, the terms in awards, agreements, and employment contracts cannot exclude or provide any entitlement less than the National Employment Standards. However, employers can and are entitled to specify terms that affect the awards and agreements in the NES in certain areas. For example, employers may specify terms in relation to: Employee working hours (averaging an employee’s ordinary hours of work) Paid leave (cashing out and taking of paid annual leave) Carer’s leave (cashing out of paid personal/carer’s leave) Public Holidays (the substitution of public holidays) Redundancy Pay (situations in which redundancy pay entitlements do not apply). Employers may also supplement the NES by providing entitlements that are more favourable for employees. Employment contracts can only have effect on employees provided that the entitlements are similar, equal to, or more favourable than the NES towards their employees. Any employer found to be in violation the NES can be found or reported, resulting heavy penalties. A breach of a provision of the NES can lead to penalties of up to $10,800 for an individual and $54,000 for a corporation. For more information about the NES and how they apply to you or your employer visit the FairWork Website. ______________________________________________________ Jason runs Elias Recruitment, a boutique legal recruitment consultancy that specialises in finding lawyers for law firms, NFPs and corporate inhouse teams. Get in touch at [email protected] [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

7 signs it’s over (between you and your firm)

“So what now?” It’s a question I’m used to hearing from people at all levels of the food chain. They’ve put in the hours, made compromises and sacrificed big to get to where they are today. But at some point, they’ve started to wonder whether it’s really worth sticking it out. Only you know when it’s time to move on. But if my headline caught your attention, chances are you’ve at least thought about what the next move might be. So, if you’re on the fence about whether you need to make a clean break, here are some red flags that it’s time to move on.   Staying doesn’t make financial sense It probably seems risk, but striking out on a new path might mean you actually end up earning more. Instead of contributing to the retirement fund of the full equity partners, take a larger slice yourself. After all, some firms are now offering 70 cents in the dollar and cross-referral fees. There could be other benefits too, like being able to work fewer hours and working from home. You may find you even have time to take that holiday that never seems to come around.   You’re risking guilt by association No matter how many hours you put in, if you’re not working for the right people, that’s energy wasted. Some firms are known for excellence in one area and not others. Ask yourself: how positive is our firm’s reputation in my practice area? Who are we being compared to? Are we being held back or even missing out on work because of the way the firm is perceived? Perhaps moving on is a better bet for your reputation.   You’re being pushed out of the main game Managing demanding clients is one thing. Managing internal conflict is another level of stress altogether. Sometimes firm management just won’t be on your side. Perhaps they’re excluding you from managing bigger clients because of some perceived conflict. Did you back the wrong person at the last partner’s meeting? Politicking is part and parcel of law firm but if it is taking up too much headspace, it may be time to outgrow the petty game playing.   Your firm is choked by bureaucracy Too much paperwork and too many meetings might eat into your practice. You would be better off developing business and nurturing client relationships rather than attending endless irrelevant meeting that go nowhere. Overcomplicated workplaces can be very difficult to change. So ask yourself, do you have time to wait around while these knots are being untangled? Or do you have better things to be doing?   There’s been a change in direction When you started your current role it may have been a perfect match. But things change. If your firm decides to take things in a new direction, your areas of focus may simply not fit anymore. Now you’re faced with a choice. Do you get on board with this new plan and compromise what you’re doing? Or do you stay true to your focus?   There’s a values mismatch This is tough because values underpin every decision, big and small. Even if your situation looks fantastic on paper, a fundamental mismatch in values or personalities will wear you down over time. Values don’t have to be spelled out in a strategic document. You’ll know what your firm’s priorities are, and whether you can keep working towards them.   You know something better could be out there Even if you’re sure you can stick it out for another year or so, you might be missing out on golden opportunities by keeping your head in the sand. We all know the best roles are often those that go unadvertised – part of the “hidden” jobs market. Now might be time to get a proper assessment of what your opportunities are and let those enviable jobs to come to you (i.e. get headhunted) by getting to know connected recruiters in the market. And if I can leave you with one key piece of advice, start thinking about your next move while you still have a good bargaining position and can move on your own terms and timelines.   Jason runs Elias Recruitment, a boutique legal recruitment consultancy that specialises in finding lawyers for law firms, NFPs and corporate inhouse teams. Get in touch at [email protected]

How to get Headhunted

Don’t go looking for the plum legal roles because you simply won’t find them. Instead, they’ll usually come looking for you. Good employers know that the best senior lawyers are so busy running their practices that they don’t have time to trawl through job ads. They also like keeping strategic hires out of the public eye so the marketplace doesn’t catch on to what they’re doing and where they’re headed. That’s why, when it comes to bringing in the big guns, they’ll use third party headhunters to track down, sound out and snare the best talent for themselves. Headhunters don’t use a scattergun approach. Once they’ve been briefed they usually put feelers out via networks, compile a longlist, then meticulously research those candidates to see who’s likely to be a good fit. By the time they approach someone they pretty much know who they are, what they do and what their reputation is like. So, if you want to be in their sights, there are six things you should be doing. 1. Think profile, profile, profile You’ll never be headhunted if no one’s ever heard of you. So if you’re not already building a profile for yourself, start now. Put yourself forward to speak on your areas of expertise wherever possible, especially for industry events or CPD. Check out Bulletpointsfor examples of content. If you’re not comfortable speaking in public, get coaching today. Write about important issues and hot topics affecting your work and share these – not just via your firm’s newsletters but directly with your contacts on LinkedIn. To ramp things up, join LinkedIn groups of like-minded people such as Australian Legal Community and start contributing. Consider publishing in industry journals – or better still, form relationships with journalists so that you’re quoted in the business or mainstream press as an expert in your field. 2. Get LinkedIn working for you What a headhunter will look for, apart from your skills, experience and personality is whether your practice complements their client’s. Make sure your LinkedIn profile provides specific details of the projects you’ve worked on and the value you brought. (Without breaching client confidentiality, of course). Headhunters want to know you have worked on the same kind of matters the client has briefed them about. So don’t be shy about blowing your own horn. 3. Give off subtle signals Speaking of which, don’t go and change your LinkedIn status to ‘Currently seeking new opportunities’. But you can start giving off some signals that you’re looking to move. All good headhunters will have software telling them when their contacts make certain changes to their profile. You should consider updating your experience, adding new projects and changing Inmailsettings to notify users that you are open to “career opportunities”. 4. Make yourself contactable While gatekeeping receptionists can be great at shielding you from overseas telemarketing calls, they can act as a block for headhunters who want to sound you out. So make yourself easy to contact by including your mobile number and personal email address on your LinkedIn profile. If a headhunter struggles to reach you, they may bypass you and run the opportunity by the next person on their list. And, if a headhunter calls and you can’t speak freely, set a time to chat when you’re out of the office. This also gives you a chance to check out their LinkedIn profile to see whether you want to deal with them. 5. Don’t breach etiquette Don’t tell anyone in your firm – and I mean anyone – about your plans to move, even once you’ve been approached. If the headhunting process isn’t handled discreetly, you’re likely to jeopardise your current position as well as any new one. If a headhunter alerts you to an opportunity never approach the employer directly. Not only will your overtures be met with blank stares, you’ll be seen as disloyal. They’re using a headhunter for a reason. 6. But don’t be afraid If a headhunter does reach out to you, don’t be afraid to milk them for their expertise. It never hurts to know the state of the market and have a trusted source of intelligence, especially around salary review time. Besides, even if the specific opportunity they wanted to talk about isn’t right for you at this time, something may hit their desk in the near future. Finally, if you’ve noticed that they’ve looked at your LinkedIn profile drop them a line to find out why. Headhunting can be a slow dance of missed calls, profile views and unnoticed messages sitting in your Gmail account. So, if you’re open to a move, make sure you keep your end up too. And there you have it, 6 steps that will bring you closer to being headhunted. If you’d like to find out more contact Jason Elias ([email protected]) Jason runs Elias Recruitment, a boutique legal recruitment consultancy that specialises in finding lawyers for law firms, NFPs and corporate inhouse teams.