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.