The Legal Job Hunt Takes Time That Most Are Not Willing to Give

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Summary: Many attorneys give up after not receiving immediate results on the job search but Harrison Barnes explains why they should keep persevering.

There is a question many attorneys will face at some point during their job search: “Should You Pause Your Law Firm Job Search If You Are Not Getting [Enough] Interviews?” In this article by Harrison Barnes, he answers this question for attorneys so that they can determine the best plan of action.

  

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There is no secret that work in a law firm is difficult. The job is not a simple show-up-and-collect-a-paycheck type. Attorneys work hard grueling hours and when that work stops and an attorney is out of work, finding a new position is extremely hard. It does not matter how many hours they billed at their previous job, attorneys out of work will face an uphill battle to get a law firm to take them seriously. Barnes explains that this battle is not impossible but it won’t be fun.

There are two factors that Barnes states will allow an attorney to eventually find another position as an attorney – trusting your legal recruiter and not giving up on the search. For many attorneys, relinquishing power to someone else is a nearly impossible first step because the thought of trusting someone else to take care of their career is scary.

Barnes reminds attorneys that when they use a recruiter, “It is a service you are receiving, and services are different than buying products.” The moment you hire a legal recruiter does not guarantee that you will walk out with a job in-hand. Finding not only any job but a job that fits you takes more than just one day or one interview. An attorney will have to attend several interviews, which may take months before finding a job. This can become very discouraging and lead many attorneys to want to throw in the towel and move on to another career.

An attorney that does not trust their legal recruiter will not have any success in the process. They will second-guess the interviews the recruiter sends them to, ruining their chances of impressing the law firms and receiving a job offer. When there is no trust between the attorney and recruiter, the service won’t be successful.

Good legal recruiters, like those at BCG Attorney Search, aren’t going to waste the attorney’s time or their time by working with just anyone. Legal recruiters chose to work with attorney’s that have a chance at succeeding. They trust the attorney to be worth the chance. If a BCG Attorney Search legal recruiter is working with you, know that they will do everything within their ability to work for you and find you a job. This may mean adjusting your perception of what the process may be in finding a new job. You likely won’t have multiple law firms interested in you and multiple offers to contend with. According to Barnes, “All it takes is one firm and one job offer – that’s it.” He continues, “The job market is a moving parade – you cannot predict when firms will be interested in you; it just happens.”

A law firm may not be interested in you right now but in a month or two or many, their needs may transform drastically so that they are finally interested in what you have to offer. You may also need to relocate in order to find a position that fits your needs and pay requirements. Attorneys are competitive to the core and strive on excelling so being rejected by one law firm after another goes against their norm. Rejection can be embarrassing so being strong enough to not let that embarrassment stop them takes a special attorney. Just like it takes persistence on your legal cases to do the best job for your clients, it takes persistence as an attorney to find the best job possible.

Why do you think attorneys struggle with embarrassment? Tell us in the comments below.

To learn how the market changes, read these previous state of the market reports:

• Real Estate Market Booming for Attorneys
• State of the Fall 2016 Law Firm Hiring Market
• What’s the State of the Legal Job Market in 2016?

Photo: flickr.com