Vacancies
Although we regularly advertise a selection of our current vacancies in the legal press, we don't include a full jobs database on our website. Far too many recruiters' own on-line job boards are out of date, inaccurate and unwieldy and we'd much rather focus our efforts on our client relationships and your job search.
You will find many of our jobs on several of the leading online legal jobs boards - see links below - but if you are considering a new move (or would just like an informal career discussion), we urge you to contact us so that we can discuss your requirements in depth, and provide you with full and up-to-date details of all our instructions.
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Market Review (February '09): Tough times, but opportunities are out there!
There is no doubt that the ‘credit crunch’ is affecting law firms’ activity levels and confidence, inevitably impacting on lawyer recruitment decisions. We are seeing less opportunistic or speculative hiring from our clients and practice groups are increasingly being required to produce robust business cases in support of proposed vacancies. Where firms are hiring – and many of them still are, albeit more selectively – the recruitment process is perhaps more rigorous than it has been in recent years, with sponsoring partners recognising that their hiring decisions are likely to come under more scrutiny in the current economic climate.
Some practice areas have been hit harder than others, with Property (Residential and Commercial), Corporate and Banking particularly badly affected. However, even in hard-hit disciplines, where some firms are resorting to redundancies, others are recognising that the current market represents an opportunity to take on additional resources in areas where they have perhaps struggled to recruit in the recent past.
Some practice areas are booming in these harder times; as you might expect, there is huge demand for Insolvency lawyers, Banking and Financial Services litigators, and Professional Indemnity specialists, and contentious lawyers generally are popular. Employment Departments are also extremely busy at the moment, no doubt having to cope with the increasing levels of redundancy and restructuring work resulting from the downturn. There are some excellent career opportunities around in these high demand areas and talented lawyers with the right skill set are in a strong position to negotiate favourable terms and fast-track career progression.
Although some candidates are reluctant to make a move given the economic uncertainties, perhaps (generally mistakenly) fearing a possible LIFO situation, others are seeing the changing working patterns and business environment as the perfect excuse to realise often long-held career and lifestyle objective
Although these are undoubtedly more challenging times for recruiters and for our lawyer candidates and law firm clients, there are still some superb opportunities around for those wishing to explore the market – they’re just harder to find! Regional law firms are becoming increasingly competitive when it comes to pitching for national, and even international, work and are more and more attractive to London based organisations reviewing their legal spend. Despite the downturn, most of our clients still have an eye to making longer term strategic hires when the right candidate comes along.
No one really knows how long the recession is going to last, so if you are interested in pursuing your legal career in the South West, it’s perhaps more important now than ever to register with a well regarded and connected, local recruitment agency that can keep you informed of suitable opportunities as they arise – they’re certainly becoming easier to miss!
Don't forget...
1. Not all jobs are advertised
Although the majority of our successful candidates do fill active law firm vacancies, we place a significant proportion of our candidates into new roles that simply didn't exist prior to a specific client approach made by us on their behalf. This type of discreet, proactive approach really can and does produce results - particularly for high calibre lawyers wishing to target a discrete and self-contained market, such as the South West. For these candidates, there never was - and may never have been - a 'vacancy' for them to respond to.
2. Right place, right time?
You may be happy to bide your time and wait for the perfect vacancy to come along, but can you be sure that you'll get to hear about it? Even if you're in no rush to find a new role, it helps to have someone who understands your career objectives keeping a constant look out for you in your target market.
Career Counsel acts as an employment agency in the introduction of candidates to its clients.
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