The Role of the Legal Recruiter
The function of a legal recruiter is relatively simple: to help place candidates in jobs at law firms or corporations. The mechanics of how they do this, however, vary widely. There are legal recruiters that walk candidates through the entire process, and help them understand the many nuances. There are others that essentially just hand them a list of law firms or corporations currently hiring. When a candidate retains the services of a legal recruiter, he or she should know exactly what to expect. A good legal recruiter examines the candidate’s resume and lets them know whether or not it is suited for the positions they are applying for. A bad one simply submits the resume to law firms and hopes they get a favorable review. The critical difference is whether or not you need extra assistance. If the answer is yes, make sure you find a recruiter who offers this service. If the answer is no, their productivity skills are not in your best interest. Legal recruiters only work on a contingency. If a candidate does not get hired by a law firm, they don’t pay a fee. The quality of legal recruiters in Tampa has increased recently as more come into the marketplace. Still, candidates should be aware that working with more than one legal recruiter can cause conflict between , creating a potential for mistrust if they are submitting the same candidates to law firms.
Client Relations is Key
The relationship between legal recruiters and law firms and corporations is crucial to clients coming away with a favorable match and a potential new job. A recruiter must have an in-depth knowledge of the firm or corporation he or she is pitching candidates to. If they are unfamiliar with the firm or corporation, on basic knowledge such as who their clients are, they cannot offer related skills and attributes in their representations to the firms. The better legal recruiters build relationships, just as lawyers do. They take the time to communicate with the hiring partners and make sure they know each person they propose to an opening. Without this insight, the candidate essentially becomes a nameless face from off the street. The result is the client likely will not be impressed with the person, and he or she misses out on the opportunity because another candidate of similar caliber made a better impression. The better recruiters also have their client’s best interests in mind. They have to be able to get someone in the door for an interview, and they also have to prepare them with as much knowledge as possible. Someone who is too busy to be knowledgeable about a firm’s practice areas or success on certain cases is not worth much to the client.
The Benefits of Using a Legal Recruiter in Tampa
A local Tampa legal recruiter is invaluable in a number of ways, the first of which is they are always up to date on the best talent inside and outside of the Tampa legal market. Tampa is a unique business and legal community in that so many of our lawyers and law firms develop strong personal relationships so that the lawyers and law firms in Tampa know who to go after when a lateral opportunity presents itself. A local Tampa legal recruiter will also be able to connect our clients with the handful of lawyers that have the ability to bring in new business or start a new practice group that it will be difficult if not impossible for any other legal recruiter or search firm to accomplish.
It is well known that it takes a long time to develop relationships and a following to attract and retain clients and business in the legal space. It is a fact that we all can estimate how long the average partner with a book of business has been working in their field and local area. With local Tampa legal recruiting experience comes relationships with local law firms and in-house counsel that form the foundation of your Tampa legal headhunters success in the market.
Having your legal recruiter in your own town and industry location will also provide you with better access to our clients than other legal recruiters or search firms because we know our market and are known by our local clients, law firms, and the lawyers in our local legal community. I think that is clear.
How to Spot a Great Tampa Legal Recruiter
When searching for a top legal recruiter in Tampa, there are several key criteria to consider. As you begin your search, ask potential recruiters about their industry-specific experience and success rates in placing candidates like yourself. Experienced Tampa legal recruiters will be knowledgeable about the local legal market, including which firms are hiring and what types of positions are available. They may also have insight into firm culture and hiring trends that can help you find the opportunity that is the best fit for you.
It’s also important to consider how well the recruiter understands both your professional and personal needs. The best Tampa legal recruiters will take the time to get to know you and your career aspirations so they can match you with the right opportunity. They should also be able to provide detailed information about the position and firm so you can make an informed decision about whether to pursue the opportunity.
If you’re considering relocation to Tampa, be sure to choose legal recruiters who are familiar with the local area, including schools and housing options. They should also be able to give you an idea of the local job market, cost of living and quality of life so you can determine whether it’s the right fit for you and your family.
Tampa Legal Recruiters Offer These Services
Legal recruiters in Tampa provide a wide range of services to their clients. Initially, the recruiter works with you to build your resume and identify your career goals. Your resume is the first document that potential employers will see, so it’s crucial for it to be as polished and professional as possible. Your recruiter edits your resume to ensure that there are no typos, that it’s formatted properly, and that it clearly portrays your most relevant skills and achievements. If your resume fails to meet these standards, it gives a bad first impression and may result in lost opportunities.
Your Tampa legal recruiter also prepares you for the interview. The recruiter can provide information on the company or firm to help you determine how your interests align with theirs . She can also give you advice on how to present yourself in a confident and professional manner. The last thing you want is to walk into an interview totally unprepared. Your recruiter gives you information on what types of questions to anticipate, as well as guidance on how to answer them.
In the unfortunate event that an employer makes an offer that’s either unacceptable or unfair, your recruiter can help you with negotiating between potential employers. She has experience with negotiating job offers and will ensure that the final offer is in your best interest. Compensation packages offer a variety of perks to entice prospective employees. Recruiters can help not just with negotiating salary, but also with maximizing perks such as bonuses, a sign-on bonus, a partial or full reimbursement for moving expenses, extra days of vacation and more.
Success Through Tampa Legal Recruiters
Through the years, legal recruiters in Tampa have played a pivotal role in turning backgrounds and career aspirations into success stories. One such client, Maria, was a third-year associate at an international law firm in New York but was seeking to move back to Tampa, where she had grown up. She was highly motivated but found the job market in the Sunshine State to be quite competitive, due to other New Yorkers looking to return home. Not only that, due to a growing emphasis on diversity, many firms were prioritizing candidates who had deep roots in the community, such as individuals with family in the area or alumni of Florida law schools. Maria, healthily disheartened, took the opportunity to consult a Tampa recruiter.
Having a clear idea of the market conditions, the recruiter hesitated slightly but told Maria that he would review her resume. After a review of her resume and her practice area, it was determined that Maria’s experience would be of interest to several of his top clients. If her goal was to live and practice in Tampa, he would do everything in his power to make it happen.
Maria took the recruiter’s guidance and pursued the interview process. She remained nervous through interviews and callback interviews, but the Tampa recruiter kept checking in to provide encouragement and help her refine her interview skills. Eight months later, after what felt like a hundred interviews, incomplete callbacks, and disappointment, Maria received a great offer to work for a well-respected boutique law firm in Tampa. Not only was she now living closer to home, but she was being paid more. Maria’s Tampa recruiter had helped her find the right position.
Another example dates to two years ago, when a law firm in Tampa was struggling to hire a senior banking partner to head up its practice. As one of its top legal recruiters in Tampa, I was called in to assist in the search. The partners were somewhat unusual in that they provided their banking lawyers with a portable book of business. High-quality banking partners with robust books of business were often lured to work elsewhere, for a number of reasons. The law firm had interviewed at least a half dozen senior banking attorneys, all at noted law firms in the city, to no avail. As a legal recruiter in Tampa, I have integrity and am committed to making the right placement — not just the first one. I told the firm that I would be interested in continuing to work with them if they were open to revisiting the issue of portability and portable books of business.
The legal recruiters in Tampa and the law firm agreed that we should carve out time to address these issues. I was able to arrange a series of meetings over two days with the recruiting committee and then the compensation committee, in addition to a key partner in the banking practice who had a significant book of business. At the meetings we reviewed raw data regarding the firm’s compensation structure and compared it to compensation at firms in other key markets, such as Tallahassee, New York, Chicago, and Atlanta; we discussed the reasons for the nonportability of the book, and we prepared an in-depth analysis of comparisons of the firm’s compensation in relation to other firms, including analyses of attrition due to compensation issues, and the time it took for new hires to bring their businesses with them. The hiring committee agreed that it would take at least $1 million in increased compensation in order to successfully attract young high-quality banking attorneys who they thought would be interested in the position and the firm. Then the firm engaged in slight modification of its compensation practices. I was able to find several qualified candidates who had a good fit for the firm, some of whom had left large firms and many of whom had seen the work done in the firm as right in their practice wheelhouse. In the end, the firm hired one of those candidates, and the practice is strong and flourishing. His practice has expanded and he now has two other attorneys working with him as a result of his move, and another partner has just been added. The firm has plans to grow even more. It just goes to show how the right strategic hiring decisions can prove to be extremely profitable.
The Tampa Legal Job Market
It’s no secret that the legal job market has been changing rapidly over the past several years. What was once a highly competitive and very difficult environment to get your first job is now a highly competitive and still very difficult environment to even get an interview. Many litigious firms have been merged and closed up while administrative firms tend to be growing with more consistent work.
Top practice areas include corporate law , financial law, intellectual property, and environmental law. In addition, health and medical practices have been increasingly popular. Employers are looking for candidates with unique skills, ambitions, and modern technical capabilities. "Social media expert with a niche in financial law" is always a dream for any legal employer.