Starting your search for a new role? Working with a recruiter is the way to go, as Lateral Link's recruiters tell us...
Anyone who’s ever moved houses will tell you one thing: nobody ever said it was easy. Packing tape, brown boxes, moving vans; it can be a time of high risk. Is my new place the right size? Does it have enough outside space? How loud can I play my cello without my neighbors knocking on my door to complain? Picking somewhere that ticks all your boxes can be dicey, but oftentimes, with high risk comes high reward. Surprisingly, law firms and houses have a lot in common in this regard. By no means are we telling you to live at work, but when picking a firm to lateral to, you go through the same stress as you would picking a new place, asking all the same questions (apart from the cello – we’re not sure how well cellos and law firms mix). It can be a trying time; the universe of law firms is vast, and attempting to traverse it alone may prove to be more difficult than you anticipated. If you’re determined to try, we’d advise you to pump the brakes. Consider working with a recruiter; they can make your job hunt a whole lot easier. How? Good thing you asked: Lateral Link’s Vered Krasna, Abby Gordon, Steven Rushing, and Lucas Caruso tell us all about the timeline of making a move and give us some much-needed advice on exactly how to work with a recruiter.
Now, we all know what a recruiter does in theory – it’s in the name – but many people don’t have a real grasp on what a legal recruiter’s day-to-day looks like. So, we asked! “No day is ever the same,” Vered Krasna, managing director and regional leader of the Northeast markets, smiles, “which makes this job very flexible, but also very demanding. The best recruiters have a diversified deck.” This mixed deck includes anything from “client meetings with law firms, in-house meetings,” and “calls with prospective candidates” to “reconnecting with current candidates, prepping people for interviews, and sharing posted and unposted opportunities with your candidates to really align them to whatever their search parameters are.” Really, it’s all about “landing your candidate the ideal opportunity,” Krasna affirms. As principal Abby Gordon points out, “A lot of what we do is career coaching, whether somebody is imminently looking to switch jobs or not. That’s the part of recruiting I enjoy the most.” Recruiters are very involved from start to finish, as we heard that there’s also interview prep, resume organization, and plenty of chasing firms for updates to be done; as Gordon puts it, “We’re there to help every step of the way.”
“A lot of what we do is career coaching, whether somebody is imminently looking to switch jobs or not. That’s the part of recruiting I enjoy the most.”
Timing is Everything
So… how long will it take to get the job? “That’s the golden question,” Krasna laughs, “everyone wants to know the answer. But as I always say, I don’t have a crystal ball! There are a lot of factors at play, considering market conditions, the candidate’s practice area and their corresponding class level. It can take up to 6 months from initial conversation to placement, with exceptions of 1 month, typically found in an urgent boutique search.” We’re no fortune tellers either, but managing director Steven Rushing offers us a general timeline, starting with the advice: “Let’s work backwards.” Rushing details that “from the initial day you start your search to when you walk through the doors at your new job, that’s somewhere between two to three months on average.” However, a large part of that is “completely out of the candidate’s hands.” This three-month window encompasses two weeks’ notice, conflicts and background checks; “that right there is already four weeks,” Rushing nods. In terms of interviewing, “at a best-case scenario, you do maybe one round per week and get an offer the following week. That’s roughly three weeks.”
However, this process isn’t an exact science, as director Lucas Caruso caveats, “it’s really firm-dependent,” and Gordon agrees: “Every firm is different, and every department within each firm is different.” Sometimes with “the smaller firms, especially litigation or IP boutiques, the process can be longer because they want the candidate to meet with everyone at the boutique.” It can also be “a bigger commitment for a smaller firm to bring someone on because they’re expecting you to stay long term, whereas for a huge international firm, it’s not the end of the world if they make one or two bad hires,” Gordon contemplates. Caruso adds, “You are also, to some degree, at the mercy of the market. So, if you’re trying to find that perfect dream job, it’s not going to happen at the snap of your fingers.”
Patience is a virtue when it comes to your search; “the slower times of the year can dictate a longer timeline,” Rushing admits, and Caruso echoes this: “Life happens to a lot of people. Memorial Day weekend, the Fourth of July, kids going back to school – so eight weeks can turn into twelve really quickly.” Rushing adds that “firms are also being very selective, interviewing several candidates, so what would normally be a two- or three-month period is sometimes stretched to six months.” Nationally, “AmLaw firms have been much more deliberate. The feedback alone can take weeks, and it takes time to schedule the next interview because you need everyone’s schedules to align,” Krasna tells us.
What’s as important as understanding how long your search might take is understanding when hiring periods are busiest throughout the year. Rushing breaks this down for us: “Spring to fall is by far the biggest period for hiring. It really kicks into gear around February 1st or so, and that goes until somewhere in early June. Things progressively slow down over the course of the summer.” What about now? “Traditionally speaking, August is very, very quiet,” Rushing reflects, “but that’s been the opposite this year. Things picked up around the 4th of July – particularly on the associate side.” That said, “things pick up dramatically from roughly Thanksgiving in a race to the end of the year, with December still an active month 'til a couple weeks before the holidays. Usually in December though, it’s more about finishing things up; there aren’t many new interviews taking place, but if you’re in the process and your start date is January 1st, firms are tying up loose ends in December.”
You Can Go Your Own Way
When planning anything – birthdays, parties, lunches, sports meets – we all know that the best course of action is to get started as soon as possible to avoid any last-minute panic. The same goes for starting your search, as Gordon attests: “The best time to start a search is right away and continuously, in terms of keeping an eye on what’s out there and getting a sense of the market,” even if you’re not looking to move imminently. Gordon goes on to say, “I always tell people that the best time to apply to a new role is when you see an opportunity you’re interested in; there’s no reason to arbitrarily delay. The only harm in applying when things might be a little bit slower is if you’re not that excited about the opportunity and you’re not sure if you’ll find something better if you wait.” But if you do see something that’s right up your alley, “the time to apply is now. For the majority of their openings, firms will only make one hire, so you don't want to miss your chance.”
“The time to apply is now. For the majority of their openings, firms will only make one hire, so you don't want to miss your chance.”
In your haste to bid for a gold-ticket opportunity, you might overlook a few things; “your bonus is obviously a big component,” Rushing states. He continues, “If you’re a first-, second-, third-year associate, you’re not as concerned about the bonus. I mean, it’s good money and you’re obviously facing those law school debts. But if you’re truly unhappy or looking to make a practice area change, you’re looking at 10k, 15k you might lose at the end of the year.” Comparatively, if you’re a “fifth-, sixth-, even seventh- or eighth-year associate, you’re looking to make some real money on the bonus. That’s a big consideration, so it’s important for people to understand if they’re willing to leave that on the table or speak with other firms about making that up with either a signing bonus or a full year bonus coming through the door.”
Plenty of potential candidates aren’t even considering switching firms, so it will often take “the right opportunity, the right size firm, the right group,” Krasna supplies. According to our sources, the best thing you can do is “get the conversation going so that we can start to align and share different roles with you until you as a candidate decide that something’s right for you.” That said, there are those looking to move who may not have as much luck in that department. “The most marketable candidates are the mid-levels,” Caruso contemplates, “as more junior associates often come up through the firm's summer program."
“We have information that you’re not necessarily going to know by just talking to an associate friend at the firm. You’re going to want to pair with an expert in the market who can really shed light on this.”
"The market for litigators, however, leans on the junior side,” Gordon reassures, “litigation laterals tend to be a bit more junior than corporate folks or other specialty groups.” Ideally, no matter your seniority and willingness to move, “it’s great to stay open-minded. For one, you want to understand the market and even if you stay at your current firm forever, you want to know that you’re staying there because that is the best option for you, not because you’ve put blinders on. I think it’s very short-sighted to hang up on recruiters,” Gordon declares, and Krasna backs her up: “We have information that you’re not necessarily going to know by just talking to an associate friend at the firm. You’re going to want to pair with an expert in the market who can really shed light on this.”
Work, Work, Work It Out
If we were to make a pros and cons list of working with a recruiter, we’d be hard-pressed to find anything to write down in the latter column. To no surprise, our interviewees wholeheartedly agreed! “A significant benefit of using a recruiter is access,” says Caruso, “if you work with a good recruiter, they will send your application materials human being and can get real time feedback."
To Krasna, one huge benefit that comes with speaking to recruiters is “brainstorming what it would take to make a move. A good recruiter will tell you candidly if they can be a resource or not, or if you should hang tight for a couple months and see what happens. They’re not going to see dollar signs, throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. I’m going to tell you what I can see in the market, what I’m seeing with my own success with candidates on my desk. That’s the beauty of talking to someone who can brainstorm. You leave our conversation knowing more than when we initially connected.” Gordon feels similarly, telling us that potential laterals should “really want to establish a relationship with a recruiter early on. Get to know recruiters and build a solid relationship with the one who will really know you at the point you want to make a move.” She details, “I have lawyers I speak with every few months. Some have been speaking with me for ten plus years and have never made a move, but we still check in occasionally. We’re free resources for what’s going on in the market, so it’s silly not to take advantage of that.”
"We’re free resources for what’s going on in the market, so it’s silly not to take advantage of that.”
So, take advantage of those free resources all you want, but heed this warning: “work with just one recruiter you trust, not multiple.” It might seem counterproductive to narrow down your information source to just one person, but trust our sources when they say, “The reason for working with one recruiter is to avoid embarrassment.” It’s a slightly different story on the in-house side, however. Moving to an in-house role almost requires you to speak to several recruiters because “there isn’t a known universe of companies. Recruiters for in-house roles can’t cover everything and oftentimes, they have exclusive arrangements with those companies,” Rushing illuminates. But “on the firm side, it’s the exact opposite. There are only so many BigLaw firms – especially if you have parameters from the candidate about what kind of culture, location, opportunity they’re looking for.” So, the last thing you want is for two recruiters to “both submit your materials to the same firm. It’s not going to look good for you because you might be positioned differently,” Caruso confesses. Rushing states further, “If you have three different recruiters reach out to you about the same candidate, the firm is going to start wondering what’s going on. 'Are they desperate?' There’s a little bit of a chase that comes into it… I tell people all the time that recruiting or getting a new job is kind of like dating!”
Additionally, it makes the recruiter’s job easier because “it keeps the process streamlined where we’re trying to use our leverage, network, knowledge, and intel about the market – especially for things that aren’t necessarily advertised,” Krasna divulges, with Gordon adding, “If you’re lucky enough to have multiple options and leverage the firms, I can help leverage all the information and control the pace of the process to the candidate’s benefit. Whereas if I’m only working with one or two of the firms and the candidate’s working with other recruiters for the others, there’s no way for us to effectively manage the process.” If you are working with other recruiters or have started your search on your own prior to connecting with a recruiter, “the best thing you can do is be open and honest. I need to know if you already have final rounds of interviews for something you’d already pursued, which firms you’ve already submitted to. Being responsive and professional goes a long way,” Krasna advises. Gordon concurs: “Give us all the information. We obviously don’t have attorney-client privilege, but don't be afraid to ask us questions before deciding whom to work with. Then, once you pick that person you trust, give us all the information and trust that we know how to best manage any tricky situation.”
"..be open. If you open your mind too late, you’re going to compromise.”
With all this new information, we ask our interviewees for a few final words of advice for candidates who want to work with a recruiter for the first time. “One thing I did when I was practicing in BigLaw was when somebody sent me a really good recruiting email, I put it into a folder on my Outlook,” Rushing reminisces, “not because I wanted to make a move right then, but just so if the time ever came, I'd already knew recruiters who'd taken the time to figure out who I was, exactly what I did, and knew the right roles to pitch me without even having to talk with them first.” Likewise, Caruso suggests “being more open-minded to what’s out there. Just because you have a friend at a firm who hates it, keep in mind that each office location and practice area will play a significant role in an associate's experience at any given firm. I’m not saying you should bounce around; the grass isn’t always greener but be open. If you open your mind too late, you’re going to compromise.” But say you do have a friend at the firm who loves it: “Let your recruiter know if you know anyone at the firm, because you get two shots on goal that way,” Rushing points out. “You have your recruiter go through the front door to make the pitch to the hiring partner or team, then your friend comes in the back door and says, ‘I heard you’re considering my friend. They’re great. You should totally hire them.’” Krasna and Gordon hammer home the point that potential candidates should always “reach out and take the conversation. There’s no commitment. See what that recruiter can provide you, see how much you vibe with them personality-wise,” Krasna emphasizes, and “get to know your recruiter,” Gordon stresses. She then lists, “It’s better to familiarize yourself with the process early on. Start keeping tabs on what’s going on in the market. Get your resume ready. Keep track of the matters you’ve worked on. Keep a deal sheet going. You want to be ready so that if you do need to make a move more urgently, you’re ahead of the game and in a position to really manage your career and next steps.”
