Lawyer’s Weekly Guide To Overseas Legal Markets
March 24, 2011 by Damian
Here is a link to a Lawyer’s Weekly article which gives a really good overview of the oveseas legal recruitment markets – http://bit.ly/fbfTZ0.
It contains a really good guide about which markets are more receptive to overseas lawyers than others. On the whole, I think that the opinions outlined in the article are spot on although they do mention that Belfast is a better destination for overseas lawyers than Dublin. I’m not quite sure how they came to that conclusion as my wife (Kiwi lawyer) was the first NZ lawyer ever to be admitted in Northern Ireland back on 2003!
What I also found amusing is that when they are discussing the merits of Scotland as a destination, one of the downsides is that it is ‘very cold’ but this is not mentioned in the discussion of the pros and cons of moving to Russia!
Very interesting reading though and if it does spark any interest in investigating your options overseas, give me a call or drop me a line. I would be keen to discuss your chances.
Beware The Rogue Recruiter
March 9, 2011 by Damian
From a recruiter’s point of view, I had a pretty scary conversation with a candidate earlier today.
This candidate is a very senior lawyer currently working in a pretty high profile role. He called me up last week to ask about a particular job which turned out not to be suitable for him. During the course of the conversation, I mentioned another role that I thought would be more relevant to his years of seniority. After hearing about the role, he said that he had already heard about it from another recruiter but would think about whether he wanted to apply or not and would get back to me this week with his thoughts.
He called me up today to let me know that unbeknown to him, the recruiter that he met initially had forwarded his CV to the client without his authorisation. This is just unacceptable behaviour on behalf of the recruiter and should never, ever happen. It is one of the central tenets of being a recruiter – never send a candidate’s CV to a client without their express authorisation.
This situation worries me because when other recruiters act like this, it gives the whole industry a bad name as it smacks of a lack of professionalism, honesty and transparency which should be cornerstones of our profession.
From a candidate’s point of view, it is obviously impossible to stop a rogue recruiter from sending your details out without your approval. However, there are a couple of things that you can do. Firstly, only work with recruiters who you trust. If you are unsure about whether a particular recruiter knows what they are up to, do not work with them. Ask to be removed from their database and go and find someone who you do trust. The recruitment process can be a long and involved one. You will get to know your recruiter pretty well. Make sure you like and more importantly make sure that you trust them.
Secondly, when you are in a meeting or on a call to a recruiter who is talking about various options, stress that is absolutely paramount that your CV only goes to pre-approved firms. Emphasise that point. Feel free to ask for a list of proposed approaches and enquire as to how the approach is going to be made.
Thirdly, ask for regular updates on approaches. Your recruiter should be doing that as a matter of course but if you are not getting the level of information that you need, demand it. It is part of our job to give you it.
To finish up the story of the senior lawyer above, thankfully for the agency involved, he was not too bothered that they had sent his CV off without his prior consent and at the end of the day, he did not get the job. However, he could have kicked up a major fuss and probably should have.
Your CV is a very personal document which should be treated with respect by a recruiter. If yours is not being treated with the respect that it deserves – do something about it!