Do Your Due Diligence
June 9, 2011 by Damian
Undertaking a due diligence exercise is something every commercial lawyer does over and over again during their legal career. If the exercise is not conducted properly, then it is likely that the end result will not be the best one for the parties involved in the deal.
As such, you would expect that lawyers would carry the same cautious and thorough approach through to their own careers but I am constantly surprised by how many don’t. I can understand that in some cases and for a variety of reasons, some people just want a job and any old job will do. For example, this could be because of financial considerations or to get out of a particulary unpleasant working environment.
However, when not faced with such pressing circumstances, there is just no excuse for not doing your due diligence. Moving jobs is one of the most important (and stressful) things that you can do and should be treated as such. Your due diligence should start even before you make contact with a recruitment consultant or an employer and it should start with yourself. By that I mean, you should be clear on exactly the reasons that you are looking to leave your current role and have a reasonably clear idea of where you want to go and why. Once you have clarified these things in your head, it is then time to update your CV.
Updating a CV can be a really tedious and time consuming task but it is impossible to overestimate its importance. Taking the time to present yourself in the most favourable light will pay dividends later in the process. If your CV does not accurately reflect your skills and experience, you will almost certainly not end up with the most suitable job available. (Writing an impressive CV is a completely separate post which I will get to one of these days).
The next step in the process is to contact a recruitment consultant or to directly approach an employer. Obviously I would recommend using a recruitment consultant and in the context of this post, one of the reasons why is that we can assist in this due diligence process. However, whichever route that you decide to go down, it is imperative that you find out as much about the various roles that are available as possible and only apply to those roles that you feel that you have a realistic chance of getting and more importantly, those roles that you are interested in getting.
Back when I started recruiting (which was in the last century), finding out this sort of information could be pretty difficult but in this internet age, there are all sorts of ways that you can locate information that will help you make the best decision. There are the obvious ways of looking at a website and partner profiles and doing Google searches. However, what you can also do is to try to find out whether you know anyone currently working at the firm or in similar firm, location or practice area and ask them their thoughts on the firm or the partner. As above, one of the reasons to use a recruitment consultant is that we can do some of this leg work for you.
The final place to do your due diligence is during the interview process. Before attending an interview, have a clear idea of what sort of information you need to know to make a fully informed decision if you are offered the job. This could be issues such as opportunities for advancement, what level of supervision you will be offered as well as the obvious ones about exactly what you will be doing and who you will be reporting to. Treat the interview as a two way process where not only are they trying to elicit relevant information from you but you are trying to do the same thing to them.
If you go through the recruitment process without undertaking the due diligence process above, you will almost certainly not end up in the most suitable job for you. However, if you do approach the process with the caution that it deserves, you will undoubtedly find that you get the job that will keep you interested and challenged for the foreseeable future.
Magic Circle Salaries
June 9, 2011 by Damian
For anyone heading over to London in the not too distant future, I thought that you would be interested in the following article from Legal Week.
http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/2076615/clifford-chance-announces-pay-rises-city-associates
As you will see, even given the very poor exchange rate, these figures are still pretty mouth watering. (Even more frightening are the salaries on offer in the US firms based in London where you can add up to GBP15-20,000 onto these figures in some instances). Consequently, someone at the three year level at one of these Magic Circle firms can earn a similar wage to a senior associate in a top tier firm here.
That is the good news. The not so good news is that it is still very difficult to secure a role in one of these Magic Circle firms and only those working in a top tier or highly regarded boutique firm will stand any chance of availing themselves of one of these very attractive salaries. However for those of you who can, you literally will be ‘quids in’.
If anyone out there reading this would like to have a conversation with me about the London market, please get in touch now. I would be delighted to assist you.