Don’t Believe All That You Read (Apart From What Is In This Blog)
July 13, 2010 by Damian
There is a well worn adage that you shouldn’t believe all that you read. However, as the legal press is pretty conservative, I, like most people, generally take most of what I read on face value.
People read these industry magazines to get an informed view of current events and from a recruitment point of view, to get a steer on trends and movements within the job market. As such, when people read an article commenting on the state of the job market, the message that the article conveys will permeate into that marketplace and create among the readers a perception of what the reality is.
However, when I read this article in the Australian Lawyers Weekly, it reminded me of the dangers of doing such a thing and of the responsibility that people in our industry have to give a realistic view of what the market looks like.
www.boxbreakers.com.au/News/Now-what-.aspx
The majority of this article is in fact a very informative discussion about whether lawyers who have had their pay frozen for 12 months should expect a pay rise to reflect that. There is also some very helpful comment about the dangers of jumping out of one’s current role on the basis of a minimal pay rise.
However, one of the commentators takes the discussion into a completely different realm when he states:
‘It’s an amazing market. Absolutely amazing. For a candidate it’s the most buoyant market I have ever seen.”
I have to say that I found this comment to be ‘amazing’. To make comments like the one above, in my view, gives job seekers a completely unrealistic view of their chances and is counterproductive. Any candidate reading those comments will think that it is now easy to get a job and in the event that they don’t, they will be wondering what is wrong with them.
“It’s the most buoyant market ever and I can’t get a job – what is wrong with me?”
I understand the hypocrisy of commenting on someone else’s opinion with my own. I am also aware that this article relates to the Australian rather than NZ market. However, I work closely with an agency based in Australia and the message that they convey to me is a lot different to the one above. Yes, things are better; yes, firms are hiring; yes, if you have a strong background, you should be able to get a job but according to them, it is not an ‘amazing market’, it is not a ‘buoyant market’ and to give people the impression that it is is a dangerous message to send.
Are We At A Crossroads?
June 17, 2010 by Damian
One phrase that keeps cropping up when I am talking to clients and candidates at the moment is that it is an ‘interesting time’ in the legal recruitment market. What is happening in the recruitment markets is always ‘interesting’ because it is a good barometer as to the overall health of the economy. In other words, if employers are looking for staff, things must be going pretty well.
Over the vast majority of the 8 years that I have been in recruitment, it is been reasonably easy to discern trends and subsequently give informed and accurate advice and information on what the status of the current job market is. What makes it especially ‘interesting’ at the moment is that no real trends are emerging.
The very general perception is that the market is improving and that is undoubtedly true, thank goodness, but we have to remember that we are coming off the historically low base of the last 18 months or so.
So, are there more jobs around? Yes there are but if you look a little closer, there are still not that many. In private practice, the majority of the ‘big firms’ are still recruiting very selectively, the mid-tier firms do not seem to be recruiting much either and the small firms are mostly still trying to keep the doors open as opposed to taking on new staff. Some firms have a ‘watching brief’ for suitable candidates (which is a good sign) but when it is a ‘watching brief’, the candidates need to be really, really good to be hired.
However, if one took a look at the amount of roles in the public sector, you would be surprised with the amount of opportunities available. Similarly, the number of in-house vacancies has definitely increased in the last 4-6 months. Why this is when the general talk is of cost cutting in the public sector and headcount freezes in the corporate world is an article all of its own so I will dwell no further here apart from to say that for candidates looking for a new role, it would be foolish to rule out the public and in-house sectors at this stage.
So, if we can take it that there are still not a huge amount of roles around, can we take it that there are hundreds of hungry job seekers going after every role? Again, for some roles, ‘yes’ and for others ‘no’. To give an example, a very well known public sector legal team advertised and got nearly 100 applicants for the role. (That is what you get when the job spec can apply to nearly everyone who has a commercial background). However, a very reputable financial institution have been looking for an intermediate solicitor for a number of months now and have not been able to fill the role despite advertising very heavily. Similarly there is a property role in Auckland that the client just cannot fill, despite the perception that there would be loads of property lawyers desperate to get out of their current roles due to lack of work.
So are people going overseas now? Again, yes and no. Some people who have put their OE off for 12-18 months have just decided to pack it all in and take their chances offshore. However, it seems like there is a large group of lawyers who have decided not to move offshore at the moment and are looking to progress their career here and travel offshore during extended holidays or have put it off until a lot later in their career. As such, the trend that, for years, nearly all Kiwi lawyers with 2 years experience will leave to go offshore is just not apparent at the moment.
Clients are also displaying some very interesting behaviour from a recruitment standpoint. Some clients, who historically shied away from using recruitment agencies, are now happy to avail of our services. These clients have taken the view that even though there may be a lot of candidates around, those good candidates are still really hard to find. Others have made the call to keep all of their recruitment in-house, presumably in order to save agency fees, as opposed to ensuring that they get the best candidate around. (Don’t they realise that some of the best candidates are too busy to check job-boards and look at legal magazines and enrol with people like us to do that for them?) What these employers will do when the market inevitably tightens up further will be very, very interesting.
So, all in all, the only trend that I can see is that there is no real trend around. The recruitment market is in a real state of flux with an obvious disconnect between the perception and the reality of its health. Hopefully very soon a trend will emerge where good candidates will find good jobs – that is the sign of a healthy and ‘normal’ recruitment market. I, for one, will be happy to leave these ‘interesting’ times behind.
Interesting NZ Law Firm News!
May 25, 2010 by Damian
The New Zealand legal landscape is not known for providing a huge amount of exciting news but in the last week or so, I have seen a couple of very interesting articles that are definitely worth a read.
The first one concerns the standing of DLA Phillips Fox in NZ and whether the firm is going to split off from DLA Phillips Fox Australia
http://au.legalbusinessonline.com/news/breaking-news/45796.
It also mentions a very juicy bit of gossip about where the NZ arm of the firm may end up.
That story is all speculation but a very interesting factual development has just been announced by Minter Ellison Rudd Watts –
http://lawyersweekly.com.au/blogs/top_stories/archive/2010/05/24/minters-nz-taking-on-uk-work.aspx
Minters in NZ “has uncovered a new revenue stream working with UK-based law firms and clients to assist with their legal work at around half the price of UK-based lawyer rates”.
My first thought was that this was quite a strange move for a leading NZ law firm, given the concerns there are about outsourcing, but on reading the article, the work accounts for less than 1% of the firm’s total revenue and is not in the firm’s core areas. So on reflection, I think that it is a very innovative idea for a NZ law firm, taking advantage of the expertise of the its lawyers and the time difference between NZ and the UK.
I suspect that this will not be the last time that this sort of arrangement happens!
The final article of interest concerns Kensington Swan –
http://au.legalbusinessonline.com/law-firms/new-equity-structure-ruffles-feathers-at-kensington-swan/1001/45857.
These sorts of things happen all the time in the UK, US etc so are hardly news at all over there. However, over here, they create a little more of a ripple.
Sometimes, when talking to people about the legal market in NZ, comments are made about how nothing ever seems to change. Judging by these 3 articles, it seems like there is going to be a bit of a shake up down here. AT LAST!
Around The World (In Just Over 1100 Words)
April 14, 2010 by Damian
Sorry for the delay since my last post but sometimes life gets in the way of blogging and we have to deal with more important things than legal recruitment. However, I am back on board now and think that it is a good time to give an overview of what is happening in the recruitment markets worldwide at present.
I have seen one of my competitors advertising that London law firms are now receptive to approaches by NZ lawyers. After speaking to my colleagues over in London last week, my view is that this is not quite the whole truth. It is the case that more jobs are coming on to the market in London. As a consequence of this, firms will not quite have the same pick of top quality candidates that they have had in the last 12-18 months and as such, they may have to reconsider who may or may not be suitable for their particular roles. As the locally qualified talent pool becomes more diluted, employers will have no choice but to look at overseas qualifieds to fill the gaps.
However, what is outlined above is not the reality just yet. Sure, I have heard anecdotal evidence that NZ lawyers in London are securing interviews. The caveat to that is that they are probably being interviewed along with 6, 8 or even 10 other people. In the candidate v law firm power struggle, the firms still hold all the power. Firms are still being very discerning about who they employ and they are willing to take their time to find the right person. As I write this in April, it is still going to be a rare occurance that that ‘right person’ will be an overseas qualified lawyer.
Don’t get me wrong – the market over there is improving. There is a general consensus that the worst is gone and that it is now time to look at and plan for the future. This forward planning, however, will be cautious and gradual but as it continues to take shape, opportunities for top quality overseas lawyers will come about. It is fair to say that those who are in the UK with their visa status secured will be at the vanguard of this trend. It is also fair to say that the most attractive prospects will be those with 3+ years experience. Candidates with less than that will struggle due to the enormous amounts of locally qualified junior lawyers who have fallen victim to the GFC over the last 12-18 months.
Looking further afield, the bottom has dropped out of the offshore markets completely. A search this morning on Seek for jobs in the Cayman Islands turned up one job and there is not one job being advertised for the Channel Islands. Compared to 2 years ago, this is an astonishing drop off in demand. Judging by what I have heard, it will take a very long time indeed for these markets to pick up from a recruitment point of view. The current economic crisis has fundamentally affected these economies and until these jurisdictions work out what place they now occupy in the economic world, opportunities in these island paradises will be very scarce.
The Middle East seems to be at an interesting juncture at present. It had the most spectacular fall from grace of all as dozens and dozens of lawyers were retrenched or made redundant. The simple fact is that the whole region was massively overlawyered and when the work dried up, there was very little for anyone to do. It is very doubtful that the Middle East region will ever be quite so attractive as it was a few years ago but it is showing some signs of recovery.
Some of the larger firms in the region have started undertaking some major projects and have consequently started to look for staff again. The catch is that they are being absolutely inundated with quality applications. However, if the big firms continue to be busy, it is likely that activity among other firms will start to pick up, thus increasing opportunities for lawyers to come back again. How long this takes is anyone’s guess but I would suggest that we are at least 6-12 months away from there being many options for NZ lawyers in the Middle East.
Which leads us on to Asia – the shining light, it seems. My colleagues in Hong Kong say that the place has gone ‘gangbusters’. A lot of this activity has been in the insolvency/restructuring area but they are starting to receive instructions from firms on the look out for corporate and finance lawyers as well. China is obviously behind a lot of this activity and opportunities are opening up in China and surrounding regions as well as in HK.
With every bit of positive news comes the sobering news. Yes, there are positions in Asia but employers are now looking foremost at people with language skills or some ties to the region. It is not to say that it is impossible without either of these but it does make life a lot harder if you don’t speak the lingo or have a particular reason to want to move there.
Finally, to our good friends across the Tasman. The media has painted the picture that Australia is in great shape and is back to normal. Having spoken to people over there, it seems, again, that this is not quite the case. The economy is improving but this has not translated into large numbers of new jobs yet. Yes, firms are starting to recruit again but as in the UK, they are being overwhelmed by the amount of quality applications and are in no rush at all to fill the roles. Locally qualified lawyers are still the most attractive so, even though NZ lawyers can practice over there, Australian employers will still favour Australian lawyers if given the choice.
So, where does all of that leave the NZ lawyer desperate to head offshore? Well in summary, the legal recruitment world is in better shape than it has been since mid 2008. Confidence in the future is up and firms are generally making positive noises about increasing headcount in the coming months. However, at present, competition is fierce, employers are still in control and locally qualifieds still are the most attractive option.
If you can hang on for another 4-6 months, I think that you probably should. However, if you can’t stand it any more and you just have to move, then my advice is to be flexible as to what you will look at, be patient as the process will take a long time and when given the opportunity to attend interviews, make sure that you perform to the best of your ability.
I look forward to looking back (if you know what I mean) at this post at the end of 2010 and comparing how things are like then to what they are like now. It will be an interesting comparison!!!
Where It’s At
March 2, 2010 by Damian
‘Where it’s at’ is not just one of my favourite songs (by Beck incidentally) but is also a variation of a question that I get asked at least once a day. Everyone wants to know what the job market is looking like now and what it will be looking like over the coming weeks and months. So here is my two cents (or 50 cents to continue the musical theme) worth on where it’s at.
A very unscientific analysis of last week’s activity on the various job sites indicates that there are a lot more vacancies around at the moment than there have been for at least the last 12 months. From Monday 22nd – Friday 26th, there were 125 jobs added to Seek. Obviously, quite a number of these are duplicates and others are for vacancies that have been around for a while but it does contain a significant number of new vacancies across private practice, public sector and to a lesser extent, in-house. For the first time in a long time, the roles also traverse a wide range of practice areas including corporate, finance, litigation, RM, employment, family and so on.
So it should be easy to get a job now? No. Easier? Yes. Even though there are now more vacancies around, employers are not going to drop their standards and take someone for the sake of it. The advantage for the job seeker now is that there is not as much competition around so their CV will be more closely scrutinised than it was previously but if your background is not good enough, you will not make it across the line.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, the great unknown in the debate is when the overseas markets will return to some degree of normality. It is a question of ‘when’ not ‘if’ and when it happens, we will see even more vacancies here with even fewer candidates applying. The majority of these vacancies will be in the traditional 2-5 year bracket but I suspect that we will also see a number of senior lawyers leaving to either return to the UK or there are some who will be going for the first time. Either way, employers should be bracing themselves for some serious going away parties over the next 6-9 months.
So where is it at? In summary, my view is that the outlook is definitely improving (from a job seekers point of view) and will continue to gradually improve throughout the rest of the year. However, I would refer to the point that I make earlier that even though there may be more opportunities does not mean that it will be easy to get a job. It is never easy to secure a new position and nor should it ever be. You still need to have a good CV, good grades and present well at interview. If you can manage that, then you can be confident that something suitable will come along in 2010.
It’s Not All Good News
February 18, 2010 by Damian
2010 has started off with a sense of renewed confidence in the legal recruitment market. There is ‘cautious optimism’ that this year will see an increase in the amount of vacancies around which will bring a sigh of relief to numerous jobseekers who are keen (and have been for a while) to move on from their current roles.
I concur with this optimistic view of what 2010 will bring but the news that has come from the South Island this week – see link below - is a reminder that the market is by no means stable and there will continue to be some bumps along the road before we can safely say that we are ‘back to normal’ (whatever that is).
http://au.legalbusinessonline.com/news/breaking-news/40320
The message that I have taken from this unfortunate development is that we should not just have blind faith in the recovery and we must realise that any optimism for the year ahead should indeed be ‘cautious’.
An important caveat to this article is that a final decision has not been made by Anderson Lloyd so it is not certain that there will in fact be redundancies made. However, the message of caution for the rest of us still stands.
Biggest News of the Year So Far!!
February 9, 2010 by Damian
By far the biggest news story of the year so far in the legal recruitment world has just broken with the news that UK Magic Circle giant Allen & Overy is opening in Australia -
http://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/blogs/top_stories/archive/2010/02/07/allen-amp-overy-to-open-shop-in-australia.aspx.
This is a huge story. There have been murmurings for years about UK firms either setting up in Australia or merging with an established Australian firm (which recently just happened with the Norton Rose/Deacons merger) but the naysayers consistently said that the rewards would not justify the potential risk and that the referral arrangements that already exist between UK and Australian firms work perfectly well, thank you very much.
However, A&O obviously think differently and are jumping straight into the top tier in their chosen areas. This will make them an extremely attractive choice for UK lawyers wanting to spend some time in Australia as well as giving local lawyers the opportunity to get a Magic Circle law firm on their CV without even leaving the country. However, it does not take into account that a lot of people want to experience a different culture at the same time as furthering their career so it may not necessarily be the chosen route for many who may prefer to work for A&O in London, rather than A&O in Sydney or Perth. There is no doubt that they will be able to attract the very best graduate lawyers but time will tell whether they will be able to offer enough to keep the very best intermediate lawyers in Australia, rather than losing them offshore.
What this means for New Zealand law firms and New Zealand lawyers is a very interesting question. I would imagine that the lure of working for A&O in Australia would be very attractive to NZ lawyers but as is the case in London, only the very best will stand a chance of securing a role there.
Also, it does raise the question whether any international firms think that doing a similar thing in NZ would be a good idea. Obviously the quality of lawyer is good enough here but are the deals (and the fees) big enough? It would seem that because of the total lack of any speculation of this kind whatsoever that the answer to this question is ‘no’. The firms who have a referral relationship with A&O will be rubbing their hands. Other firms may be a little afraid!
Encouraging News From London
January 20, 2010 by Damian
I received an email from one of my colleagues in London this morning which should give those people thinking of going to London some hope.
The tenor of the email was that although it is still very difficult for an overseas lawyer to secure a position in London, some firms are now are starting to look at overseas lawyers again.
The catch is that, as it stands, you really need at least 3 years experience from a leading firm, have a work permit (i.e. do not need to be sponsored) and be on the ground in London for interview.
I realise that these criteria are reasonably hard to meet but for those that do meet them, it looks like there may be some opportunities for you at present. For those that don’t, I’m afraid that the best advice that I can give is to sit tight and wait for the market to develop further and take your chance later in the year.
If you would like to have a chat about this in more detail, feel free to give me a call!!
Interesting Articles For 2010
January 12, 2010 by Damian
I have come across a few articles recently that I thought that I should share.
The first three come from the ALB website and can be found by following this link -
http://www.au.legalbusinessonline.com/e-magazines/magazine.aspx?id=39186.
In this edition, there is an article about Kensington Swan’s decision to open an office in Abu Dhabi as well as an interview with the new Chairman at Simpson Grierson in which he talks about his plans for the future of that firm. Another very interesting article called ‘Southward Bound’ discusses the difficulties and benefits of North Island firms operating in the South Island.
Over at Lawyers Weekly, I found some very illuminating articles describing the year just past and the year just begun under the very dramatic headline of ’2009 - The Year That Changed The Legal Profession’ :
http://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/news/au/features/special_reports/
Another one to have a look at, also from Lawyers Weekly, again grandly titled ‘Five Tips To Get To The Top’ gives some hints about how to best position yourself when you are thinking about changing jobs. All are pretty obvious but it is worth a look, nonetheless.
The last one for the time being gives an overview of the markets across the globe and tries to predict what locations will be attractive for lawyers in 2010 -
I am not sure whether I completely agree with some of this analysis but suffice to say, there will hopefully be more activity in these areas than there was in 2009!!
To specialise or not to specialise?
December 11, 2009 by Damian
From years of experience in overseas recruitment, the main feedback that clients give me about NZ (and Australian) lawyers is that one of the main reasons that they are so employable is because of their versatility.
Due to the nature of the market down here, few practitioners are what UK lawyers would call ‘specialists’. For example, there would not be one finance lawyer in NZ who would be dedicated to only doing aviation finance. My own legal career in the UK (for what it was) was purely in tobacco litigation – I did nothing else. This degree of specialisation just does not exist in NZ firms.
Until now, allowing practitioners to specialise in London has worked. The deals are huge, sophisticated and specific so people with detailed knowledge of the subject matter are necessary. One unforeseen consequence of the GFC, if the Linklaters’ plan as laid out in The Lawyer article below works, may be that the specialist lawyer may be a thing of the past in London -
http://www.thelawyer.com/1002837.article?nl=TL-LND.
If the way of the future for London lawyers is to become generalists rather than specialists, this could have some effect on the employability of NZ lawyers in the future. If that point of difference is taken away, it will be up to NZ lawyers to come up with another selling point to differentiate themselves from the rest of the market.
Any ideas?