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RESOURCE CENTRE
At GR Law we have amassed many years of experience of recruitment into law firms and in house legal departments in various countries of the world. |
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| Much of the knowledge we have acquired is fed into the advice we give candidates who are seeking their next move or to assist firms when trying to recruit. We are often asked if we have anything in writing that we can send through on a particular topic. This information is contained in this section is a collection of the resources we have produced. It is a work in progress and will have new articles added periodically. |
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Monday, October 20 2008
Are you considering a move into Legal Secretarial Recruitment?
Prior to starting my career at GR Law, I worked as a legal secretary for 5 years with a top tier Australian law firm in Sydney and a well known UK firm when I travelled overseas back in 2006.
Whilst working as a Legal Secretary in Sydney, I was also studying my Certificate IV in Business (HR). I was particularly interested in the legal secretarial recruitment aspect of HR, and started to seriously consider legal recruitment as a career choice.
After spending time in London on a working holiday visa and returning to the Sydney market, the move into legal secretarial recruitment was a very natural step for me. I had a thorough understanding of the skills and qualities needed and an appreciation for what legal secretaries look for in roles and firms alike.
I soon realised that passion is very important in recruitment, particularly when developing relationships with both clients and candidates.
I have now been working as a legal secretarial recruitment consultant for 6 months, and I’m really enjoying it. I’ve listed below the qualities required to make the transition into recruitment a smooth one.
The nature of recruitment involves lots of phone calls and meetings with both clients and candidates. As such, you really need to have open and honest communication skills. Recruitment also involves writing numerous adverts each week for your clients’ vacancies, and so a creative writing flair will certainly help to make your advertising stand out!
I have found that team work is very important to be successful in recruitment as we all work together as a team to achieve our goals. In my experience, the ability to think analytically will come into play when trying to find solutions for both your clients and candidates.
Legal recruitment is all about dealing with people and their different needs, so it’s essential that you’re a “people person”. There are times where you need to deliver both positive and negative news to candidates and clients, and it’s here that your empathy skills will be highly regarded. Since moving into recruitment, I have found that a driven personality is needed when generating new business.
As mentioned, whilst I have studied HR, this is not essential for legal recruitment. In my experience, I have found industry knowledge and the ability to go that extra mile for your candidates and clients has proven much more successful!
I had a lot of questions when I first started in recruitment and I continue to learn new things every day. I have listed below some of the duties that make up an average week in my job as a legal secretarial recruitment consultant.
- Lots of client liaison where you not only take new job briefs, but really get to know your clients’ firm in detail. You are also required to educate your clients on the current market, trends and the like.
- Advertising – this involves writing ads for your current roles and advertising in marketable places. This can vary from internet advertising to seminars and general networking.
- Screening and interviewing candidates – this can be quite a lengthy process where you get to know the candidate and gain an understanding for what they’re looking for. Educating your candidates on the market and keeping their expectations realistic is paramount.
- Completing reference checks for candidates in accordance with the Privacy Act.
- Briefing candidates on roles and giving them the necessary interview preparation they may need.
- Taking candidate and client feedback from interviews and relaying this to appropriate parties in a professional manner is very important.
- Attending training courses and seminars to enhance your market knowledge.
- The most important part of your day as a recruitment consultant is to develop, maintain and nurture your relationships with clients and candidates to ensure your success!
For more information on how to make the transition into recruitment in the legal field, please call any of our experienced consultants in London, Australia or New Zealand.
Tags legal secretarial recruitment
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