• Firstly we are pleased to tell you we are still here! When offices started to close their doors back in March there was an instant freeze on hiring across the board and we saw many of our competitors implement new pay structures and redundancies. I can’t lie, we were worried. But Jane and I have both been in recruitment for 20 years now and having been through various economic downturns, the one thing that we have learned is that lawyers are required in bad times as well as good. Knowing that financial institutions are more regulated than ever gave us confidence that at some point the in-house legal recruitment market would bounce back. Although we heard of a few offers falling through, we found that all our lawyers with offers outstanding, and most of those at final interview stages were hired.
• Whilst no one was recruiting, we spent our time catching up with senior lawyers and general counsels at as many of the banks, asset managers and insurance companies. They were all telling us the same thing – their lawyers were stretched before the lockdown and with the extra work created by new government initiatives such as mortgage payment holidays, CBILS, BBILS etc. and the COVID-19 policy changes, legal teams were really strained. Most will need to hire at some point, and certainly replace any leavers. But cost-cutting is also inevitable, and the major players with larger legal departments have been encouraged to just spread the workload. Only essential hires for one-off positions were going through and often on fixed term contracts rather than permanent, even though there was a permanent need.
• Towards the end of May and during June we started to see some new roles come through, mostly from lesser known organisations with smaller legal departments. Often they just needed an extra pair of hands and the positions were broad and junior, which worked well as employers had plenty of choice from the newly qualified and junior lawyers who weren’t being kept on in practice. We also saw many of the roles previously put on hold come back to market as organisations got their working from home policies, practices and technology in place.
• And then the summer holidays came! With kids off school and some let-up of the lockdown restrictions it felt like everyone went away, in the UK if they couldn’t get abroad. Very little moved forward and nothing new came through. Recruitment is cyclical though and we are used to the quiet summer and things picking up in September. It picked up sooner than we expected, with a variety of senior and junior positions across various areas of law. I wouldn’t say we are busy – the market is still relatively quiet, but it is active. The financial services industry is recruiting (although not in bulk) and we are relatively optimistic about the rest of the year and 2021.

So is it a good time to make the move?

• Who knows! We’re finding that it is very much like the property market at the moment. It is certainly not a normal market. Some people think it is a terrible time to move and others a great time. We understand that people we approach who are not actively looking to move are nervous about having a probation period again with an unknown employer. But some of the opportunities out there are unique, it isn’t all fintech, regulatory and data protection anymore. We have roles across litigation, employment, finance, capital markets, retail banking, and insurance. But there is also a lot of competition at the moment, so if you are unsure about an opportunity it is probably worth going along to find out more. And if you’re at one of the firms who have already made redundancies or cut pay, why not take control of your career and look now before you are forced to?

Any comments, feedback and suggestions would be welcome as we are always looking to improve. We would be glad to help any friends and colleagues that may be interested in making a move and if you are looking to hire someone yourself in the near future we hope you will remember us.

Gender diversity? Everyone has an opinion on it – it’s importance and why; how diverse their own team is; whether their company has got the policies right.

Diversity in the legal profession has been a hot topic, and in comparison to other industries, slow to change. The logistics and structures of large international law firms has been blamed for this in the past but is no longer an acceptable excuse. There is a huge disparity in diversity between in-house legal teams versus private practice and there are several reasons for this. The main one being the long hours culture of private practice. Until this is addressed across the board we can question whether a truly diverse work force can ever be achieved.

As well as tradition, old fashioned stubbornness and ignorance, there are other more nuanced and deep-rooted reasons why diversity in the law is so difficult to achieve. Only when diversity is addressed from the outset, during education and training contracts, can we get balanced teams in law firms and then be able to offer a truly diverse shortlist to our in-house clients. As well as looking at how partners run their firms and treat their staff, we also need to look at how the clients treat external counsel. Will a male client usually give their work to a male partner? Do in-house lawyers’ expectations vary depending on who they instruct? Personal and homelife is still the main reason for women not being at the top of the profession despite women’s networks, mentoring and other incentives being put in place. The tone must change from the top and filter through all departments, including internal and external recruiters. We need to re-think initiatives that may have previously created silos to create gender balanced teams.

As 2 female directors at Fry & Brown, this is a subject close to our hearts. We both worked at large and medium sized businesses before setting up on our own small company and we have both experienced the gender imbalance. As recruiters, we were very much on an even keel with our male counterparts but when it came to career progression it was clear that sacrifices would need to be made, to satisfy our direct reports, peers, bosses and shareholders.

So we are often thinking about what we can do to help our clients create well balanced teams, as well as how we can help those who are ambitious to achieve and overcome the obstacles. These are some of the things we do to encourage diversity:

• We ask the right questions of our clients at the outset, providing more information than most and gathering clear prospects, promotion and compensation criteria.
• We use correct terminology in our adverts. Missing out anything that may be gender specific but including possibilities of flexible and agile working.
• We source candidates using six different methods, ensuring our database is as diverse as possible.
• We empower candidates to go for something that they might not normally go for, but their counterpart with the same experience might.
• We encourage applicants to go for roles that don’t advertise flexibility and will ask questions on their behalf.
• We ask clients to take part time, flexible and agile working requests seriously and provide personalised, practical suggestions.
• We get clients to consider candidates who are changing careers or have taken time out.
• We educate clients on how it can work and give examples from within other teams and organisations. With nearly 20 years’ experience each we have plenty of great examples up our sleeves.
• We request and share flexible working and equal opportunity policies.
• We get to know our clients and engage in dialogue around diversity – their views are as important as their actions and the attitude of the boss tells you so much more than company policies. Those with less sophisticated official policies sometimes have great ideas and can be more flexible to make things work for the individual.
• We get to know your business meaning we can identify role models in the organisation and highlight them to talent you want to attract.
• We stay in touch with people we have placed putting potential employees in touch with them, to hear their experience of how diversity works in practice.
• We will share success stories as part of our company sell – part timers who have been promoted; women in management positions; companies who have adapted to employees needs rather than vice versa etc.
• When appropriate, we support using blind CVs to avoid any kind of discrimination.
• Our hosted events are at different times to suit different people. Not just drinks in evening but targeted breakfast seminars, lunches, webinars and group video calls at different times of the day to make accessible to all.
• We are regularly looking at our statistics, setting targets, measuring progress and taking accountability, assessing how we can do better.
• We commit to calling out any bias and bullying that becomes evident during a hiring process. Often this can be non-conscious and easily resolved, but we would be prepared to lose clients in any case where it can’t be resolved.

We don’t deny that it can sometimes be difficult to get right and we’d be keen to hear any further suggestions on how we can improve.

May 2020

The in-house legal market has always been competitive. Legal departments, that are relatively small and rarely recruit, often have a huge number of applicants from magic, silver and US law firms to choose from. During the current health crisis there are fewer opportunities but more people looking, from the privacy of their homes.

Throughout our 20 years in recruitment, we have organised many video interviews, usually due to applicants being based in different locations. Often, we help lawyers looking to return to the London market after spending some time in Asia or the Middle East. Sometimes it will be Australian or New Zealand candidates looking to relocate to London. Some of our roles are based on the continent and looking for UK qualified lawyers. Or it could just be another location within the UK.

They have never really been popular, with either client or candidate.

In the past, many of our clients have decided against interviewing via video conference. Some hiring managers just haven’t felt comfortable using it. They often have enough applicants who are available to attend their offices without needing to extend the search. Often bad past experiences with failing technology put people off. Employers also often assume that the candidate is expecting a relocation package or that there may be visa and sponsorship issues to overcome. And often it takes longer to get relocating employees started.

Historically, video interviews have rarely been successful. Until the lockdown, we had hardly placed anyone via video interview alone, although they are often useful as subsequent interviews. It’s difficult for either party to show personality, meaning that ascertaining a good fit is very difficult. With cultural, personality and team fit being more important than ever in the in-house legal team, how can you possibly make an impression?

But now it’s a level playing field. All interviews are telephone or video, lawyers are embracing the change, and for the short term at least everyone is in the same boat.

What are the obstacles that you should anticipate?

• No handshake
• No small talk on the way to and from the interview room
• Connection issues
• Poor quality video
• A delay on the line
• Talking over each other (especially when being interviewed by more than one person)
• Talking to a screen
• Potentially more competition (employers can interview more people in a shorter timeframe via video)

In some ways, lawyers are better prepared than most. As employees of larger organisations with international coverage, if anyone is used to it, they are.

So how can you prepare?

• If you have the choice of telephone or video, always choose video unless there is a good reason not to. As an in-house lawyer, hiring managers will want to see that you have the confidence to put yourself out there and won’t be hiding behind a screen when we are all back to the office.
• Be available at short notice, your competition will be.
• Make sure you have a decent, reliable device to use and plug it in so that you don’t lose power if the interview if it overruns.
• Eliminate distractions. In this environment, employers are much more understanding, but still make sure your pets and children are in a different room. Make sure that you have a clear, clean backdrop without ornaments or photos and as little clutter as possible, so as not to distract the interviewer.
• Remember that the hiring manager is getting an insight to how you would work from home too. Check what they are seeing is how you would want them to see you working. Make sure you are showing that you can separate your work life from your personal life.
• Presentation is still important. Smart business wear but something comfortable would be best.
• Anticipate technical problems, make sure you log on with plenty of time to spare.
• Sit up straight. Even if they can only see your head, improving your posture will improve your confidence and performance. They want to be able to see expression on your face but not your blemishes!
• Think about camera angle and don’t lean in towards the screen. We would suggest that you sit so that your head and shoulders are showing.
• Avoid putting your head on your hands when sat at a laptop – try to keep your hands on your lap to avoid any kind of barrier between your face and the interviewer.
• Focus on good eye contact which, with a screen is even harder! Practice on friends and family.
• Have water close by in case it’s essential, but don’t sit with a cup of tea. You may have been offered tea and coffee in the office but when the setting is already relatively informal already it can send the wrong message.
• Don’t forget to smile in the same way as you would face to face, but don’t be checking! It is always obvious when the interviewer is looking at themselves rather than the other person. Speak at a medium/loud comfortable volume.
• Speak slowly and clearly. Make sure you practice if you suffer from nerves. Your voice will be more noticeable, but could also be more distorted by bad connection.
• Limit your talk of Coronavirus. With the pandemic affecting everyone and so much cancelled it is very difficult not to talk about it but try to limit your conversation to checking that the interviewer and family are well and moving on if possible. Too much will be frustrating to someone who has multiple interviews to get through.
• You should concentrate on listening and understanding more than normal. Interrupting and not understanding the question will be much more obvious via this more concentrated medium.
• Don’t write. Whilst we would often suggest taking a notebook and pen into an interview, we wouldn’t advise it for video calls. The interviewer will not be able to see what you are doing and will only pick up the bad eye contact and disinterest. If they are able to see what you are doing it will be distracting.
• Don’t be afraid to leave some silence before answering, it might feel more awkward on the screen but it won’t come across and will ensure a more thought through reply.
• Don’t save all your questions for the end. Be careful not to interrupt or takeover, but mentioning relevant points or asking questions during the interview can build the rapport early on.
• Practice the video interview with a friend and ask them to tell you honestly how you come across.  

And remember, many of the usual methods of making you stand out from the crowd will still work. We’d be happy to share our interview technique guidance if you would like to get in touch.

April 2020

You’ve been offered a new job – but now your current employer has come in with a counter offer. So should you stay or should you go?

First things first – congratulations! You now have not one but two companies chomping at the bit to have you. Take a moment to give yourself a pat on the back, toast your success or do a celebratory dance. Enjoy those feelings of being flattered, appreciated and valued.

Now take a few more moments to think about what to do next.

We don’t want to burst your bubble, but that counter offer might have everything to do with your current employer and nothing to do with you. Once they’ve factored in the expense hiring a replacement, onboarding and training, your leaving is going to cost your employer dear, so it makes financial sense for them to hold onto you. When a counter offer comes with a nice pay rise, it would be wise to think about who gains most from you accepting it.

It’s usually a matter of salary, and of course if your main reason for seeking a new job was to earn more, then a counter offer that gives you the figure you were looking for seems a good bet. However, there are no guarantees that you’ll end up financially better off in the long run as you could find that your new package is more generous when it comes to bonuses or it could be that you’re subject to a salary freeze down the line. One lawyer who worked in a large American bank stayed and accepted a counter offer with a significantly increased salary only to find their workload significantly increased too. He left within six months.

Often counter offers are not all about the pay. You may have been promised that promotion you were after, or more flexibility to work from home, or that you will have the opportunity to grow a team. But these aren’t always elements that employers can just pull out of the bag, they often take a long time to materialise. If they are going to promote you for instance, they may need to create a job, restructure, or also interview others for the role. More work flexibility may require moving regular meetings and providing equipment and growing a team requires budget and a need. And with all these, employers also need to deal with the risk of upsetting people around you, and this is why so often we hear of these promises not being kept.

Chances are, if you’ve been looking to leave for a while, you have already had these conversations with your boss. And you have to ask yourself, how much do they really value you if you’ve had to go as far as resigning to get them to listen? What does it say about the organisation, its management and culture? And what happens when you need to have these conversations further down the line? Wouldn’t it be nice if they rewarded your contribution and commitment without having to resign?

It’s not always the wrong decision however. Sometimes employers are unaware of how important that request was to you until you resign. Sometimes employees assume that there is a glass ceiling or no chance of a pay rise so they don’t even ask. And sometimes the counter offer is so unexpectedly good that it is worth sticking it out for a year or so more regardless. I worked with one lawyer recently who accepted a counter offer with a significant salary raise and promotion. It was always coming but the frustration of how long it was taking made him think it was never going to happen. He is now very happy, managing a large team on a healthy package.

However, this is rare. And a high percentage of people who take a counter offer are back on the job market within a year. And I was one of them. I was lured into staying with my company with the offer of a promotion which never happened because I required flexible working and the company structure didn’t allow it. I don’t blame my boss. Looking back, I can see that my resignation caused a knee-jerk reaction where I was made a counter offer without it being properly thought through. And in my naivety I grabbed the offer without thinking it through either.

That’s why I always advise candidates in this position to hold fire before accepting a counter offer. Remind yourself of why you were looking to leave in the first place. Take some time to look at what you really want out of your job. Is it all about the salary, or is it career progression, a better relationship with your team, less commuting time, more travel, increased responsibility or just a change? Ask yourself why your current company is suddenly counter offering you now if it’s something you flagged with them months ago. Do you really want to work for a company that only acts when they’re forced into a corner? And now that you’ve got it, is that counter offer really, honestly, all it’s cracked up to be?

March 2020

Whilst 2019 was a great year for many reasons, the financial services recruitment market for lawyers was probably the worst since the 2016 referendum, which can be entirely put down to the uncertainty. The need to hire in-house lawyers was evident, but widespread cost cutting, headcount freezes and unprecedented delays was not kind to potential recruits, resulting in a poor experience for many applicants. And a poor candidate experience from one company is a good hire for their competitor.

What do we mean, bad experience?

• Lengthy application processes – put off up to 50% of candidates from the outset.
• Malfunctioning online portals – don’t work correctly, have the wrong information, have expiry dates that automatically reject candidates etc.
• Poor job spec – generic templates, copied and pasted, too prescriptive or demanding, lacking information about required duties, and with no sell.
• No job spec – cautious lawyers won’t apply, regardless how much information the recruiter has, and chances are you will only see those for whom the search is most urgent.
• Lack of feedback (or any response at all!) – candidates will try unconventional methods to get through and there is a huge long-term negative impact on the organisation.
• Delays during the hiring process – waiting for approvals from the top, changes from perm to contract or put on hold, changes in requirements.
• Not informing the recruiter – who can only cover for so long before all parties look unprofessional and candidates question the commitment to hiring and culture of the organisation.
• Cold formulaic interviews – mean lawyers walk away ambivalent at best, and in a competitive market you will lose them.

What can you do differently?

• Put yourself in the applicant’s shoes – hiring managers are often candidates too, and we can see the difference when they are!
• Get your budget, need analysis and approvals done first – or at least communicate to the recruiter that you are just wanting to explore the market.
• Write an accurate job spec from scratch which sells the role and the organisation. An accurate and informative job spec often creates the positive first impression and shows that you have thought carefully and are serious about hiring. And if something changes, change the job spec.
• Respond to all applications, and ideally within a week, but a maximum of 2.
• Communication – if there are delays or changes, be honest in explaining why and use the recruiter to manage the candidate’s expectations.
• If you say you are going to interview a candidate, arrange it within the next 48 hours.
• Put some thought into your interviews which will leave a good impression even if the candidate is rejected. Make interviews informative, honest and friendly and ideally different and fun.
• Provide feedback – one sentence is fine, but more than a no thanks. This also goes a long way towards helping recruiters get it right, saving you time. Make it constructive and honest.
• Take responsibility for passing on the feedback, don’t assume because you are one step removed it is done. Make sure that it goes to HR and they pass it to the recruiter. If it is on email it is more likely to be forwarded and remains accurate.

And why does it matter?

• Because the talent on the market, some of which hasn’t even applied, is walking into your competition.
• Because those candidates are often also your customers, or potential customers.
• Because a candidate is more likely to shout about a bad experience than a good one.
• Because a negative reputation, so easily shared with social media, will mean you struggle to attract talent.
• Because a bad experience at 1^st interview will affect how they perform at 2^nd meaning you are losing people down the line.
• Because a new recruit is likely to put in more effort when they start if every experience they have had during the process has been positive, and they are likely to stay in their jobs longer too. Employee engagement starts with the first impression.
• Because the candidate you turned down may well be suitable for something down the line and will only apply again if they have a good experience.

We constantly hear that the biggest setback to company growth and productivity is being able to attract talent. Company performance and long-term business is affected by how you hire. An impressive candidate experience is far less demanding and expensive than the longer-term alternative of consistently replacing employees and attracting new customers.

January 2020

So do we!

Recently a lawyer who was towards the end of an interview process at a large bank, wanted to enquire about the maternity policy at their potential new employer. As recruiters we are constantly discussing and negotiating benefits, and can are usually provide a full list. But we are not usually informed of the maternity policy upfront, which left Tracy and I questioning… how should this question be raised?

It is a perfectly reasonable question to ask but understandably job seekers are concerned about how it reflects on them. I.e. will the new employer think that they are going to accept the job, become pregnant, and take up to 12 months maternity leave very quickly? It would be nice to think that even if this were to happen, it shouldn’t be an issue. However, there are many practical reasons why it can make things very challenging for employers, particularly small businesses, who have recruitment, salary and maternity leave costs to consider. And for us, it is an easy question to ask at the beginning of the process but much harder at a later stage, as it generally points to one person being particularly keen to receive the information. 

The lawyer mentioned above was one of two at final interview stage.  She intended to spend at least 3-5 years with her next employer and was hoping to have children towards the end of that time period. She wanted to compare the whole package at two potential employers but didn’t want this question to negatively impact her chances.  After agonising over it, we agreed that we would lean on our network in order to get the information. With over 15 years in the industry each, we knew enough people to be able to make a few phone calls to people we know and within 30 minutes had the information she needed.

This is a matter close to my heart as it effectively happened to me.  I joined my last employer at 30 years old and had been married for a year. I questioned whether it was a sensible time to be moving but couldn’t stay in a job that wasn’t fulfilling. I made the leap, and was then pleasantly surprised to find out that I was expecting my first child just 6 weeks into my new job.  I was delighted, but also very nervous about telling my employer as I had been entrusted to develop a new business line, and I felt as though I was letting them down.  I wished that I had asked about the maternity policy beforehand. It turned out that I hadn’t been employed long enough to qualify for the maternity package and was only eligible for the statutory allowance.  However, they treated me brilliantly, making it clear that they had hired me for the long term and were expecting great things on my return. They also topped up my statutory pay to put me on a par with longer term employees.  They treated me better than I could have possibly expected and in return won considerable loyalty from me. I stayed there for 10 years!

I was very lucky, and also worked for a smaller employer meaning more flexibility was on offer. In most cases when we have asked, HR have not readily had the information to hand, which shows how seldom this gets raised. So our advice would be use your recruiters. If it is on your mind, don’t leave it to the last interview to ask your recruiter to find out, but tell them that this is something you want to know from the outset. And try to use recruiters who have strong networks and can get inside information to you. This doesn’t just apply to maternity policy, but to expected working hours, flexible working, team dynamics, culture and bonuses. Not everyone sees recruiters as helpful, and we understand why, but we will try to make the process easier for you if we can.