In an increasingly competitive and technology-led job market, the value of using a recruitment agency is often overlooked. However, for legal professionals in the financial services sector, working with a recruiter can significantly streamline the process and consequently your career path. Whether you’re a lawyer seeking a new opportunity or an employer in financial services looking to fill a key legal role, partnering with a specialist recruitment firm, like Fry & Brown, can make a world of difference.
Expertise in Financial Services
One of the key reasons to work with a recruiter is their deep understanding of the niche market they serve. At Fry & Brown, we specialise in placing UK and common law qualified lawyers in financial services organisations such as banks, insurance companies, asset managers, fintechs and other boutique-regulated companies. We don’t work across multiple industries but are deeply focused on one – financial services. This allows us to truly understand the intricacies of the roles, the skills required, and the unique demands that financial institutions place on legal professionals.
Financial services firms have complex regulatory and legal needs and using a recruitment firm specialising in this sector ensures you won’t waste time if you have the necessary expertise or fit. Help understanding where your skills best align in a rapidly evolving sector allows you to make better-informed decisions.
Access to Hidden Opportunities
Some of the best jobs in financial services may not be advertised on job boards or company websites. They’re often filled by introductions or existing relationships before needing to go to the wider market. Sometimes there is no job at all until an opportunity is created or adapted for a great candidate. And some employers don’t want their vacancies advertised due to confidentiality, sensitivity or the senior nature of the role. A recruiter can help tap into this hidden pool of opportunities and make introductions through extensive networks. Rather than relying on job postings, a recruitment agency with a solid network can introduce you to roles that may not be publicly advertised.
Time-Saving Efficiency
Working with a recruiter means quicker access to roles specifically tailored to your expertise and career aspirations instead of spending hours browsing through job listings.
The recruitment process can be overwhelming but by working with a recruiter you ensure that your time is spent only on relevant opportunities. Before you start you can understand both the state of the market and your market value, with the recruiter then ready to help guide you through the complexities of the hiring process.
Market Insight
Gaining valuable insight into the job market is one of the main advantages of using a recruitment agency. A recruiter will provide you with up-to-date information on salary expectations, trends in the legal market, and the evolving demands of the financial services industry. This knowledge is crucial for candidates who want to understand how their skills and experience match up to the current market.
Application Feedback
The biggest frustration we hear from our candidates is the lack of feedback they receive following making an application for an in-house role, especially when applying through LinkedIn. It is often described as a blackhole and sometimes you don’t even know if your application has been looked at or received. Although it can be difficult for lawyers to chase for feedback, recruiters will often have direct lines for HR and hiring managers and will not jeopardise anything by being persistent.
Applying through a recruiter means there is someone accountable for providing feedback, and whilst recruiters can also struggle to get this information from clients, finding a specialist legal recruiter who has deep relationships with fewer clients makes getting constructive and quality feedback much more likely. At Fry & Brown, we endeavour to get detailed feedback following every interview and give insights as to why for those who aren’t selected for interview. We will be honest in providing both positive and negative feedback giving you the opportunity to improve, something you won’t always get from a direct interview.
Recruiters provide most of the value during the interview process, we will usually know the people who will be interviewing you and the wider legal team members. We know the hiring process and what our clients are looking for as well as who else is in the running. You can use your recruiter for interview practice, to learn about the format of the interview and to advise on the best way to sell yourself.
Salary Negotiation
Recruiters also provide guidance on the package negotiation process, ensuring that candidates secure fair compensation and that employers offer attractive packages to top talent. Help navigating salary negotiations can be particularly useful if an offer comes in low, or if one part of the package is particularly important to you at the expense of another. Conversations around compensation can be awkward; no one wants to go back and forth too many times and you don’t want to jeopardise an offer for a job that you really want. Using a recruiter as the middleman means you can push for the best package available without the risk of altering the client’s opinion of you.
Using a legal recruiter enables applicants to ask uncomfortable questions that they may not want to ask an employer directly. This may be around the personalities in the team, reasons for people leaving, culture, promotion and career prospects, maternity leave and any rumours they may have heard. You will get your questions answered by the employer and an honest insight from the recruiter based on previous placements and institutional knowledge.
Long-Term Relationships
A good legal recruiter doesn’t just fill vacancies, they work to build a long-term relationship with clients and candidates. At Fry & Brown, we focus on understanding your long-term goals as a lawyer seeking to take the next step in your career. This relationship means you have an expert on hand to offer advice whenever you need it. It is also more likely that you might get a call out of the blue about that perfect opportunity if they know and remember you.
Bringing it all Together
Ultimately, using a recruiter is about gaining market knowledge, saving time, accessing opportunities and then acing the process. For both clients and candidates, working with a recruitment agency that specialises in financial services law ensures the placements are more likely to last and the candidate will thrive in the unique financial services environment.
Whether you’re looking to grow your team or take the next step in your professional journey, a recruitment agency can provide the insight and connections needed for success. If you’re eager to advance your career and are seeking support along the way, we invite you to reach out to us. Don’t hesitate to get in touch – we’d love to hear from you!
Dec 2024
