Is Age a Factor on My CV?
Article outlining experience of age discrimination from a legal recruitment perspective. Jonathan Fagan of Ten Percent Legal Recruitment.
Job Applications
Contract Manager or Legal Counsel – Tailoring Job Applications
How to frame a commercial contracts manager job title when the work is as in-house legal counsel dealing with commercial contracts.
Locums Covering More Than One Field of Law
We often get partners of law firms contacting us to request details of locums who are able to do conveyancing and wills and probate, residential and commercial conveyancing and many more besides. Is it feasible?
Help – I Can’t Get a Training Contract – What Am I Doing Wrong?
Help to get a training contract – advice from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment, specialists for the legal profession since 2000.
Can I apply for jobs without a CV?
This is often a question asked by fairly elderly or semi-retired solicitors who approach our legal recruitment consultancy Ten Percent Legal Recruitment. They have probably worked in the same job for the last 30 years and know just about everything there is to know about the work they do. This is invariably conveyancing or family…
Negotiating for the sake of negotiating – the risks of haggling on salary during the job offer process
A couple of job offers recently have ended up in a stalemate situation between the employers and the employees. The employees have asked for a higher salary and the employers have taken umbrage at the fact the employees have asked the question. Here are our top 10 pieces of advice when considering negotiating on salary…
What do my South African qualifications count for in the UK? I am a South African qualified lawyer.
If you are a South African qualified lawyer who has decided to come to the UK to experience our high quality weather, our stable political system and our well functioning courts, congratulations! You may have spent 20 years practising in a good quality South African law firm undertaking high quality legal cases and you may…
Why do I never get offered job interviews – Top Tips for getting a job application noticed
Every week we get lots of permanent vacancies and locum assignments from solicitors’ firms and in house legal departments. They’re often looking for a specific type of solicitor, with sufficient experience to do a specific job. Lets take a recent example. A firm in the South East of England are looking as follows: Permanent, Full…
We want to recruit a paralegal and he’s got to be male
We took a call yesterday from a solicitors firm somewhere in England and Wales, and the conversation went as follows: “Hello I wonder if you can help, we’re looking for a family paralegal.” “Yes sure, can you give me a bit more information please?” “Yes, we would like a paralegal who’s able to assist with…
Restrictive Covenants – do they put employees off?
We have recently introduced a candidate to an employer where a restrictive covenant was used which must surely fall foul of rather a lot of employment regulations! The role is a fairly junior fee earner position and not senior management or director level. The restrictive covenant was actually called a “non-compete clause” and included the…
in Careers Advice, Changing Jobs, Job Applications, Legal Profession, Newly Qualified Solicitors, Staying in Your Job
Should I leave when I qualify? The dilemna for Newly Qualified – 1 year PQE Solicitors
Should I Stay or Should I Go? In April every year we are regularly contacted by newly qualified and 1 year PQE (post-qualification experience) solicitors who ask the following questions: 1. Should I stay with my training law firm for at least 2 years when I qualify? 2. How much should I get paid? 3.…
Personal Statements on CVs – Top Quality Examples?
Top Quality Summary Sections/Personal Statements on CVs The summary at the top of a CV is one of the key areas of a CV that so often gets ignored by candidates or filled with meaningless waffle. A good number of CVs we see every day actually miss them off completely, which is an opportunity missed…
Using Logos and Images on CVs – a good idea?
Using Logos and Images on CVs Recently we have seen a spate of CVs containing logos and images for employers worked for in the past. Fresh, Bright CVs The CVs look very fresh and bright, and the logos really make them stand out. Surely a win-win situation for everyone? You get your CV to stand…
In House Legal – is the grass greener on the other side?
For our full advice on in house legal jobs and moving in house from private practice (and vice versa) please visit our In House page by clicking https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/in-house-lawyers/ The advice sheet includes the following: How easy is it to move from a solicitors’ firm to an in house legal department? Can anyone do it? Is…
in Careers Advice, Job Applications, Legal Profession, Training Contracts, Pupillage and Work Experience
Human Rights Lawyers – do they exist?
When I grow up I want to be a human rights lawyer (and marry George Clooney) We’ve been meaning to write this article for ages and I was only jogged into action by a long train journey and a recent spate of enquiries! So many teenagers and young adults have the idea that they want…
Matching Current Salary with a Job Offer – a good idea?
Making a Job Offer and matching current salary – a good idea? A candidate looks to make a move and we send them over details of vacancies. The candidate applies for a vacancy and we send a CV across to a firm, indicating current salary levels. We go through the recruitment process – interview, discussions,…
General Practice Solicitors – do they exist?
Do General Practice Solicitors still exist? At one time general practice solicitors (ie a solicitor who is able to work in a number of different areas of law) were scorned and firms avoided recruiting them. Times have changed and they are back in demand. So do they still exist? Yes, in a nutshell, but they…
CVs – have Linked In and video CVs made paper and digital CVs obsolete?
Are CVs obsolete thanks to the Internet? We recently attended a recruitment agency trade fair where numerous salesmen attempted to flog us video CVs and online pre-interview software and a number of speakers told us that CVs were no longer necessary. In the digital world it is so easy to find out about someone –…
Locum Dilemna – Firm have cancelled an assignment at short notice – what do I do?
Locum Dilemna – what do I do if a firm cancels an assignment at short notice? For a full detailed list of FAQs on locums and a guide on how to be an successful locum please visit www.interimlawyers.co.uk “Hi Jonathan. I was booked back in February for a conveyancing role to last for a week…
I’ve had a Training Contract offer from a small High Street Law Firm – should I take it?
We had a request in for legal careers advice from an LPC graduate who has been offered a training contract in a smaller sized law firm somewhere in the UK who do a lot of family law (plus other areas). His questions are as follows: I am unsure whether to take the training contract or…
Improve your chances of success of recruiting Conveyancing Solicitors
There remains a national shortage of conveyancing and commercial property lawyers at all levels. We are finding it harder than usual to recruit locums this year, although we still get CVs in to over 95% of assignments, but the permanent side is very difficult. What is interesting is the trend of firms recruiting new conveyancers…
CV Writing and Job Applications – 10 Tips for getting noticed
CV Writing – Tips for Getting Noticed Here are 10 top tips from us on how to get your CV noticed by employers: Make sure your CV is extremely detailed and contains all the work relevant to the application you are making. Information such as details of billing levels for the past 3 to 4…
What do Umbrella Companies do and is there any point a solicitor using one to do locum work?
What do umbrella companies do and is there any point using one to do locum work? We have been working with locums in the legal profession for over 10 years now and it seems to be a fairly recent phenomenon that a very small minority of our locums and other locums we’ve come across employ…
What Makes a Good Job Reference
What makes a good job reference? We often get job offers for our candidates which involve a clause to say that the offer is subject to satisfactory references. A few times during the last 16 years, we have experienced difficulties getting hold of a satisfactory reference but the vast majority of references are very straightforward.…
Best Websites and Places to Search for Legal Jobs
There are an abundance of different websites online to search for legal jobs. These include job boards, agency websites, posting boards and blogs. However, these are the best sites in our experience (apart from our own of course!): 1) Law Society Gazette Online This site, until very recently, was in our opinion absolutely dreadful. The…
Returning to work after a break – steps to improve your CV, prospects and chances of success
Very recently, a candidate got in touch about a vacancy, explaining quite apologetically that she was returning to work after a break and could she be considered for the post. As a recruiter, I have to be honest and say that whenever anybody tells me they are returning to work I almost involuntarily sigh because…
in Careers Advice, CV Writing, Job Applications, Newly Qualified Solicitors, Training Contracts, Pupillage and Work Experience
How to Improve your Chances of Success when making Job Applications – become a Borg
Improving chances of success when applying for a job – become a Borg Whilst working as recruitment consultants, we often get asked by candidates what they can do to improve their chances in relation to a specific job that they may be considering applying for. Very often there are a whole raft of things that…
Five Common Mistakes When Writing a CV
Five common mistakes when writing a CV. Here are five very common errors that arise from CVs we receive every day of the week into Ten Percent Legal Recruitment. Some of them are glaringly obvious, others are not so straightforward. 1) Not putting any contact details on the CV This is very common and a…
Top 5 Tips for getting the most out of Interviews
Top 5 Tips for making sure you get the most out of interviews. These tips apply as much to senior members of staff and managers as they do for junior staff. They are designed so that you get the most out of the recruitment process when you apply for jobs with a law firm. 1.…
Top 5 Tips for Getting the most out of Candidates
Top 5 Tips for making sure you get the most out of candidates applying for your posts. These tips apply as much to senior members of staff and managers as they do for junior staff. They are designed so that you get the most out of the recruitment process when they apply for jobs with…