Demand for Temp-to-Hire Legal Secretaries on the Rise

One of the first indications of an improving legal secretarial employment market that has been hit hard by a recession is the increase of "temp-to-hire" employment opportunities.
 
We are just beginning to see a real increase in the demand for temp-to-hire legal secretarial assignments. During this past year, law firms have searched for ways to cut expenses. With few exceptions, virtually all departments implemented cost-saving strategies, including staff reductions. As a result, temporary assignments dwindled and displaced legal secretaries scrambled to identify new employment.

 
Despite recent predictions that law firms will experience a shortage of legal secretaries over the next decade, many of these unemployed legal secretaries have had to accept offers within other industries, such as medical and financial. As a result, the legal industry may have lost many of these legal secretaries forever. Yet, a reasonable percentage will eventually be lured back into the legal industry as the demand outpaces the supply, and as base salaries begin to surge.
 
The tide is now turning. The recession is easing and law firms find themselves in need of qualified legal secretaries to meet the demand of the business market. This has come in the nick of time.
 
The recent emergence of temp-to-hire (also referred to as "temp-to-perm") opportunities is beginning to revive the legal secretarial employment market. As a result, many of the unemployed legal secretaries now have an avenue back into the legal industry, and are optimistic that they will once again have a sense of job security.
 
Temp-to-hire opportunities tend to benefit the unemployed. Legal secretaries already within a direct-hire role are unwilling to take the risk of a temp-to-hire option as the gamble is too high. There simply are few, if any, guarantees that the legal secretary will be converted to direct-hire status.
 
As a result, the competition for temp-to-hire legal secretarial opportunities is an ideal situation for the unemployed. The odds of being offered a direct-hire legal secretarial job is dramatically increased, especially if the unemployed legal secretary has glowing references from previous employers.
 
A Practical Solution
 
Temp-to-hire is a practical solution for both law firms and legal secretaries. Law firms that are attempting to stay fiscally responsible are able to minimize their hiring risks, and are able to monitor the performance of temporary legal secretaries prior to direct-hire conversions. Law firms that find themselves with a limited hiring budget believe that they are investing wisely with the temp-to-hire employment option.
 
While there are some who do not seek temp-to-hire employment out of fear that they may lose, delay or jeopardize their unemployment benefits, many unemployed legal secretaries view temp-to-hire employment as a realistic solution to their professional needs. They have the flexibility and confidence to prove themselves on the job within a temp-to-hire situation.
 
Additionally, legal secretaries who have recently relocated are having success with the temp-to-hire option. Since their knowledge of their new legal community may be limited, temp-to-hire provides a window of opportunity to learn, discover and familiarize themselves with their new environment. It also provides a built-in mechanism to keep their options open with other law firms.
 
Typically, when a law firm has a temp-to-hire opening, it prefers to interview the legal secretary prior to the assignment. This demonstrates to the applicant that the law firm is serious about a possible conversion, and also provides an opportunity for both parties to evaluate one another in terms of suitability and potential. It also allows both parties to establish a dialogue with each other, which is very important to a smooth transition as a direct hire.
 
Issues to Consider
 
While there are advantages for law firms and unemployed legal secretaries to pursue the temp-to-hire option, there is also a major disadvantage. Since there are no assurances that a temporary will be converted to a direct hire, legal secretaries still retain the flexibility and option of interviewing for new employment with other law firms while performing as a temporary.
 
Law firms that are able to quickly and effectively mobilize their resources to convert temporary legal secretaries to direct-hire status tend to be most successful with this option. Law firms that delay or stall the temp-to-hire conversion stand a significant chance of losing the legal secretary altogether.
 
The length of time the legal secretary performs as a temporary prior to converting to a direct hire is critical. The shorter the assignment, the better the odds that the law firm will be able to convert the legal secretary. Even if the law firm has established with the legal secretary that the assignment is for an approximate period of time, law firms are at risk of losing the legal secretary from the very first day of the assignment.
 
Temporary legal secretaries who seek direct-hire status are free to pursue employment situations just as law firms are free to interview other applicants. Thus, the level of security for both parties is best resolved with short temporary assignments prior to converting to a direct hire.
 
Many law firms and legal recruiters agree that temp-to-hire - while always an employment option - is most effective for a short period of time following a recession. This is the only period of time where there is a larger than normal pool of unemployed legal secretaries available to perform such a role.
 
However, there is a limited number of qualified unemployed job applicants from which to select. As this pool of legal secretaries decreases, there will naturally be an increase in the amount of straight direct-hire opportunities. This will mark the point where the legal secretarial employment market is in real recovery, and is returning to a more predictable pattern of recruitment.
 
Every law firm, irrespective of its size and practice groups, is dependent upon the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of its employees. Legal secretaries play a vital role within law firms, and their contributions are becoming more and more evident. They are important to the cycle of business activity within law firms, and the demand for these talented employees will continue to fluctuate with the economic tides.
 
Since the economy is now showing signs of recovery, it is no surprise that the legal secretarial employment market is improving.