A Legal Secretary’s Job Hunt Guide

Summary: This article describes the legal secretary job search process, from the first written plan to how to handle interviews and offers.

Searching for a legal secretarial position nowadays requires a written plan!


The bottom line is that job hunters must remain optimistic and must not give up or succumb to the current conditions.

There are a variety of steps that legal secretaries can take to find new employment opportunities.

Step-by-Step Plan

The following step-by-step job hunting plan reflects what the most successful legal secretaries have done in order to identify new employment over the past few months:
 

1. Keep a written plan

A written report is very important and prevents you from overlapping and missing opportunities. In this plan you can keep track of what you have done, with whom you have met, with whom you have spoken and where your resume was forwarded; keeping track of these efforts will keep you from becoming disorganized and discouraged.
 

2. Decide which employment & search option(s) are best for you

The three basic employment options to consider are: Direct hire, Temp-to-hire & Temporary

Following is a breakdown of the sources for each of these three categories:

Direct Hire: Employment agencies,Classified advertising, LawCrossing, Referrals by friends, Direct contact

Temp-to-Hire: Employment agencies

Temporary: Employment agencies

Direct hire provides greater latitude in terms of selecting a search option. You have choices. That is, if you want only direct hire and would not consider a temp-to-hire or temporary assignment, you are able to identify a new position through many sources.

However, if you would consider temporary or temp-to-hire, then your search options may be limited to an employment agency. With temporary and temp-to-hire, law firms prefer to place the job applicant on the payroll of the temp agency or the temp funding company of the employment agency. This explains why an employment agency may be your only real option for temp or temp-to-hire. In other words, if you are unemployed or in-between jobs, a full-service employment agency may be the only search option available to assist you with all three employment options (direct hire, temp-to-hire, temporary).

The five basic search options to consider are:
 

1. Employment Agencies

Employment agencies still offer the most confidential search capability. Employment agencies work behind the scene to present your qualifications discreetly to law firms that have job openings or a history of employing people with similar work experience.

Employment agencies also have personal working relationships with law firms that can benefit any legal support job seeker during a time of need. In many instances, an employment agency will have an inside track on an upcoming job opening that may never be advertised.

Also, if the law firm is on the fence about making an offer, the reputation and previous referral rate success of the recruiter may be able to tilt the scales in your favor.

Keep in mind that a relationship you develop with a recruiter will almost always outlast the relationship you develop with an employer. There are few substitutes for developing a relationship with an experienced and qualified legal recruiter.
 

2. Classified Advertising

Classified advertising has been the most traditional method for job seekers to identify new employment. Lawyers Weekly is not only the best source for classified advertising of legal jobs, it is the most sensible. Lawyers Weekly specifically caters to the legal industry and is a respected trade journal.

While other forms of recruitment have progressed over the years, classified advertising has remained virtually unchanged. The only exception may be that the ads are now being posted on the websites of some trade journals and newspapers. This method still requires that the job seeker arrange all interviews and negotiate all employment terms.

Blind advertising, or ads without a law firm name and contact person, may present a high-risk situation to a legal job seeker. This type of ad requires that you identify yourself without any obligation on the part of the employer to identify themselves. As a result, it should be avoided.
 

3. Internet Job Boards

Internet job boards are the newest job search option. In fact, this method is so new that internet job boards are still in the process of defining themselves. Posting your resume on the internet or forwarding your resume to an internet job board is simple and easy.

Thus far, most law firms do not utilize internet job boards for legal support personnel because they have had very limited success with this method. Additionally, it appears that many legal support positions listed on internet job boards are actually from employment agencies.
 

4. Referrals by Friends

Should you decide to seek a referral, you must consider your friend’s ability to be discrete. You must ask yourself these two questions: (1) Does your friend still stay in-touch with people within your current firm? (2) Do you trust that your friend will not discuss your search with others within your current firm? This is a critical factor because you do not want anyone within your firm to know you are considering an employment change.
 

5. Direct Contact

Direct contact includes ‘cold calling’ or searching the website of law firms and applying on-line. Again, this method requires the job seeker to arrange all interviews, negotiate all employment terms and perform all follow-up contact.

Additionally, direct contact requires that all communications take place during normal business hours, which can be difficult while employed elsewhere.

This method has had moderate success because most law firms do not post their legal support openings on their websites. Moreover, the direct contact option can be labor intensive, and usually requires that the job seeker be able to take incoming telephone calls directly from law firms. As a result, many legal secretaries prefer the confidentiality and convenience of dealing with an employment agency.
 

3. Qualify each search option that is best for you

Once you have made your selections, you have gotten over the first hurdle. Remember, this is a step-by-step plan, and all decisions and communications should be documented for future reference. It is now time to qualify each of the above options.
 

1. Find & qualify employment agencies that specialize in legal placement

Most recruitment firms will offer all three employment options you are considering. Before you call a recruitment firm, look at their website. If they do not have a website, then you may want to keep searching. When you access the website of a recruitment firm, you will be able to determine if their true area of specialty is legal placement. Keep a list of the five most impressive legal recruitment firms that you believe would be most suited to assist you with the search. Many good legal search firms may be located on the Lawyers Weekly website.

Once you have your short list of the five most impressive legal recruitment agencies, call each one before you email, fax or send a resume and request to speak with an experienced recruiter. Believe it or not, you can make this request. Ask questions and listen carefully to what they have to say. If you are convinced you are speaking with a recruiter that is experienced and is able to understand your employment needs, arrange an appointment. Ideally, you should arrange appointments with one to three recruiters you identify.

When you have the opportunity to meet each recruiter, qualify the recruiter as to how he or she will assist you in finding a new position. Present yourself in a professional and positive manner and be realistic about your expectations. Know what you are searching for. Know what is important to you. Know what skills and experience you have to offer. And, discuss the range of your salary expectations.

You should also request that, whenever possible, the recruiter contact you before presenting your resume to a law firm. Employment agencies do not want to reveal where their openings are located, but they should provide enough information for you to know that the job listing is real and current. This may help you to eliminate those employment agencies that fax unsolicited resumes to dozens of law firms, and then sit back and wait for business to come to them. If your resume is all over town, I can guarantee other recruiters will lose interest in your search.

Let the recruiters know you may have another recruiter assisting you with your search for employment. I recommend that you inform the recruiter which agencies you have contacted so they are aware of who may be circulating your resume. If you register with too many recruiters, they will lose interest in your candidacy and do nothing.
 

2. Find & qualify sources for classified advertising

This should not be too difficult. You may already know of the two most popular sources: Lawyers Weekly and The Boston Sunday Globe. There may be others.
 

3. Find & qualify internet job boards

Internet job boards are similar in many respects, yet offer different services. Lists of internet job boards are easy to find simply by visiting various search engines. Look for the currency of the posted jobs, not just the quantity, as the best leads are new ones.
 

4. Find & qualify friends for referrals

Rather than think about everyone you know, you should instead make a list of co-workers whom you regularly contact, and with whom you have formed a trusting relationship over the years. Eliminate people that you do not know, that you have not communicated with over the last year, or those you do not trust can keep a secret.

You should then contact your friends to ask them your questions about their firm. For example, in the current economic climate, you may want to know about lay-offs, lost clients, new clients, salary raises, and benefits. Inquire about how this law firm treated its employees during a recent lay-off. Was the law firm affected by the loss of dot-com business? Did the law firm recently gain some new clients or new lawyers from another law firm? Did the staff feel good or bad about the salary raises this past year? What are the benefits? And, several other general questions.

If you are convinced you would want to work for this law firm, ask your friends how well they know the hiring authority. This is important. If your friends know the hiring authority well, then ask if your friends would be willing to forward your resume. Make sure your resume is in proper order before submitting it to anyone. You should know the name of the hiring authority or supervisor who will be receiving your resume, and you must ask your friend if he or she objects to you directly contacting this person.
 

5. Find & qualify each direct contact

This method requires that the job seeker identify and research each law firm, as well as find its web address and the name of its hiring manager. This may initially require telephoning each law firm. Many job seekers explain that this option is similar to the referral method; indeed, in some instances, it is possible to combine these two options.

Based on the conversations I have had with legal support job seekers that are employed, this is the least favorite method to identify new employment. They claim that it is difficult to perform the necessary research and communications from their place of employment and that the risk of their job search becoming exposed to their current employer is too high. However, for those legal support job seekers that are unemployed and in-between jobs, this method has shown a slight increase in its effectiveness. Keep in mind that the selection process for this method tends to be slow and requires written documentation to maintain organization.
 

4. Any Results?

At this point in the process, you should be getting replies from law firms about your potential candidacy. Remember, most replies will be negative, so do not be discouraged. The success of a job search involves many factors, including timing.

If you decided to seek the assistance of employment agencies, the recruiters should be quietly canvassing the legal employment market. An experienced recruiter should maintain regular contact with you if they believe they have the potential to identify a new position.

If you decided to contact a friend for a referral, you should be keeping up with the status of each inquiry. Since this is the only option listed above that requires you to inquire about a position that may not exist, and is really based upon timing, you must exercise a significant degree of patience. You may have to wait several weeks or months before a position becomes available. Again, please keep your written plan updated.

If you decided to perform direct contact, you will need to be very organized. This requires logging in any pertinent information regarding all conversations and to whom and where the resume was forwarded. Because there are only a limited amount of law firms that list their legal support openings, the market penetration will be limited.

By this time, you should have some results, either good or bad. If nothing happens during this short time period, then you need to consider a new option or further explore one of the options you previously exercised.

If you have had positive results, keep plugging away. If not, then you need to proceed to step # 5.
 

5. Other Options

Unfortunately, recruiters are not able to assist every legal secretary in this type of employment market. If recruiters are not able to assist you, you need to consider other employment options. Classified advertising is always a possibility, as well as exploring internet job boards. You will find that agencies are heavily represented in classified advertising and job boards, and perhaps you will identify a new recruitment firm. There are some law firms that have begun utilizing internet job boards in combination with recruitment agencies, or simply as the their primary source for attracting new employees. Many of these law firms are very good employers and are simply trying to be cost-conscious. However, most law firms do not utilize internet job boards (or classified advertising) and prefer the services of recruitment agencies.
 

6. Update Your Written Plan

This is crucial. Updating your written plan must be a daily task.
 

7. Attitude

Remember, the most important thing here is to project a positive, professional, and poised image of yourself. Do not dwell on discouragement. Psych yourself up to make a wonderful presentation. In this type of market, you will receive very few, if any, second chances. And, with a positive and professional presentation, your odds will be dramatically improved.
 

8. Interviews

Practice interviewing! When you finally do interview, speak positively and with confidence. Do not speak negatively of anything. Accept responsibility for your career decisions, both good and bad. Law firms will respect you for this. If you have employment gaps in your recent work history, do not panic. You may always offer or consider a temp-to-hire or long-term temporary position in order to demonstrate to the law firm that your skills have not been diminished and that you are willing to prove yourself in a trial capacity before being considered for a direct hire.

Be on time, enthusiastic and cheerful. Be inquisitive, flexible and realistic. Have questions prepared and certainly take the time to review the website of each law firm you meet. And, if you are interviewing through the efforts of a recruiter, ask the recruiter for interview assistance.
 

9. Job Offers

In the current employment market, you must be flexible. Law firms are trying to balance the needs of their businesses with those of their purse strings. Most law firms have slashed their operational budgets from head to toe, including employment. Some law firms may interview you for a direct hire position, then offer you a temp-to-hire opportunity, while other law firms may offer you a base salary a little less than what you had been expecting. I strongly urge any unemployed legal secretary to give serious consideration to any viable employment offer.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is that anyone searching for employment needs to implement a written plan and be highly organized. Additionally, the job seeker needs to accept the burden of responsibility to manage his or her own career. Creating, managing and executing your job search plan are critical. Otherwise, you may miss or overlook employment opportunities, become disorganized or discouraged, and put yourself in a more challenging situation from which to recover.

If all avenues within the legal community fail, do not be discouraged. Keep your options open. Many legal secretaries are now finding temporary assignments outside of the legal industry to help them through this unpredictable period of time. It may be only a temporary fix until a legal employment opportunity presents itself. A temporary assignment outside of law will help to boost your morale, and will keep your skills current. It will also reduce the pressures associated with finding a job. Additionally, it demonstrates to a potential law firm that you possess initiative and are driven to succeed. You must stay busy!

See the following articles for more information:

• Elements of the Job Hunt
• Legal Job Hunting Strategies