SeltzerFontaine LLC

The third thing candidates want from their legal recruiter is bespoke opportunities. (See Monday’s and Tuesday’s posts for discussions of the first two things candidates want from their recruiter—a relationship of trust and curated communications.) At the outset of the relationship, the recruiter should spend time getting to know the candidate’s goals and preferences so they can present a slate of opportunities tailored to the candidate’s personal aspirations. They should explore with the candidate what they both like and dislike about their current firm, not just what they don’t like. They need to find out what the candidate needs to best service their existing client base and attract new business, and what might be hindering business and career development at their current firm as well as what could facilitate further success at another firm. It can be helpful to use that information to create a spreadsheet of factors—both positive and negative—and rate each firm under consideration on those criteria. Did your recruiter spend the time to really get to know you, your career goals and aspirations? #nalsc #legalrecruiting #lawjobs #legaljobs #seltzerfontaine For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

This week’s posts discuss five things candidates want from their legal recruiter. The first is absolute trust. The second is curated communications. From the initial contact until the move is complete, and even beyond, candidates want their recruiter to curate all communications, advice, and information so that it is tailored to the needs and interests of them individually. Before reaching out to the candidate, the recruiter should ask: “Why is this information important to the candidate? Why this candidate? Why this firm?” They must think about what is necessary for the candidate to know to be successful in the move and in their career. The recruiter should make it all about the candidate and not waste their time. What, exactly, do you want from your recruiter’s communications? #nalsc #legalrecruiting #lawjobs #legaljobs #seltzerfontaine For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

What do candidates want from their legal recruiter? The bottom line is that candidates want their recruiter to care, listen, streamline the process, and guide them throughout the career transition. They want their recruiter to push for the best fit for both the candidate and the firm, not just to make a deal. They want their recruiter to build a relationship with them rather than focus on completing the individual transaction. The number one thing candidates want from their recruiter is a relationship of trust. The late former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, upon turning 100, wrote, “Trust is the coin of the realm. When trust was in the room, whatever room that was—the family room, the schoolroom, the locker room, the office room, the government room or the military room—good things happened. When trust was not in the room, good things did not happen. Everything else is details.” The same thing holds true in the recruiter-candidate relationship. The recruiter holds the candidate’s career in their hands and must do so with great care. Candidates rely upon the recruiter to keep their best interests in mind when advising them on career options, presentation and interviewing skills, and when guiding them throughout the job search process. Candidates want complete candor, confidentiality, and brutal (but nicely delivered) honesty from their recruiter; they want the recruiter to say no, provide pushback, rein them in if necessary, and provide reality checks. Tune in the rest of this week for four more things candidates want from their legal recruiter. What do you want from yours? #nalsc #legalrecruiting #lawjobs #legaljobs #seltzerfontaine For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

The most effective way to attract the best and the brightest, and then hang onto your top professionals, is to find out what makes them happy and do your best to deliver it. After conducting a stay interview (see posts from earlier this week), you must actually follow through on the feedback the interviews solicited and provide a clear sense of what will be different following the discussions. Develop individualized engagement and retention programs responsive to the concerns raised. The effort will backfire if, after everyone devoted their precious time to participate, their concerns were not heard and acted upon. You don’t need to do everything mentioned in the interviews, but prioritize the requests, especially from those people you can least afford to lose. See how you can provide the tools, resources or opportunities they aren’t currently getting, such as a clear sense of purpose, stretch assignments, greater flexibility, more support and mentoring, greater recognition and, in general, a personalized package that would be hard to find anywhere else. As discussed in this week’s posts, the stay interview is an excellent investment of your time and effort. Each should take about 30-60 minutes—which is much less time than it takes to interview a replacement. #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalrecruiting #retention #stayinterview For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine

We know about exit interviews, but what is a stay interview? Stay interviews are informal two-way conversations with open-ended questions to foster trust and open communication. Ideally, they occur periodically throughout the year and aren’t tied to the firm’s performance/compensation evaluation cycles. They should be conducted with all team members to avoid the perception that the firm cares only about certain key performers. What you really want to know is: Why do you stay and what will keep you here? It should be a dialogue, rather than a deposition. Below are some questions to get the conversation started and keep it rolling: ·       What do you look forward to most/least each work day? ·       Do you feel you’re doing meaningful work with clear goals and objectives? ·       What are you learning, and what do you want to learn? ·       Which of your talents are you not using? ·       Do you have the tools and resources to do your job properly and communicate with your colleagues when working remotely? If not, what’s missing? ·       Do you feel valued and recognized? If not, how would you like to be recognized? ·       What do you like most/least about our culture? ·       What are we not doing as a firm that you think we should do? ·       What can we do to make your job better for you? ·       Would you recommend our firm to job-seeking friends? Why/why not? ·       What would make a long-term career with us enticing for you? What would tempt you to leave? What else should be included in a stay interview? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalrecruiting #retention #stayinterview For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

Firm culture is the biggest driver in why people stay--or leave. The most enthusiastic long-timers have strong feelings of connection to the social fabric of their organizations. Thus, retention requires improving firm culture by fostering relationships between coworkers and offering intangible benefits that can’t be found elsewhere. Smart law firms focus on providing positive workplace experiences such as promoting empathy, appreciation, and well-being along with a sense of autonomy and control; providing meaningful work with alignment between personal and organizational values and goals; and mentoring with opportunities for growth and development. A hybrid work environment compounds the challenge of doing so, however, because it limits human interaction. That’s why the stay interview is especially important in hybrid or distributed work environments. Even if conducted virtually, it’s one way to increase communication and connectedness. Remember, the goal of the stay interview is to build rapport and connection and, therefore, increase retention. The most important job of the interviewer is to LISTEN with an open mind. Those being interviewed will share openly and honestly only if they trust that they can speak freely without fear of judgement or retaliation. For the interviewee to feel heard, valued, and supported, you must appear grateful for the feedback. Don’t immediately respond directly to their comments nor react defensively. Simply thank them for their time, summarize the feedback you heard, and let them know when they can expect to hear back from you with a plan to address their concerns. How do you think implementing stay interviews could strengthen the fabric of your firm’s culture? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalrecruiting #retention #stayinterview For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

Money isn’t always the answer. Biglaw is throwing money around in the hopes of attracting and retaining top partners and associates, but increased pay and bonuses are easy for competitors to match and, therefore, convey no lasting competitive advantage. Using stay interviews to ask employees what they value most in their relationship with the organization and seeking to provide it creates sustainable advantages. This is especially important for mid-sized and smaller firms which cannot compete on the basis of salaries and benefits. They must find other ways to differentiate themselves and keep their lawyers and staff members happy. Interestingly, studies show that the law firms which best held onto their associates didn’t give the largest associate pay raises yet maintained billable hours in the same range as those offering top compensation. These findings indicate that money alone isn’t enough to retain valued associates. What else does your firm have to offer when competing to recruit and retain the best and the brightest? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalrecruiting #retention #stayinterview For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

Exit interviews reveal why people leave their jobs; stay interviews identify why they stay—which may be even more important for retaining your professionals. As part of the hiring process, most employers focus on assessing how well a candidate fits with the firm’s culture and mission. Once hired, performance reviews focus on how well they’re doing and how they can improve, but not on how the organization is meeting the individual’s needs. A stay interview fills that gap. It’s a one-on-one meeting with your team members separate and apart from performance reviews to talk about what works and what doesn’t work in their current positions. This week’s posts will focus on the stay interview and how to use it to boost recruitment and retention. Have you ever had or conducted a stay interview? What did you think of the process? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalrecruiting #retention #stayinterview For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

Lawyers, do you recognize and appreciate the power of playtime? One of the most obvious benefits of pursuing interests outside of law is that it’s an outlet from the pressures of practice. It helps avoid burnout and maintain mental and physical well-being. It helps control emotions, manage breathing, and think with a clear head. Hobbies usually engage a very different part of the brain. When you return to your desk, you feel reenergized and recommitted with a fresh perspective. You also may find that some part of your brain has been working on a legal problem in the background. Often a creative, out-of-the-box solution occurs to you that would not have without that time “away.” Any activity that triggers your mind/body connection not only benefits you physically and emotionally, but also can carry over to your career through increased stamina, heightened focus, and a more creative and disciplined approach. “Playing’ for just a few minutes can help you wind down at the end of the day or recharge your batteries when there’s more work to do. To sustain your legal career for the long haul, it’s best to set a boundary between your work and personal life. By pursuing your passions outside of law practice you may gain broader life experiences and tap into a side of yourself you had never explored. We all deserve a balanced life, and our clients deserve the best version of ourselves that results. Scheduling time for physical exercise, brain cleansing, and socializing are critical. In sports, rest and recovery are planned and prioritized as much as active training, and lawyers should apply this lesson of self-care to law practice, as well. Rather than being a distracting waste of time, hobbies of all types can enhance your legal career. So, release any guilt and take the time to follow your heart! What playtime activities are you going to build into your schedule? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalrecruiting #lawpractice #worklifebalance For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

Do you feel guilty for engaging in your hobbies outside of law rather than billing even more hours? You shouldn't. Here's why: You can bolster your self-assurance by following your heart and pursuing your passions outside of law. Engaging in something you’re enthusiastic about can make you forget your nerves. Achieving success in your chosen extracurricular activities can spill over to benefit your professional life, as well. On the flip side, you’ll learn to roll with the punches. It’s important to be graceful in defeat and humble in victory. Accepting a temporary defeat might teach you not to be tied to the outcome but simply enjoy the journey. How liberating! To master a new sport or activity, you need practice, precision, and patience. As in law practice, to improve, you must be receptive to critique. You learn that areas where you fall short today will lead to long-term success in the future if you put in the time and hard work to improve. Seeing tangible advancement over time helps boost your fighting spirit to keep at it. You must learn the rules and dedicate the time to practice the basic skills and build on them just as lawyers need to know the laws and regulations and how to apply them. You also need self-motivation, organization, and time management for efficient and effective follow-through. Many hobbies outside of law also require you to strategize and think in new directions, which can only help you when you get back to the office. So, give up any guilt you might be harboring by spending time on non-billable activity. Think of it as learning to maximize your effectiveness for when you’re back on the clock. Do you feel guilty when you take time “off” from law practice? Have I convinced you otherwise? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalrecruiting #lawpractice #worklifebalance For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.