Recruitment advice is a series of blogs designed for legal professionals going through a recruitment process to help you access the advice and support you need to impress. Stowe’s in-house Talent Acquisition have written this based on what they look for in candidates throughout the hiring process. In this first edition we offer our advice to Family Lawyers thinking about jumping into a recruitment process.
Let’s tackle the actual interview, the scary bit, right? Wrong!
Interviews can be a step into the unknown but be confident, there’s some research and preparation you can do which will really help you stand out. Research your interviewer (LinkedIn is your friend), be confident and let your personality shine through to connect with the interviewer and don’t be afraid to talk about things unrelated to family law things, this interaction can often give them a glimpse into how you’d be with clients.
Promote your knowledge of family law and the cases you’ve worked on, break down the duties that you’ve done on certain files and give real-world experiences. You might be asked a question about something you’ve not done it, don’t oversell yourself, be open about what you’re good at and not, one of the most important things a Recruiter looks for is self-awareness and candidates demonstrating a drive for learning and being proactive about it.
Find out the values of the firm you’re interviewing with, a firm would want you to demonstrate how you align with these so try to tailor your answers with these in mind.
Throughout your pre-interview research, write down any questions that you think of. When the interview comes to a close ask those relevant questions and don’t be afraid to ask if they have any concerns so you can tackle them there and then.
Don’t forget about your paralegal experience!
Lawyers with previous Paralegal or Legal Assistant experience is often undersold at interview, people often want to focus more on other experiences. Working as a paralegal gives firms an insight into what you will be like as a lawyer, so talk about real experiences of running caseloads, your client care, conversion, resilience, commercial awareness, and performance. These are all the traits that interviewers look for in a successful lawyer’s so be proud of them.
It’s not all about your legal knowledge, consider your approach to client care;
Client care is super important in any legal role but it’s perhaps the most important attribute for Lawyers at Stowe. Make sure you demonstrate how you interact with clients (are you empathetic but also realistic) and why a client would instruct you over another lawyer. Talk about how you adapt to different clients and how you structure a first meeting with a client. How do you close the meeting? Provide examples of when you have provided exceptional client care.
Think about your LinkedIn profile;
Before thinking about moving roles start to network on LinkedIn, build out your profile, connect with people in family law, promote your current firm, write content and post on a regular basis. Potential interviewers will no doubt search for you on LinkedIn and if you have a significant presence then this is a great first impression.
Focus on your commercial awareness;
Show your commercial awareness, your knowledge of how law firms make money, what clients want, if you can get hold of them try and be sharp with your figures i.e. size of your caseload, types of cases you’re working on, billing performance, charge rate and conversion rate.
Find yourself a mentor;
Having a mentor in your early years as a lawyer can be a huge factor in your success. Often this person will have been through the same process and will be able to offer you great advice and guidance. Remember, everyone’s always learning so don’t be afraid to ask questions or for pointers on the best resources to develop your knowledge.
Get in touch;
We are fortunate here at Stowe to have a unique internal network of family knowledge and support. If you would like any further advice, please contact the talent team and we would be happy to help.
