In this article, we discuss what to look for in a new firm for your legal industry career. If you have been sitting on the fence during the last 12 months, uncertain of what the future holds, keep an eye out for these signs of a great place to work.
Many people set aside their career aspirations over the last year in the interests of job security. As specialist legal industry recruiters, we often find ourselves having conversations with candidates who are open to new opportunities, but are possibly just that little bit afraid of taking the plunge and leaving the comfort and certainty of their existing firm. There seems to be a common theme amongst potential candidates who believe that it is “better the devil you know”.
In our experience, spending some time researching your employers of choice is a useful exercise and investment of time in your career. It is company research that can be revisited or added to over time based on market intelligence and insider tips. It will always be useful and help guide you on your career pathway.
How do you go about researching a firm to determine whether it is a great place to work?
You might think you have a good understanding of a firm based on its market reputation. We think you need to look deeper than that, from all sides, to get a true understanding of what it might be like to work there.
A good starting point is to look at their recent press and determine how they have managed to navigate the pandemic with their people and their clients. Are they in the news for their innovative policies, programs and support for career development and wellbeing? Consider saving articles that highlight good news stories and appeal to your values.
Keeping an eye on local awards can also be helpful. The nomination process for these often involve firms having to prove progress via engagement scores, remuneration reporting and staff retention and turnover rates. This is proof that their organisations are acting and improving and not just talking about it! Some examples of these awards are the Australian Business Awards Employer of Choice Awards and also the Australasian Lawyers Employer of Choice Rankings.
These are the some of the factors we think you should look out for in determining your “employer of choice” shortlist:
1. They Attract and Retain Top Talent
Has there been an influx of people quitting existing roles and heading to work there? Have you seen several LinkedIn updates about new roles, promotions, or projects from this firm? Do you see ex-employees leaving to gain new skills but then return to be welcomed warmly home? Does the firm house award winning or in-high-demand lawyers?
2. They Empower Employees
They empower employees to be autonomous but offer support and supervision where required. It is a little trickier to look for evidence relating to this factor- keep an ear to the ground for word-of-mouth stories and real-life examples.
3. They Offer Career Progression and Professional Development
Can you see clear pathways of employees being promoted over time? Can you see learning and development opportunities that put you on the career path that you dream of? Is the firm supportive of continuous learning and is it embedded in the culture from the top down? Are there available roles that are the result of promotions? It is also useful to keep an eye out for whether they are offering a formal or informal mentoring program.
4. They are Diverse and Inclusive
Research suggests that businesses do better when they have a wide range of diverse employee backgrounds. Diversity fosters creativity, innovation, improves problem solving and drives productivity and revenue growth.
Consider whether there are committees and policies to oversee diversion and inclusivity in this firm. Do they report on it? Can you see from their organizational chart and LinkedIn list of employees that there is diversity of gender, ethnicity, backgrounds and culture? Are they proud of LBGTQI team members and do they participate in initiatives such as PRIDE?
5. They Offer Competitive Remuneration and Benefits
Money is not everything, but let’s face it there is something nice about being rewarded financially for your efforts. A great firm will be interested in what motivates you to achieve great things and reward you appropriately.
6. They Offer Flexibility
Most firms have now had to build flexibility into roles due to government restrictions enforcing work from home in 2020. Is the firm continuing to offer this in a way that suits your lifestyle? Are days in the office encouraged to maintain workplace connections? Is this way of working manageable and appealing to you?
7. They offer Technological Support and Resources
A great firm has excellent technology and access to resources that helps to make your job easier. See if you can get to the bottom of the systems and software they are using by researching their website, or look for the system requirements in job advertisements or ask your network.
8. Wellness Programs and Support for Work Life Balance
Does the firm offer an employee assistance program? Are they sensitive to managing sometimes intense workloads, long hours, deadlines, mental health and wellness? Discover what you can about these programs which are often included on a companies website. Often following a company page on LinkedIn will also give you insights behind the scenes in these programs.
9. Measures Staff Engagement
Particularly when you get to an interview stage, asking about staff engagement initiatives and reporting is a legitimate question. A great firm surveys their employees often and really listens and acts on the results. They are focused on improving staff engagement knowing that it leads to improvements in retention figures and saves them funds on additional recruitment!
10. Ensures Workloads are Manageable
In the legal industry there will be days when deadlines and court dates need to be met. This can mean that there are peaks and troughs in the working month and very intense busy times. It is important to feel supported through the busy times and to have the capacity to ask for additional resources where required. No employee should feel they are completely carrying the weight of a matter, case, client or outcome on their shoulders alone. A great firm takes a team approach. It can be tricky to determine this factor from outside an organisation, although a high attrition rate or poor reputation amongst its staff are warning signs.
11. Leadership
A great firm ensures that people leaders have the requisite skills and understand that leading occurs at all levels of an organisation. Historically in legal firms, tenure has often seen Lawyers promoted to management and leadership positions based on their technical ability rather than their people skills. Leadership can be taught, and there are many programs to facilitate this. We also love a firm that understands they have young leaders amongst their junior lawyers, leaders in their administration roles and associates. Are you able to discover whether leadership programs are being offered across the organisation? Try seeking information from industry colleagues.
12. How does the firm describe their culture?
Company culture needs to be more than just a buzz word. It needs to be articulated and then the values need to be demonstrated in action. Keep an eye out for how the company describes its culture. Is it friendly, down to earth, positive, progressive, helpful, collegiate, innovative? Often job advertisements can be useful for determining this. Once you are clear on the culture, you can then determine how this sits with your personal values.
Once you have whittled down your wish list and have a short list of firms you want to work for, keep an eye out for opportunities. This might be networking opportunities to meet with members of your network who are working for one of your wish list firms or actual position descriptions.
In a position description, look out for key words in the role that highlight the factors we have suggested that you focus on.
An alternative approach is to get in touch with a specialist legal industry recruiter (like us!) and tell us specifically the short list of firms you want to work for and the role you are dreaming of. We often have the inside word on upcoming roles and love nothing more than playing matchmaker between client and candidate!
If you are looking for a new role in the Legal Industry in Melbourne, Australia, then get in touch with us. Legal People is the gateway to your next career move. We are specialists in the Legal Industry and recruit Lawyers, Support staff and HR professionals. If you enjoyed reading this article, you can follow our Company Page on LinkedIn for regular updates. To browse our currently available roles click here.
