7 Tips for Landing a New Legal Industry Role in Corona Times

In this article, we discuss the challenges and the advantages involved in landing a new legal industry role in Corona times.

We are certainly facing unusual and interesting times. In recent months several Australian firms have implemented cuts to employee remuneration, including reduced working hours, asking staff to take leave, or to purchase additional annual leave. In some firms, equity partners are taking reduced distributions. We are all figuring out what Covid-19 safe workplaces will look like and working towards the new Covid normal.

At the same time, we are also seeing some practice areas being busier than ever, albeit while working from home. This is particularly true in the areas of employment law, family law, commercial litigation and insolvency law as well as a range of business critical roles that cannot be filled internally.

At Legal People we are continuing to see demand for high quality candidates with good industry experience. We too are working from home and count our blessings that we were already set up to work remotely pre government stage 3 restrictions.

So how do you go about landing yourself a new role during a global pandemic? What are the advantages?

Do you have connections in your existing network that could help? Could they introduce you to someone at your dream firm? Consider whether it is appropriate to have a phone call or video call with a contact to discuss what you are looking for. Many networking groups have also taken their events online, so do some research as to where (virtually) and when they are and join in.

A potential employer or recruiter is likely to Google you, look you up on LinkedIn and see whether you are active on any other social media platforms. Ensure your privacy settings are appropriate and that you are presenting yourself professionally.

Make yourself familiar with the software that firms and recruiters are using for virtual interviews. Consider the setting in your home that you might use for a virtual interview. Is the background suitable? Is there a door you can close so that family members or housemates are likely to stay out of view?

Make sure you can be somewhere quiet where there is unlikely to be any background noise. Perhaps consider using a headset and microphone to ensure you have good audio. When it comes to an actual video interview make sure that you dress appropriately.

Note that your ability to manage the virtual interview software involved gives a potential employer valuable insights into your grasp of new technology, so it is worth having a practice! In our interview experience, the main platforms used are Zoom, MS Teams, Skype for Business and Whereby.com.

For many companies, business as usual has been stalled and instead they are dealing with working towards Covid normal. They are figuring out how to make their workplaces safe for the return of employees and clients. They are holding virtual meetings, have implemented workarounds for paper based processes and are dealing with Courts and other authorities delivering services online. This a perfect time to demonstrate your research skills by showing that you are aware of what they are dealing with, how they are going with working from home and the challenges they are facing.

If you have some downtime in your life at the moment, consider whether you can use it to upskill. Lots of courses are being offered at reduced rates, if not free, in response to the pandemic. LinkedIn, for example are providing users free access to many of their courses including those relating to productivity and how to use virtual meeting tools.

Even those firms with a hiring freeze will be looking to ensure they have a talent pipeline going forward. We are seeing many graduate programs continue. Firms have learned from talent shortages that they had post the GFC and are not intending to have the same outcome. Even if a potential opportunity has been stalled for now, stay in touch and front of mind.

Has what you want out of a role changed? The legal industry has just demonstrated that working from home for the most part, works. Is this flexibility something that you can see working well in your life, even if it is for a couple of days a week?

Prior to the pandemic we had seen a 17% increase in flexible roles. In 2018-2019 we placed 25% of candidates in flexible roles. Prior to March in 2020 it was 42%! We expect that to continue to go up exponentially now the industry has proven it can do it successfully across most roles.

In historic times, great change and innovation has followed times of great difficulty. We have all built our skills during the global pandemic including working autonomously, managing competing priorities, managing teams and relationships virtually, not to mention risk management and public health awareness! Don’t be wary of applying for available roles. At Legal People we are still seeing demand for talent and expect that to continue. You may even give yourself an edge as some employees are sitting tight in their current roles waiting for the storm to pass.

Are you looking for a new and challenging role in the legal industry in Victoria? Legal People is your gateway to legal career opportunities. We are specialists in the Legal Industry. We recruit Lawyers, Support staff and HR professionals in Melbourne, Australia. 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.