Articles From the Team
Legal recruitment agencies and consent
In a busy market it’s easy to see why, when searching for a new role, you might think the best strategy is to send your CV out to as many legal recruitment agencies as possible to afford you the best chance of landing a new role.
There are some excellent recruiters in our industry, but sadly, some are unprincipled; who don’t treat your CV with the confidentiality that you not only deserve from an ethical point of view but is a legal requirement under data protection law.
Recently, I’ve heard from an increasing number of candidates who have been compromised because a recruiter sent out their CV to a number of employers without their knowledge or consent. This also applies when a CV’s uploaded to a legal jobs board and is forwarded for a role without the candidate’s knowledge.
Your express permission - our work relies on it
At BCL, we pride ourselves on our professionalism and integrity and we never send your CV to any client without your express permission. We don’t just do this to comply with data protection legislation; we care about our candidates.
We only provide your details to a prospective employer when you’re comfortable with the prospect of working there and have a full understanding of the firm and the role. We also work hard to ensure that not only does your experience match with the employer’s requirements but the role provides an environment and culture that’s going to meet your needs. This is so significant – it should never be overlooked.
The legal market’s a very close-knit community so there’s so much danger in not knowing where your CV has gone: you can create the wrong impression with a firm and your CV could end up being rejected, which can jeopardise any future chance of employment with that firm
In order to protect yourself, please be careful when speaking to legal recruitment agencies about your CV, and only release your personal details to those who you can trust to act with your express permission to do so.
Try to keep a note of where your CV’s gone once permission is given. This will avoid any duplicate applications; even in circumstances where there’s a genuine and honest mistake the damage caused can be the same.
If you’re in any doubt about the steps to take in your legal jobs search, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with BCL Legal; where you can be 100% sure of our actions; knowing exactly what we’re going to do and exactly where your CV will go.
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