Articles From the Team

Christmas is Closing in – Does this mean firms aren’t recruiting?

There is a common perception with legal recruitment that as you approach November & December there is a slow down on legal recruitment. Reasons for this tend to centre around the on-set of the public holidays and perhaps even a sense of weariness as you approach the end of the year. Equally, January and the New Year is seen as a time when most people, on reflection of their careers, begin their job search in search of a change.

As a legal recruiter I am aware of seasonal the impact on hiring and job searching. In my view, as we approach the end of the year, clients are in fact as active as ever and it is crucial to maintain the same pace in your search and not postpone things until the New Year. Potentially, everybody else is doing this which also means when you come to look for that new role you are doing so at a time when everybody else is job searching. It does no harm to be savvy around when you look, eliminating a chunk of your competition.

Timing can play a part around recruitment budget. Part way through the second half of the financial year, firms will have allocated recruitment budget and will wish to ensure that they fully utilise it (if the demand is there) in addition to ensuring they maintain headcount and continue the push for growth. Leaving recruitment until late in the financial year runs the risk that the budget is lost and/or the legal recruitment process is slowed down.

Logically, as solicitors can find there is more of decline in instructions towards Christmas (that is, of course, not the same for everyone), this allows lawyers and partners the chance to be more focussed on department strategy and the recruitment process.

In short, law firms in Manchester remain active and keen to grow. Roles exist in the personal injury market which is busier than ever and the doors are open. November and December may attract more in the way of parties and awards but it remains an active time for recruitment. Reflection on your next move over the Christmas dinner table can often be too late. Fashionably late to the party is one thing but getting the date wrong and missing is something else altogether.