Articles From the Team

So what does a recruitment consultant actually do?

For most people, I’m sure; the answer to the question “so what do you do for a living” is met with a knowing nod. For those of us who work in recruitment the more common response is... “erm, what does that entail exactly?”. I thought that perhaps now was the time to pull back the veil and reveal exactly what it is we do.

I manage a team at BCL Legal who recruit for positions in corporate, commercial, employment, property, construction, projects, banking, pensions, family, personal injury, commercial litigation, professional negligence, clinical negligence and private client law for clients in the West Midlands, East Midlands, South Midlands, Home Counties and East Anglia. The type of people we recruit for include Partners, Associates (Senior or otherwise), Solicitors, NQ’s, Legal Executives and Paralegals. It all sounds so simple I’m sure?

We become aware of vacancies either as a result of a law firm contacting us with a position, noticing something on their website or hearing about a requirement on “the grape vine”. We then contact firms to ensure the positions are “live”.

Once we have established that the law firm in question is seeking a Partner, Associate, Solicitor, NQ, Legal Executive or Paralegal, we will take as many details as we can regarding the level of the role, the particular areas of work covered within the specialism, the make up of the team, the favoured personality traits, the background of the ideal candidate, salary levels and many other things. We will also advise firms about the availability of candidates, timescales involved and the best methods of recruitment.

At this point we would then search through the Partners, Associates (Senior or otherwise), Solicitors, NQ’s, Legal Executives and Paralegals on the database, who are registered as looking for work in the relevant legal discipline and geographical area and contact those individuals. Within this we will look for those individuals whose background and experience matches the client’s preferences. We will contact the most appropriate individuals and ask for consent to submit their CV’s.

We will have had prior discussions with each candidate to ascertain their preferences and requirements. So hopefully all the candidates we call about positions should be interested.

If at this point you are thinking we sound like a glorified dating service – you would be correct.

Following from this comes the process of updating CV’s, sending CV’s, giving feedback, arranging interviews, communicating offers and acceptances.

So to sum up if you are looking for a position as/ or wish to employ someone who is a Partner, Associate, Solicitor, NQ, Legal Executive or Paralegal in the West Midlands, East Midlands, South Midlands, Home Counties and East Anglia, let me know its what we do.

Still confused?

For more information please contact BCL Legal or call us on 0845 241 0933.