Articles From the Team

Why Making A Compromise Doesn’t Have To Be A Negative

Making things happen requires compromise. At BCL Legal we’re always asking candidates and clients alike to make a compromise. 2013 has been a good year recruitment wise, many firms are doing well and need to expand various teams in response to increased work levels. Invariably, this leads to a candidate driven market (i.e. law firms all looking to recruit the same person) and we find that the firms who stick by their guns and aren't willing to make a compromise in respect to their job spec often end up taking longer to recruit than those firms who offer some sort of compromise (perhaps a 2:2 will suffice or perhaps a lawyer from the City of London is not essential).

It works both ways of course, and whilst job hunting lawyers who practice in some areas of law have more of a choice (for example we are experiencing an abundance of commercial property/real estate roles in Birmingham right now as opposed to employment law vacancies) this isn’t always the case. Candidates too have to make some sort of compromise when searching for a new role. What is the impact of staying put in their current role if none of the current opportunities appeal? What in their list of wants could be moved down the list of priorities or even deleted?

So what are the do’s and don’ts when you are effectively talking about giving up 1 or 2 of your demands?

Always think “this is just a variation to the original goal” not a complete turn around. Do think about what the priority is. For the law firm looking to recruit it maybe the team cannot do without a new person, the implications of not recruiting anyone could be disastrous (1 or 2 more fee earners leave due to being over worked, over utilised and/or not being looked after) so where could flexible be offered in respect to the job spec.

For the candidate it may be that the ideal was to get a role with a track to partnership in Birmingham, these roles are few and far between so why not look at roles that offer more responsibility or consider firms outside the city centre. Better career prospects may be forthcoming with a smaller firm. Don’t automatically discount options that at first glance seem not to tick all the boxes.

The connotation of a compromise is often negative, however, if you are not willing to give away too much or perhaps anything then you have to weigh up the implication of doing so. Making a compromise should be a positive, it demonstrates commercial acumen and recognition that you can’t always get what you want but you can get what you need!

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