Articles From the Team
Why should you use a legal recruiter instead of applying through a friend?
I get asked this question on a regular basis- “I know **** at **** so why should I apply through an agency?”
There are many advantages of using a recruitment agency rather than approaching a firm through a friend, I will cover a few here.
1) We are specialists in the market - at BCL Legal we break down the market into geographical locations and then, even further, into disciplines. This means we can really get to know our markets and become true specialist in those areas, able to provide you with the most up-to-date market information. We can provide you with unbiased information on all firms, giving you a better overview of the market. We have invaluable information about firms.
2) Applying through a well respected agency gives your application more credibility - we are instructed by the majority of firms to find suitable lawyers for them. BCL Legal are on the preferred supplier list for the majority of international, national and regional firms. If your CV gets sent to a firm by a reputable agency this will stand your application in good stead from the outset. BCL Legal turned 18 this year and, in that time, we’ve developed longstanding relationships with Partners, and law firms, and they trust us to present them with good candidates. That’s 18 years of building relationships, and 18 years of clients using us to help them recruit lawyers! We’ve been established for so long that candidates, whom we placed in their NQ roles, have since become Partners and clients themselves!
3) We can manage the process for you - if you apply through an agency we manage the whole process from start to finish including organising interviews, interview preparation and negotiating your salary and benefits. If you make an application through a friend, they will send your CV across and they might give you a few tips but they can’t provide you with the expertise we can.
4) We can coach you through the interview process - we can help you prepare for the interview. We will have recruited for the team and firm before so we will know their interview process and we can help you prepare, telling you do’s and don’ts. Your friend will only be able to tell you about one interview process (theirs!) and we’ve heard a lot more! We will be talking directly to the hiring Partner about what they’re looking for and why.
5) We can negotiate salary for you - a lot of people find negotiating salary with a future employer very awkward, we can manage this for you. We can negotiate salary and guide firms where they should be pitching an offer. We have an overview of salaries in the market and what you could be earning so we’re better placed to advise firms(and firms do trust us!)]