1. Give your employer the information HE wants to know.
2. Use your specialized skills for an outside short term consulting project
3. Consider an entrepreneurial venture in a service business (avoid capital investment)
4. Take classes to grow skills and abilities if you can afford to invest the time.
5. Take up a new hobby that draws colleagues and customers
6. Get involved in community affairs or a not for profit—that needs your expertise
7. Ask less of others and give more of yourself; this makes you indispensable!
8. Be realistic! Develop doable action plans, and determine to meet them, timely.
9. Utilize a perceptive personal friend as a life coach .
10. Consider hiring a professional adviser to improve your people reading skills

As a recent graduate from law school, the job search process can be overwhelming, tiring and lonely.  As a graduate the job search process is probably a far cry from law school days when you worked with study groups and partners to tackle the arduous task for mastering legal coursework.  But who says that the job search has to be done alone.  There's another option--a job search buddy.  A job search buddy is someone you can work with you to reach goals, measure progress, celebrate success and overcome challenges.  Working together you and your job search buddy help each other stay on task and stay motivated.  Here are a few guidelines to make a job search buddy arrangement work for the both of you:
1.    Meet with your job search buddy at least one a week by phone or in person.  Make sure that you both receive equal time to discuss your issues/progress and have a solid end and start time for each meeting.
2.    Every week you and your job search buddy should have action steps and goals to accomplish for the following week.  At your meetings you should report on which actions steps were taken and which goals were accomplished. Make sure that you celebrate progress and hold you buddy accountable for failure to complete tasks.  You may even want to create a penalty/reward system.  For example, you may want to require a payment of $1 for each task not completed and at the end of the month the person who was most consistent in their progress gets the money collected from penalties.
3.    Work with your buddy to solve challenges.  Each week you should spend time together brainstorming solutions to problems and challenges you're facing in your job search.
4.    Keep the relationship reciprocal. Make sure that you and your job search buddy are benefiting equally from the relationship. You may want to use a timer during the weekly meetings to assure that one buddy does not spend most of the meeting time talking about him or herself.

If you're a law student looking to enter this challenging  job market you need to do your homework and we're not talking about those "law books" we're talking about researching the firms you want to work with.  Here are a few tips on researching a law firm:

1.    Go to the law firm's website and actually read it.  Read the newsletters, press releases, and learn about promotions, new clients etc.

2.    Research articles on the law firm using search engines, the library or the tools at Leopard Solutions.

3.    Use Leopard Solutions to identify key personnel at the law firm.

4.    Conduct an informational interview with employees at the law firm.

5.    Talk to former employees of the law firm to find out the negative aspects of working for that particular firm.

What you want to find out is the philosophy, culture and reputation of the firm you want to work with. You also want to find out the vision of the law firm and what their plans are for the future.  Do you really want to work for a firm that may be considering a move to another state in five years?  Or, do you want to work with a firm that has a business model that isn't viable or sustainable in the long-term? Remember, you can never know too much information about a law firm that you're considering investing your time with.  And it is an "investment."  

It’s easy to get, and anyone can acquire it, but most people will never have it because they don’t want it bad enough. They won’t even try to get it, even though it’s economical,easy to obtain, and open to anyone who desires it. And it’s the only thing that  will save you during a recession.

What is it?

It’s your sales effectiveness. That’s the combination of how you persuade other people converging with a disciplined, resilient and values-centered approach to influencing others. Right now, more than ever, this single concept will help you to capture business away from your competitors, because that’s the only place it’s going to come from right now. To make it work, you have to count on your competitors slacking off and not staying on the cutting edge of their sales skills. You don’t have to worry, though. Most companies usually move training and development to the back burner in times of crisis. Don’t do that. You don’t even need a big budget, or any budget for that. Don’t even wait for your manager to help you get better. Take that on yourself, and it doesn’t even have to cost anything. For example, they have these things out now called libraries. They’re free. And they have sales books in them. Or even better, take a $100 dollar bill and go to a book store and make an investment in yourself by purchasing a bunch of sales books. It’s sad to say, but only two out of a hundred who are reading this will actually take this advice and self-initiate the development and honing of their sales skills. So few people are willing to invest in themselves because so few people want to win bad enough. If you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way.

In a competitive situation, like a sporting event, a debate tournament, or combat, the one who wants it more than the other usually wins. Remember who won the race, it was the tortoise.


The Only Recession Solution You Need Continued.....

Changing careers can be both exciting and a challenge.  The biggest challenge career changers face is overcoming the fears of potential employers who doubt your qualifications because of your lack of experience.  The key to overcoming resistance facing most career changers is to stop simply looking for your dream job and begin actually doing it.  Below are a few tips to help career changers get on the road to their new dream job.

1.    Just Do It. Waiting for an employer to give you that big break won't do much for helping you change careers.  If you want to get the attention of potential employers begin doing what you say you want to do even if it doesn't pay.  For example, if you want to work in litigation instead of contracts, consider volunteering your time pro bono to low-income litigants. The extra effort will shine on your resume.
2.    Go Back To School. Well, you don't literally need to go back to school (although you can) but you should read books, attend workshops, join associations and learn everything you can about the new career you're pursuing. Be sure to subscribe to industry newsletters and publications so that you can be up-to-date on recent news and happenings in the industry.
3.    Become A Member. Surround yourself with people who are working in or in some way connected to the career you want. Take the time and effort to build a network of people that can help you get one step closer to your new career.  As always you need to keep your network alive by being useful to those who you have connected to.  Send useful articles, connections, invitations to events etc. to those in your network.

Increasing productivity seems to be the most sought after goal amongst legal recruiters.  Many legal recruiters spend countless amounts of time and money learning the newest productivity strategies, software and philosophies.  But there may be a simpler solution to the productivity puzzle. As the best and most effective legal recruiters know, understanding your client's needs is probably the easiest, surest and least expensive path to increasing a legal recruiter's productivity. There are basically three major keys to understanding a client's needs:
1.    Understanding the client's industry.  Find out about your client's specific practice area.  What are the challenges, latest developments and specific skill requirements of your client's practice area?
2.    Understand the legal job you are recruiting for.  The most critical knowledge you need about the legal job is, what drives on the job success?  What are the skills and characteristics a legal job candidate needs to find success in this particular legal position?
3.    Understand the profile of the ideal legal job candidate?  For each legal job there is an ideal candidate profile.  You need to know what it is, so that you can target the right candidates in your recruiting efforts. Understand what the ideal legal job candidate desires in a position and make sure you highlight those job qualities that will be most attractive to the ideal legal job candidate.

I remember my first thought when I saw Circuit City going out of business – no wonder.   I had visited the store several months ago shopping for a flat screen television and I couldn’t find anyone to help me with a selection. No one acknowledged me except for the gentleman who opened the door.  Not a single sales person approached me, and they actually avoided my eye when I was looking for help.  As I left, the doorman asked if I had found what I needed and I just had to laugh.

We’ve all endured this type of experience.  Who hasn’t gone into a drug store, grocery store or clothing store and NOT experienced bad customer service?  Sales clerks talking on the phone, cashiers even eating behind the counter and sadly, entire transactions are completed in silence. These have become the norm in our society.   It’s so commonplace that now we are only surprised when we receive good customer service. We are rarely surprised when we don’t.

During the Christmas shopping season, there was one shining moment, one glimmer of hope as a sales clerk dared to be different. I was looking for a particular gift for a relative and not having much luck.  I entered a small store and told the first sales person that approached what I was looking for.  She looked around the store and waved me in the direction of some white shirts and left me to my own devices.  I looked for a moment and began to leave. Another saleswoman, a little older and much more determined, quickly approached and took me in hand.  She pulled out 4 items from the floor and then went into the back and pulled out another selection that couldn’t be found on the sales floor.  How could I say no?  I made my purchase and she wrapped my gift beautifully – even including an item that I purchased elsewhere.  Amazing.  She went over and beyond the call of duty and made the sale.  

There is a lesson here that we all could learn.

During the boom time in our industry, many companies were able to make placements almost in spite of themselves.  Recruiting was happening fast and furiously, and many of the old work standards were bypassed and the level of service delivered to law firms slipped. Why bother to form a relationship with a law firm coordinator?   Why bother to know the prevailing culture of a law firm?  Send in 100 resumes and you’ll get a good percentage placed! Not so anymore. 

Legal recruiting is a service industry.  Recruiters provide a service to law firms and many times the service provided has been quite lacking.  Law firm recruiting coordinators can tell you horror stories of working with certain legal consultants.  (Have you heard the one about the recruiter who submitted a resume for an attorney, to the firm where they still currently worked?)  How about email submissions without a subject line, without a cover letter, just with an attached resume?  You all have heard of recruiters who have blasted a candidate’s resume to hundreds of firms, virtually taking them off the market for 6 months to a year.  Take a moment and remember all the gossip and stories YOU’VE heard about fellow recruiters. 

The Importance of Customer Service continued....

1.    Focus on recruiting legal job candidates who current employed and top performers.
2.    Move quickly to contact top legal candidates and speed will give you an advantage because the best will only be available for a short period of time.
3.    Recruit those who have built a reputation for being the best. Network with those in the legal industry to find out who are the best performers.  
4.    Use technology to quickly locate and recruit top legal candidates (i.e. job boards, blogs, online assessment tools etc.)
5.    Remember that the quality of candidates you provide is what clients judge you by.  Make sure that you always provide quality candidates to fill legal job opportunities.
6.    Make sure that you properly build a brand that stands out.  Highlight your best accomplishments and toot your own horn whenever you get the opportunity especially at your website.
7.    Use assessment tools that test a candidate's ability to solve problems that are present in a real work environment.

Job seekers need to be aware of job scams which have increased with the number of layoffs.  One scam operates by stealing a job seeker's identity.  Basically, the scammers email the job seekers claiming to have seen their resume online and requesting that they fill out an online application.  The online application asks for personal information such as a driver's license number or Social Security number to supposedly verify their identity.  The online application may also request the unemployed person's bank account or credit card number to allegedly run a credit check

A warning to all the job seekers here, please DO NOT ever send personal information such as your Social Security number, driver's license number or bank account/credit card info to any unknown person on the internet.  Whatever you do in your quest for a job, protect your identity and be safe with your online job search.   Here are a few tips to protect your identity online:

1.    Never include your social security number or driver's license number on a resume or cover letter.

2.    Before you give any company your social security number for credit check, make sure that they are actually a legitimate business.

3.    It is never necessary to provide your bank account number or credit card number to a potential employer.

You’ve been there before. You spent weeks and weeks recruiting on an assignment and you are sitting there scratching your head wondering why your client doesn’t call you back from any of the three messages you have left him.

Remember the first cardinal rule of human behavior? “People only do what is in their own best interests.” If that red-hot client turned into a luke-warm message-returner, then there’s some sort of reason why he isn’t calling you back.

Two pieces of advice: First, before you ever begin the search, test the viability of your likelihood of actually making a placement by looking at the Search Assessment Instrument on the Free Downloads (link to free downloads) section of my site. You can take five minutes to save five weeks by scoring your client on variables that must be considered before making your first candidate recruit call.

Second: If you have spent time on the search and have candidates that you want to present and you’ve left three messages (and assuming you know that he is not on vacation, not traveling, nor going through a medical emergency), then leave a message that goes something like this:

“Bob, I know you said a few weeks ago that if I came across a (position title) that you would want to interview with them quickly. I finished the candidate recruitment phase of my search and have three viable candidates who I think you would get excited about. If I don’t hear from you by Friday at noon (two or three days away) I’ll just assume that the position’s been filled and will tell them that and will release them; and if I can ever help you again in the future, please don’t hesitate to call.”

If the client is still interested, he’ll call you. If he’s already filled the position, he won’t. Either way, you’ll have your answer.

I told a recruiter this once and he asked me, “But won’t your clients get mad at you if you leave that sort of message?”


Dude Where Is My Client? continued.....

In a job market where there are often high numbers of candidates vying for the same legal job, many employers are checking a potential hire's credit history before they validate their hiring decision.  Although employers can't see a candidate's FICO score they can see if a candidate has any tax liens or judgments against them.  Even late payments and accounts in collections are the types of dings on a credit report could cause a law firm to decide against hiring a candidate.
Here are a few tips on how to make sure your credit history doesn't stop you from landing a legal job:
1.    Check your report.  Order a copy of your credit report and make sure that there are no errors.  Creditors often make mistakes or fail to report when a bill has been paid.  Each credit agency has a process for correcting false information on your credit report.
2.    Fix problems.  If you have outstanding debts that are delinquent, judgments or tax liens contact the creditor immediately and arrange a settlement or payment plan.
3.    Send a letter.  If you have a black mark against your credit report that cannot be fixed such as a former bankruptcy, you may want to send a letter of explanation to the credit reporting agency which can be included in your file. For example, maybe you had a medical illness that caused your financial issues, this is the type of information you will include in the letter.  If an employer pulls your credit report they will have access to your letter of explanation.
To order a copy of your credit report, contact the three major credit reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax or TransUnion.

As companies consider ways to control spending in 2009, many are choosing to reduce outside counsel costs by bringing more work in-house. Despite layoffs in virtually all areas of the economy, major corporations have found that boosting their in-house team can have long-term cost-cutting benefits.

According to a Chief Legal Officer study released late last year, 75 percent of respondents said they expected budget cuts in 2009, with most of the cuts directed at outside counsel spending. Some will find it necessary to increase law department headcount in order to manage the additional workload.

For companies that choose, however, to refrain from hiring additional lawyers, the budget cuts will likely result in expanded responsibilities and higher expectations for efficiency by in-house lawyers.

Here are some tips on how to work smarter:

    * Maximize the use of paralegals
    * Develop a strong working relationship with your HR team to minimize labor and employment issues through training and compliance
    * Embrace and use technology – now is the time to become an expert on software solutions, electronic invoicing or matter management
    * Practice preventive law through training, dispute resolution procedures, contract administration and document retention policies

Budget cuts and efforts by law departments to do more with less this year may provide an opportunity for in-house counsel to diversify areas of expertise and broaden skills, which might come in handy someday.

 
Courtney Sapire is a Texas-based legal and executive search consultant specializing in the recruitment of lawyers for corporate law departments. She can be reached at, csapire@sapiresearch.com or 866.413.2868.  Sapire Legal Search - www.sapiresearch.com

As money gets tighter during this recession, many recruiters are looking for ways to cut costs and brace themselves to ride out the storm.  Here are a few tips that can help recruiters survive and even benefit from this recession:

1.    Keep the cash flowing.  Cashflow is the most important factor in determining whether a business survives or dies.  Recruiters need to watch their cashflow carefully to make sure that they have enough revenue to pay for their expenses, especially if they experience a sudden drop in revenue.

2.    No more Mr./Ms. Nice Guy.  It is time to get tough with clients who are late paying their bills.  If you have clients who have failed to pay as agreed, don't let it slide.  Institute penalties for those clients that pay late and enforce your rules.  Clients who pay late can negatively affect your cashflow which can jeopardize the survival of your business.

3.    Operate a lean recruiting machine.  Cut out any excess expenses in your budget.  This could include unnecessary supplies, or employees who are not paying off in terms of value.  As you make these choices, you must careful. Don't eliminate services or put off innovations that can help SAVE or help you MAKE money.  Cut, but cut wisely.  

4.    Nurture existing client relationships.  It is cheaper to keep current clients than to find new ones. Make sure that you are offering real value to existing clients and pay attention to their needs. Look for ways that you can help to expand or improve their business.

5.    Stay away from financially weak clients.  Assess the financial wellbeing of all your current clients and potential clients.  If it appears that a current client is on the verge or bankruptcy or is experiencing financial difficulties you may want to consider not extending credit to them.

6.    Increase your sales and marketing efforts.  Sales and marketing is an area you DO NOT want to neglect especially during a recession. Take a close look at your marketing efforts and determine what is bringing in new business, consider increasing your energy or expenditures in that area.

As most legal recruiters know, finding quality candidates can often be elusive. The definition of  quality candidate often changes depending on the legal job opportunity, the culture of the firm and the special characteristics required for the job candidate to effectively carry out his/her job once hired.  This is why legal recruiters must utilize the best tools available to objectively screen and assess the quality of candidates applying for legal jobs before they spend resources on interviewing candidates who may not be appropriate.

The first step to properly screening and assessing quality candidates is to identify the typical profile of a top performer.  What skills and competencies do most top performers possess?  Once this "top performer" profile has been created it should be compared to the skills, competencies, education and experiences of candidates applying for legal jobs. To make this process as objective as possible, legal recruiters should use assessment software available that will allow candidates to answer questions online that will help identify what qualities they have and how well they match up to the "top performers" profile and/or the requirements of the legal job opportunity.

Legal recruiters should carefully evaluate assessment software and find out what other recruiters are using most effectively before they invest in costly systems. Read a book about candidate selection/assessment and/or take a workshop about the "best practices" in assessing quality candidates.

One of the biggest complaints that many businesses have is that recruiters only call when they are fishing for sales.  This type of dynamic can create a situation where businesses avoid recruiter calls.  One way to avoid this negative dynamic is to keep in touch with clients even when you don't need anything.  But avoid overloading clients with too much contact.  You may want to contact active clients once a month and potential clients once every three months if they are not responsive to your sales efforts. Here a few ways to connect with businesses to keep yourself at the forefront of their minds without the sales pressure:

1.    Send them a copy of an article related to their business.  Usually, people email articles; but since email is often abused and ignored, recruiters may benefit by sending articles via regular mail.

2.    Send hand written thank you cards.  If a client recently did business with you, sent you a referral or valuable information send them an old-fashioned thank you card.

3.    Setup a blog or send out a monthly newsletter with information that benefits the client or potential client.

4.    Ask them for their opinion.  If you've done business with a client recently you may want to send them a survey asking them about their level of satisfaction with you work.  Ask them what you did right and what they think could be improved.

Leopard Blog Member Question:  How do you feel about combining several contract positions under one heading on the resume? Particularly in Japan, this seems useful to explain to attorneys who are unfamiliar with the project attorney contracting system.

Leopard Blog Answer:  The decision to combine several contract positions under one heading on your resume depends on a few factors.

1. Did you engage in a lot of legal contract work over a long period of time?
2. Did you work for many different companies as a legal contractor over a short period of time?
3. Is the legal contractor work similar in nature (i.e. same practice areas)?

If you worked as a legal contractor for several companies over a long period of time, for example 3 years, you may want to include this work under one heading if they are in the same practice area. For example, if they were all in "Family Law," you could include them under that heading. If they were in different practice areas you may want to consider using a combination of the functional resume and chronological resume format highlighting skills you commonly used at all of your legal contract positions with the heading "Legal Contractor."

If you only worked as a legal contractor for a short period of time and/or have other significant legal experience (as a non-contractor attorney) you may want to mention you legal contract work in your cover letter only. If you feel that you need to explain the attorney contracting system to a potential employer do so briefly in your cover letter or as a footnote in your resume.

When it’s job-hunting time, one recruiter says it’s important to understand why you’re asked some questions.

What makes a great interview? As a legal recruiter in the Washington metro area, I speak nearly every day with experienced attorneys seeking to make lateral moves between firms or to leave firm practice altogether to work directly for a company as in-house counsel. I also speak routinely with hiring lawyers in law firms and companies about their hiring needs generally and about individual attorneys. Out of these conversations, I have developed a better understanding of the type of information interviewers really want to know when they ask fairly common questions. This information is useful to any lawyer about to embark upon an interview. While direct eye contact, a firm handshake, and thorough preparation are all wisely touted as the basics of strong interviewing skills, another important tool is a working knowledge of the questions the interviewer is likely to ask. Gaining this understanding before the inter- view will let you use the questions to your best advantage. When you appreciate why law firm partners or a general counsel are asking you certain questions, you can provide them with a targeted and effective answer and make a lasting and favorable impression.

Here are some of the common questions that you’ll hear in a legal interview. As you decide what to say to your next potential employer in the interview, keep these interpretations in mind:

Tell me about yourself. Interviewers typically use this question to get you talking, and what they want is to get a sense of how well you immediately present yourself. In short, they want to see you in action. How do you come across; how articulate are you; do you speak with confidence, poise, authority?

It’s best to hit this with some punch, and then stop. You will no doubt lose the impact of a strong impression if you make a brilliant splash and then continue on with a 20-minute recitation of your résumé. Instead, respond by providing three examples of transferable experience that are relevant to the position for which you are interviewing.

For example, identify the scope of your participation in a transaction or in a case you have handled, how you facilitated an aspect of that transaction or case, and your ongoing desire to build upon that experience. Remember to smile occasionally as you speak, and keep your answer to less than three minutes.  Things are just getting started. You will have plenty of opportunity to elaborate as the interview progresses.

Why are you interested in this opportunity? The interviewer wants to know what you know about the job and about the practice group or the firm. This matters a great deal. Your answer demonstrates, or fails to demonstrate, your interest in this particular job and this particular employer. And, on a larger scale, it reinforces the idea that you approach the interview (and the use of others’ time) in a professional way. View this question as an opportunity to share your understanding of the position and to invite discussion about it. In other words, do some research on the specific practice group within the firm or on the lawyers within the company or firm. What are the attorneys doing there, and how will you enhance (versus merely duplicate) their expertise?

If you are uncertain about this position, develop questions ahead of the interview to ask to gain a better understanding of the practice. Ideally, you will leave your potential employer with the impression that you have given this opportunity considerable thought and that your experience and skills mesh with the company’s need.


Tell Me About Yourself: The Best Interviews, continued.....

What would your income be like if every minute of your phone time was spent productively?  Peter Drucker, one of the country’s leading management gurus, says that every task has a beginning, a middle, and an end.  The problem with most recruiters in how they approach the phone, though, is sporadic and becomes a confusing melee of starting and stopping, starting and stopping.  Competing time demands, distractions, and co-workers shield our focus from the requisite laser beam accuracy needed for telephone peak performance.

Implement the following four tips into your routine to see a higher output of your telephone calling performance and a higher income.  These four tips will help you to increase your focus and your effectiveness on the phone.

1)  First, write down how many times in the day that you get up from your desk.  Yes, how often does your fanny leave your chair? Keep track of this for an entire week, and you’ll be amazed at how much more phone calling gets done.  Call it a “fanny inventory” if you like.  Count the number of times your butt leaves your chair.  Is it more than once an hour?  Too often.  When you are dedicating your time to calling on the phone, the gluteus maximus must remain glued in the chair. Focus on the butt placement first, and then the phone calling activity will soon increase.  If you have a rope, tie yourself to your chair if you get up more than once an hour.  (I would recommend duct tape, but that might hurt a little when removed.)

2) Second, write down how many people you wish to connect with during the day.  Set a daily goal for the number of “connects” that you wish to reach.  Write it down.  Write it down on a yellow sticky note and put it right there in front of you on your sticky note display case (also known as a computer monitor).

3) Third, group your dials in series of ten dials.  Pick up the handset, make ten dials, and then place the handset back in the receiver.  Keep track of your series of ten dials.  Do this sequence ten to twelve times, and it’ll be the end of the workday.

How To Make More Calls Continued....

Searching for the perfect legal job can be time consuming, exhausting and discouraging especially if the search is taken longer than expected.  Just as with most things, having a partner can make the job search process a little easier.  That's what a legal recruiter is, your partner in finding the right legal job and making the process as painless as humanly possible.  We've talked about some of the tangible benefits of working with legal recruiters; but below are some other benefits that may not seem so apparent at first glance.

1.    A different perspective.  Legal recruiters can offer a fresh perspective on your job search. He/she is a fresh set of eyes that can help you revive your resume, cover letter and even offer a new view on the current legal job market and the challenges you may be facing.

2.    A crop of new ideas. A legal recruiter can brainstorm with you to help you spot new opportunities that you did not consider before.  Maybe he/she can suggest exploiting certain legal skills that are in high demand; but that you have not emphasized on your resume.

3.    Accountability.  A legal recruiter can hold you accountable for your job search and the efforts you are (or are not) taking to make yourself more marketable.  For example, if you are working with a legal recruiter and he/she suggests that you take certain continuing education courses you are more likely to follow through knowing that the legal recruiter is expecting you to take all efforts necessary to improve your employment prospects.

As banks are becoming more cautious with their lending habits, many independent recruiters may begin to feel the pinch.  To head off any possible crisis if your creditor decides to refuse credit or cut back on an existing credit line here are a few tips:
1.    Save cash.  Like many small businesses, recruiters often operate with very little cash cushion; but in recessionary times this is not a wise choice.  To create an effective emergency supply of cash in case of credit disruption save at least six months of operating expenses or more depending on your business needs.
2.    Pay on existing debt; but do not deplete cash to do so.  It is very important to continue regular debt payments; but do not deplete your cash reserve in an effort to become "debt-free."  Many companies want to be debt-free especially during a recession; but this may not be wise if your emergency cash accounts are not fully funded. Currently, many banks are freezing or reducing small business credit lines and if this happens to your business after you have used savings to reduce debt it could have devastating effects on your ability to operate.
3.    Invest in good advice.  Spend the cash to receive advice from an experienced and highly recommended accountant and/or business consultant.  He/she can advise you on what errors you are currently making with your business' finances.  During boom times financial mistakes are often covered by high levels of cashflow and credit but in a recession, financial mistakes can prove fatal for your business.

Gaps on your résumé and multiple jobs within a short time period can raise red flags when applying for a new job.  Although we’re in a recession and have seen in the last several years an unprecedented wave of corporate and law firm consolidation, hiring managers and HR will still question résumé gaps and multiple job changes. No matter what the job market conditions are, first impressions on paper still count.

Here are some tips on how to handle these issues:

 

On the Resume. In my experience, people tend to go straight to the résumé and either scan or skip the cover letter entirely. Consequently, candidates should include as much explanation as possible on the actual résumé.  

 

• Example 1 - To explain a move or job change as a result of a merger: “ABC Company was acquired in 2006 by XYZ Corp.” The candidate may or may not have joined XYZ, but the message communicates that something unrelated to performance is the reason for the change.
• Example 2 - To explain a gap as a result of maternity or parental leave: Place an asterisk or footnote next to the year or month in which the gap occurred and explain it at the bottom. “From 2000 – 2001, I took time off to care for my young children.”

Cover Letters. Although cover letters are extremely helpful to headhunters and external recruiters in that they tend to provide more information about the candidate than what is on the résumé, they are frequently discarded in the online résumé submission process, or are simply not forwarded by HR to the hiring managers. Sometimes, even hiring managers don’t read them.  If you believe more explanation is necessary to explain a career gap or job change than what you can fit (or should try to fit) on a résumé, then attach your cover letter to the résumé so that it becomes page 1, and then PDF it so that it’s all in one document. It is more likely to stay intact that way, which increases the chances that a hiring manager will read it.

 

Dates of Employment. A way to de-emphasize multiple moves in a short period of time is to list years instead of months and years in connection with dates of employment.

 

Chronological vs. Skills-Based Format.   A skills-based format typically highlights strengths, accomplishments and skills at the top with a summary of job positions below. Although this format is frequently recommended by career counselors, I advise against it. When I see résumés formatted this way, my initial impression is that a candidate is trying to hide something (like re-arranging the furniture to conceal a floor plan problem).  Recruiters and hiring managers want to know what you did in each job.

1.    Plan.  Take 15 - 30 minutes to plan exactly what you need to do for the job search this week.  Make a simple list and then prioritize the items with the most important items first.

2.    Limit Your Time.  Don't try to make your entire day a marathon job search, that will just burn you out and fast.  Limit the hours that you will spend on your job search and spend 100% of your energy within that time frame actually tackling the critical tasks on your list.  For example, you may want to commit 4 hours to job search activity per day with weekends off.  But whatever amount of time you set aside for your job search make sure that the time is spent working on ONLY the activities that are critical to your job search.

3.    Reward Yourself.  After your complete your time commitment, make sure that you have a reward for sticking to the task.  For example, you may say, "After committing 4 hours to my job search today, I'm going to treat myself to a trip to the museum."  But make sure that your reward is preplanned so that you have something to look forward to. This reward will act as a motivator to keep you focused.

4.    Go With The Flow.  Analyze and work within your own personal rhythms.  For example, if you know that you are NOT a morning person, don't force yourself to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to begin your job search.  Try to confine your job search activity to the time of day when you have the most energy.

5.    Focus On Measurable And Controllable Actions.  If you focus your attention on how many interviews you land and not on the number of resumes you send out or the number of contacts you make you will soon be frustrated.  To avoid burnout and frustration with your job search only focus on what is in your control.  For example, you may decide that you will identify 10 job opportunities a week or attend 3 networking events a month.  These are measurable actions that can be taken by you. They are under your control.

 Want to ace your meeting with a hiring partner? Practice questions, research the firm, and know yourself.

An economy in recession. Corporations cutting back on outside counsel. Law firms announcing layoffs. This is not the best of times to be an associate seeking a lateral move. So what can you do to increase your chances of receiving a job offer? Too often, good candidates “fail” the face-to-face inter- view. Nerves are partly to blame. But in my experience as a legal recruiter, I’ve also seen the jobs lost because of insufficient thought and preparation for that critical meeting. With the help of those who conduct these interviews— law firm partners and recruiting coordinators, most in the Washington metropolitan area—let’s take a look at some of the mistakes others have made and thereby avoid walking in their footsteps.

Who’s Asking?
At the beginning of the interview, a job candidate should pay close attention to the style and the personality of the person conducting the interview. “The first misstep a candidate can make is to presume where the interviewer falls on the spectrum of formal versus informal,” says Michael Nannes, chairman and managing partner of Dickstein Shapiro. “Use the first five minutes to assess who you are talking to—and look for signals, verbal and nonverbal cues, as to where they might fall on the spectrum.” Karyn Thomas, lateral attorney recruitment manager for Arent Fox, agrees that it is important to listen to the interviewer first. “You don’t know the person interviewing you, and you don’t know what their personal interests are,” she says.

Not Enough About Us
Once the conversation gets under way, you can make a positive impression by demonstrating genuine curiosity about the specific firm and job at hand. “Where I see associates falling down is with lack of interest, failure to show an interest in us, who we are and what our plan is, what we are trying to do as a firm,” says David Hamilton, Baltimore managing partner at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. All the individuals interviewed for this article commented in one way or another on this simple point of showing interest in a particular firm. Thomas says too many candidates only look at the attorney bios before an interview. “Know the firm’s landmark cases and signature clients,” she suggests. More information about most law firms is readily available on firms’ own Web sites, through Westlaw and Google searches, and via word of mouth from colleagues or a legal recruiter who has a longstanding relationship with the firm. Remember that busy partners are making time for you. You want to show them that you take this opportunity seriously. Lori Ann Bean, a partner at Clifford Chance, explains this from the interviewer’s perspective: “Interviewing is the most important thing we can do for our firm, to invest in the legacy and future of our practice. But keep in mind that, as a practical matter, we don’t have time and we are forgoing client business to talk to you.”

Excited to Be Here
One pet peeve of those who interview is a lack of enthusiasm from the candidate. This reveals itself in different ways: monosyllabic answers, few questions, making the interviewer do all the work to keep the conversation flowing. Don’t fall back on the claim that you are naturally quiet. S. Michael Kayan, administrative partner, general counsel, and hiring partner of Constantine Cannon, says candidates have a responsibility to communicate enthusiasm. “If they are naturally introverted, they need to embellish interest.” Recognize, too, that part of the law firm’s evaluation is how you will interact with its clients. “I want someone who is willing to be sufficiently assertive with me [in the interview] so that I am assured they will be sufficiently assertive for me and my clients in practice,” explains Nannes. Dyana Barninger, manager of associate development and recruitment at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, echoes this point: “Partners have told me they are passing on a candidate because they can’t see themselves trusting the person with their clients.”

An Interview Must: Do Your Homework Continued....

I’ll never forget my first day as a midshipman at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.  It was on July 2nd, 1985. It was two days before our nation’s birthday.  Reagan was President. The Navy was on track to build six hundred ships. The cold war gave everyone a comfortable feeling of knowing exactly who the enemy was.    It was a great time to be a patriot.  But even though I grew up on four Marine Corps bases as a son of a career marine officer, getting my own head shaved and joining the military was a whole new experience for me.

I knew that if I was going to make it, I’d have to develop a whole new attitude of discipline.  This was really hard for me because my natural state, even to this day, is a state of having fun and enjoying myself.  In some ways it seemed to be such a conflict.  But I found out that with the right perspective, leading a disciplined life doesn’t have to be uncomfortable.  In fact, it can be fun.  That concept has become the basis of my training and consulting to the industry. If we can turn the arduous nature of the tactics of recruiting into a fun game, then recruiters grow into self-motivated and self-actualized performers, and don’t hold back on taking those uncomfortable action steps that are requisites for success.

At Annapolis, I learned that I could become more disciplined in one area of my life if I developed a discipline in another area.  If I polished my shoes and kept my uniform inspection-ready at all times, I would see a direct correlation to how eagerly I started studying every afternoon.   I saw that these small disciplines would translate into helping me become disciplined in other areas of my life.

I spoke at a large regional meeting for an industry franchise group this past January.  There were probably about 300 recruiters in the room.  I asked them, “How many of you have been taught to create a daily plan every day before you leave?”  Everyone’s hand went up.  “How many of you can honestly say that you have done this every single work day for the past six months?”  Only about 30 hands went up, ten percent of the room.  I told them I appreciated their candid response and that this honesty is the first step to getting better, that they just placed themselves squarely on the path to performance improvement by being transparent and honest.  But this showed me clearly why becoming a great recruiter requires so much more than mastering just the tactics of recruiting.  Even though learning the tactics of recruiting are critical, they only contribute about ten percent to a recruiter’s success.  If recruiters are taught what to do and don’t do it, then they’re missing the mark and will never get better.  What’s the point of training if people don’t integrate what they learn?

If you want to achieve a disciplined attitude at your desk, consider developing these three daily disciplines.  If you create the habit of daily disciplines in these small areas, it will carry over into other areas of your life, such as creating a daily plan.  I call them the Three Daily Disciplines of Achievement:


Become More Disciplined, continued......

For various reasons, such as protracted unemployment, a recent move or the need for additional income many highly qualified attorneys with otherwise stable employment histories choose to work as contract attorneys at some point in time.  But with the varying perceptions of attorney contract work many attorneys searching for full-time employment may wonder whether they should include the contract work on their resume.

Generally speaking an attorney should make potential employers aware of all positions they have worked in because of the possibility that a conflict situation may exist.  But that doesn't necessarily mean that the contract work should be directly on your resume.  In most cases, mentioning the contract work in a cover letter may be sufficient.  But there are some cases where an attorney might benefit by including the contract work on their resume.

1.    If the work done in the contract position is relevant to the job opportunity.  For example, if an attorney is applying for a position as a family law attorney and their only experience in that field is in a contract position then it might be advantageous to include it on the resume.

2.    An attorney held the contract work for a long period of time and excluding it from your resume would leave a hole in your employment history.  In this case the attorney may want to include the contract work on the resume.

3.    The contract work an attorney did was significant and meaningful.  Most contract positions involve mostly document review and related tasks; but oftentimes when an attorney is in a contract position for an extended amount of time the work becomes more involved and significant.  If an attorney's work in a contract position is significant, by all means include it on the resume.

Because the perception of legal contract positions can vary widely, always check with a qualified recruiter to determine how such work should be presented in its best light on your resume and cover letter.

We've already discussed which "power words" a legal professional should use in their resume and cover letter; but there are some words that are best avoided or minimized if you want your resume/cover letter to have the greatest impact possible.

Avoid using abbreviations.  Even if abbreviations are understood by those reading the resume, too many abbreviations and acronyms can overwhelm a resume and make it difficult to read.

Avoid using words such as, "I" "Me" and "My." Using these pronouns in a resume or cover letter may seem intuitive; but it can give an amateurish quality to your resume/cover letter.  It's best to avoid the use of these pronouns.  For example, instead of saying "I supported two senior attorneys" you could say "Supported two senior attorneys."

Avoid negative words. Using words such as "hate," fired," "arrested," or "boring" will basically kill any chances of your resume making it past the trash bin.  If you had a negative experience at a firm or experienced something else negative that affected your job, don't mention it directly in your resume.  For example, if you were arrested and that's why you were fired from a job, calmly explain the circumstances during the interview NOT via your cover letter or resume.

Avoid the overuse of buzzwords and phrases.  For example, words like synergize, facilitate and integrate have been overused and may not have the impact you desire.  Consider using other words to express your ideas.

Most recruiters want to be more productive--get more done in less time; but most aren't quite sure how to do it.  Many recruiters mistakenly believe that in order to improve productivity, one has to do more things, put in more hours (sometimes necessary) and create complex processes that only Einstein could figure out.  But the trick to increasing recruiter productivity is not just about doing more stuff, it's about doing more of the right stuff in a simple straight forward way that saves time and energy.  So here are some tips on increasing recruiter productivity:

1.    Take complex processes and make them as simple as possible.  Only do the things that are absolutely essential, eliminating extraneous steps in any process.  For example, do you interview candidates who you know aren't appropriate for your current job opportunity, simply because you MAY need them at some time in the future?  If so, you may want to simplify your assessment/interviewing process by not interviewing candidates whose resume clearly indicates they are not appropriate for the job opportunity currently available. You can always interview them at a later date after all of your essential tasks are complete.

2.    Keep a log of all your recruiting activities for a week and identify activities that are not essential.  Once those nonessential activities are identified either reduce the time spent on them or eliminate them from your daily routine. If you are working with an assistant you may want to delegate those tasks to him/her.

3.    Don't spread yourself thin attempting to juggle several candidates and job opportunities at once. Focus your attention on one task at a time and once that task is complete move on to the next.  For example, you may want to allocate two hours to each job opportunity and handle all tasks related to that job opportunity within that two hour timeframe. This method of working saves a tremendous amount of time and energy.  Attempting to "multi-task" can often reduce productivity.

Can I grow with this software? Will the software you buy today fit your business tomorrow?  Good software is flexible and can be expanded and changed to fit your changing business needs. Whatever software you choose, look at it as a long-term solution. The last thing you want to do is to change technology/software every six months or every year because the software is not meeting your needs.  Before you purchase software you should look at it as a 3 year commitment at least and plan accordingly.

Will this software add value to my recruiting process?  Whatever software you use should enhance and add value to your over recruiting process.  For example, does the software make it easier to process resumes and match candidates to appropriate jobs?  Make sure that you involve employees at all levels when making a decision about the type of software you are going to use to insure that it appropriately meets all of your business needs.

Will this software integrate seamlessly with my existing and future software solutions? Any software solution that you purchase must seamlessly work with your existing and future software in order for your technology to be a help not a hindrance. When assessing software for your company, speak with the software representatives about what programs the software works with and which programs may require additional "bridge" solutions to offer seamlessly technology.

Is this software "user-friendly"?  One of the biggest mistakes of many recruiters is that they purchase software that is a good "solution" on paper but is unusable or difficult to use by ordinary workers.  Whatever software you purchase make sure that is easy to learn and use.  You may even want to purchase "training sessions" for employees to ease them into using the new technology.