There's an interesting article in The Examiner that made me pause. In an age of emails, chat, Facebook and Twitter, many job seekers are blurring the lines between what's appropriate and what's not. The article made some interesting observations about the top reasons that employers/recruiters choose to not hire a candidate.  Here's the list:

• Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information - 53 percent
• Candidate posted content about them drinking or using drugs - 44 percent
• Candidate bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients - 35 percent
• Candidate showed poor communication skills - 29 percent
• Candidate made discriminatory comments - 26 percent
• Candidate lied about qualifications - 24 percent
• Candidate shared confidential information from previous employer - 20 percent

And it doesn't end there.  Seemingly small things have caused employers to disregard job candidates:

• 14 percent of employers disregarded job candidates because they used emoticons in their email messages.

• 16 percent of employers disregarded job candidates because they used text language such as GR8(great) in an email or even in a job application. (A complete no-no.)

For those who may be wondering--never use online language when communicating with employers or recruiters.  Even if an employer is contacting you via an online social network, make sure you use language that you would use in a resume, cover letter or in a face-to-face interview.   Drop the outrageous photos on your online profiles. If you wouldn’t wear around your grandmother, then it is probably outrageous. Think of the internet as a public place, like a park or city street.  Don't say or do anything you wouldn't say or do in public.

(source: http://www.examiner.com/x-12902-San-Diego-Job-Search-Examiner~y2009m8d27-Career-Expert-Provides-DOs-and-DONTs-for-Job-Seekers-on-Social-Networking)

Corporate legal departments are keeping more work in-house these days to reduce costs.   For many, this means more work and fewer people to do it. To that end, many companies are taking advantage of the high quality of talent on the market now by increasing the use of contract attorneys.

While using outside counsel is still a necessity for certain highly specialized work, many corporate law departments are re-evaluating and increasing the work can be done internally.   Often, that work consists of routine matters, such as patent applications, document reviews, low-level litigation and contract administration. However, as law departments lean more heavily on temporary legal professionals, the project work is not always routine.   With increased federal regulation, more companies are turning to contract attorneys to handle large projects, such as corporate investigations and transactional due diligence.    When the project is completed, the contract lawyers are released.

“Our company has seen a dramatic increase in the use of temporary attorneys and paralegals by corporate clients,” says Joe Freedman, Chairman of AMERICAN Legal Search, LLC, a national legal search firm and recruiting industry leader. “The talent pool is better than it’s ever been, and our clients are taking advantage of it.” Freedman added.

As the work product quality generated by contract lawyers increases, temporary legal teams may play a bigger role in corporate law departments. With a continued emphasis on cost-minimization, this may be a catalyst that changes the legal industry.

Leopard Law Blog has republished this article from 'Law Department Search', from Sapire Search Group.