According to a
report released by the U.S. Department of Labor, the legal services sector lost
1,100 jobs in November. The legal
sector has 100 less legal jobs than in 2009 and only 39,000 jobs were added
across the board sending the overall unemployment rate up to 9.8 percent. The reality is that legal
recruiters are operating in a job market with fewer opportunities. How does one cope? Below are a few
tips:
1.
Take
the initiative and be aggressive when it comes to garnering job orders. Now is not the time to take a passive
approach to building relationships with employers. Networking and cold-calling prospective clients should be
part of a recruiter’s daily routine.
2.
Make
sure that you not only understand your industry; but that you understand the
company for which you are recruiting. What are their needs? What are their goals? How can hiring now help them reach
their goals and fulfill their most essential needs? Once you determine how hiring now will help the company,
make sure you clearly communicate to the client how delays in hiring hurt their
bottom-line.
3.
Do
the most important things first.
Since we’re in a recession, gaining and keeping clients should be a
recruiter’s top priority. Also, making sure that you source talent that is
appropriate is important so that employers repeatedly return to you for their
sourcing needs.
4.
One
of the challenges that recruiters face during is a recession is justifying
their fees to clients who are looking for a discount. While some recruiters will feel tempted to bring down their
fees, they need to make sure that whatever they do they create a win-win
agreement with the client. Any
negotiation involving a recruiter’s fees or any other aspect of their business
should end with both parties benefiting from the arrangement.
(source: http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2010/12/novemberjobs.html)