Recruiters can be your best ally in developing your career.
It’s that time again. We struggle as to whether it’s time to change jobs, hang in there or be thankful we’re in the best firm in the world. Well, maybe the best. OK, the best so far.
Working with a good recruiter can help make your career. Here’s the inside scoop: Recruiters, and I am talking about the staffing agency kind, hold the keys to literally hundreds of contacts they have built up over the years. They have the ears of the hiring authorities of the very firms you want to get into. Those who don’t understand the power and value of a good recruiter or who dismiss them, mistreat them or otherwise abuse them are in for a huge surprise. Are you one?
Here are the reasons recruiters are extremely valuable to your career whether or not you are seeking a new position. Recruiters can have backgrounds as former administrators, paralegal managers, senior paralegals, attorneys, legal secretaries or litigation support managers. They know this field inside and out.
Top recruiters are connected to hundreds of top hiring authorities. They have long-term, personal relationships they have carefully cultivated. They have the ears of hiring authorities and confide in them which candidate is a good hire and which ones are not. They hold the keys to opening doors for you.
They can get you into a firm utilizing their contacts when simply sending a resume through a job board won’t work. They personalize the message to the hiring authority and give their opinion. They have interviewed and screened you first. They stake their reputation on whether you are good.
You don’t know when you are going to seek a position. Having a recruiter in your back pocket is the best career tool you can have. They can tell you which firms might be best suited for you. They can help gear your resume towards the position rather you trying to shoot in the dark. They give you the facts on the firm rather than having you guess. They know why the position is open, turnover rates, percentage of raises, whether bonuses are actually given, how much, level of sophistication of assignments and in short, a reality burst.
You can call them at raise time and find out the going market rate. They know what the firms are giving. You don’t even have to be looking. You have a contact that will be honest with you.
Click the button to read the 5 biggest mistakes you can make in alienating recruiters, how to get them on your side and how to upgrade your career – all through making a new best friend!
Chere Estrin is the CEO of Estrin Legal Staffing; President and Co-Founding member of the Organization of Legal Professionals, a non-profit online training company for eDiscovery and CEO of the Paralegal Knowledge Institute, an online training organization. She has written 10 books on legal careers and has been interviewed by Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, Daily Journal, Above the Law and others. She is a Los Angeles Paralegal Association Lifetime Achievement Award winner, a New York City Paralegal Association Excellence Award Winner, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce/Century City Women of Achievement Award Recipient and finalist of the Inc. Magazine Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Her blog, The Estrin Report has been around since 2005. She is a former Paralegal Administrator at two major law firms and executive in a $5 billion corporation. She has free time on Sundays between 3:00am and 6:00am. Reach out at chere@estrinlegalstaffing.com
Editors Note: This article was reformatted from an original article published Dec 8, 2018