Becoming a Legal Eagle

legal recruiting space. Super happy to have you with us and Jenn, I'll let you tell us a little bit more about you and your niche, and then we'll dive into our topic.

So I really, really enjoyed it. We have a wonderful team, and my coworkers on my team I just love so I feel very blessed to be here.

then the candidates are the buyers. So what you're trying to do is get to know your clients, your firms, as much as possible, and be able to have the respect that they would be calling you. So what I thought would be a good idea is to kind of go through the steps of how to get to be at the desk in the C suite with these firms. So there's different types of searches that you have. You can start out with a contingent search, which basically means they have a need, and they're sending it out

to all the recruiters out there and candidates alike. Sometimes it will be posted on their on their firm websites. That's a little bit like acting like you're a sports agent, so you have the talent, and you're kind of shopping them around to each of these firms. So that's that's the contingent basis. Everyone has the same shot at the person that you are working with, the candidate. So the good thing about that is that you have a lot of shots on goal. You can have this candidate go out to

different types of firms. However, there's no guarantee that you're going to get paid, so sometimes what you do is you'll try to have that firm, a firm in particular, be a client that you want to have a retained search with. And what that means is that you're identifying a firm that you feel like has great opportunities. Because I think that's one thing, is identifying which firms you want to work with is just as key as

them identifying which recruiters. Because if you have a search that no one wants, and it's a it's a dog search, then you're really kind of shitting yourself in the foot. Because even though you may get money up front, you are probably not going to get the rest of that money, because it's a really difficult sign. So when you identify the firm and you realize that it's a great firm that you want to work with, that's number one. But you have to make sure that the firm's

good. You're going to have a successful search. It's actually something that people are going to want to join. That's kind of what I think it's important for people to realize you don't just want to work with anyone. And then the approach of how you want to work with these firms can be either you identified them and you've never worked with them and never placed with them, but you've always known about them, and you're going to

pitch that routine search right off the bat. Then there's the way that you have worked with them in the contingent side. That's kind of how I like to do it, because you kind of want to work and you kind of want to place somebody at these firms. You want to know the entire process from start to finish, because when you're going to retain search, you're really promising them that they will find the talent they're paying you, and it's only you searching for them. So knowing the ins and

out of that firm, I think, is really important. So the approach would be, in my opinion, work with them on a contingent basis. Then if you want to go in and then have the retained basis, you kind of understand some bumps up front, and you're not kind of setting yourself up for disappointment. But that being said, it's definitely fine to go ahead and pitch for the retained if it's a firm that you feel like you want to work with and you feel like it's a great shot. So I don't

want to sway anyone that way. But my approach, I like to kind of go with the contingent and then retained, and then once you do have that ability to partner with a firm, it's really great to make sure that you know who the key players are. A lot of times in these firms, especially with legal, they always use recruiter, so there'll be an in house recruiter that you might have the the initial conversations with, which is

great. They're usually really good at what they do. They're going to be able to lead you down the path and have your pitch kick off. But what I would recommend too, is having the discussion with them that if things are getting a little sticky, a little hairy, you're bringing in some candidates that you feel like they should be hiring, and it's not going well. Make sure you have the ability to reach out to the managing partners one on one, because sometimes things just get lost

in a shuffle. Sometimes, you know, playing operator, what you think you're hearing, and what you think with and what they're saying might not be exactly coming across. So you just want to make sure that you have a clear line to the decision makers. Definitely talk to the people that you're supposed to talk to. You don't want to go around anyone's back, but make sure that if things are not going as well as planned, that you do have the ability to go right to the horse's mouth and

the decision maker. And then the other thing too that's important to focus on when you are partnering with a firm is maintaining those objectives and maintaining the satisfaction level that that you were promising them. If you feel like there's something that's happening that is not going well either, whether or not the candidate is you're not being able to find the candidates. Because that's one thing too that can be a little bit nerve wracking. You can get these

pitches. You can be at the table with them. You can tell them, hey, I'm going to be able to find this candidate. Don't worry. And you go out there and it's just the toughest search that you could ever work on. Be honest and let them know you're going to be showing your work. You're going to be showing your efforts. You're going to be having your bi weekly meetings with them, telling Hey, I've made 100 calls this week. I've

had this reaction to this search. And I think the other thing too is making sure that you feel honest enough to give them that honest feedback. Sometimes, you know, a managing partner may be really difficult to work with, and they have a reputation that could be something that you find out after you already signed the dotted line and gotten your retained deposit down. So you just want to make sure that you're always just tactfully showing them what it is that

they need to say. Because look, if they know the managing partner, might be difficult. They never were told that. So either way, good news, bad news, I think, is also what you want to do in order to maintain that relationship with them. Think the other thing too is, is that sometimes things may not work out as well as you had hoped. So you have to remember that there might be a time for you to pivot away from that relationship, in a sense. So if that's the case, just make sure you're not

burning any bridges. Do your best that you can do. I think the other thing too is helping to have that communication of how often you should be communicating with them during the search, if you are doing everything that you could if they wanted you to get them all this information. And it didn't go well, still, I think the thing that you can always do is just say, hey, you know what? I respect you guys. I think that

I've tapped the market out. Maybe it's time for you guys to go find another recruiter that you feel like might have a fresh eye. So it's just kind of important to make sure that you also have that ability to kind of part ways and not have to always just hang on to that one particular client, because once you do sit at that table, you're going to be having a lot of time and effort from your own desk searching for this particular

search. So you just want to make sure that you're still able to keep some things, some irons in the fire while you're busy with that.

aren't progressing. The way that they should. I would love just to bend your ear five minutes at the most. Can you let me know if, after hours I could, I could have a conversation with you. That's usually when they'll be a little bit more receptive. I mean, what I did have this conversation, it was at 730 at night. I didn't care. They didn't care. But it was kind of

meeting them where they needed to be. I think that that's the other thing too, is give them the opportunity to kind of be outside of work hours to talk.

him. Don't worry. Alleviated any sense of gosh, they just start getting it, um, I just said to them, Hey, don't worry. I'm going to be your biggest fan, but I'm here. I want to make you look good, so I'm going to go right to them and see what the situation is. From the standpoint of, yes, I've had my hand slot a couple of times on not many but like, you don't mean to do it. Sometimes it's by accident. You don't realize the protocol. And when that happens, they can just say, Hey, this is

your one chance. We understand that you didn't understand that you shouldn't be contacting them. But when that happens, you know, it happens a lot. Honestly, I think that they're kind of used to recruiters. I mean, look, we're sales people. You have to have a certain assertiveness in your personality to begin with. You don't want to do it all the time. But if it's, if it's something that you feel like is, you know, gonna, gonna let it a fire for this particular

candidate to come in. Then, you know, you just gotta kind of ask for forgiveness instead of permission, sometimes.

leave? Was it on good terms? If you kind of get the sense that people leave on good terms a lot, and that it was more just kind of an opportunistic I kind of hit my ceiling, then you'll kind of get a sense to, hey, you know what? That firm actually isn't a bad firm. They're not because you'll, you'll hear the bad firms better than, more than the the good firms, the good firms, you know, it's almost like, if there's nothing said, then that's kind of a good that's a good talent pool to

kind of, you know, to recruit for it. But I think also, most of these firms should be doing a good job of selling themselves to recruiters, because they rely on us. So what I'll do is, I'll call the director of the recruiting and I'll say, because the managing partners really don't have, I mean, they're not really there to sell to candidates necessarily. They're there to sell to their clients, to get the book of business. So

from that standpoint, they do have a pretty good pitch. But from a culture standpoint, from a benefit standpoint, from a path to partnership standpoint, most of the legal firms around the United States especially, have the ability to give you even a marketing pitch book. They'll give it to you, and they'll say, This is what makes us different. These are the type of clients. This is the path to partnership. And you'll end up

learning about these firms. And then you choose what you like, you know like, personally, when I heard about a firm that said, hey, you know what we're we're boutique, but we're kind of California chic, where we come in, we're allowed to wear jeans as long as we look professional. You know, we work hard, we play hard. That's kind of my mentality. So it's easy for me to understand the benefits of that. Now, if I were to go to a firm that's like, listen, we're super buttoned up. We stay here

for 1720, years. I can sell it, sure, but it's easier to kind of know what firm I would want to be working for, and then that's kind of how I decide, because you just have that passion about it, and you can tell when you're kind of selling it to a candidate. So it's kind of, I think, get your own taste and your own person. Aspect of it, if you like, it'll be easier.

me about it. You just, kind of just keep it pragmatic, you know. Don't be like, Hey, I'm so sorry. We weren't taught it's business, you know. So you just go back if you feel like you find something, and you found something on that they have out on their searches, or if they sent an email about, hey, we need help, you just kind of dive back in. I mean, you're going to have different pools that you're going to hang out with throughout your entire career, hopefully, if you have a long

career here. So that's just going to kind of happen I think.

helpful, you know, give each other pats in the back. So that's one thing that I would like to start seeing a little bit more. I have been seeing it more, but this type of legal recruiting, especially is getting extremely saturated. So I think that if you know if you're working with if I work with a candidate, and they say that they're working with another recruiter, I always say to them, you know, I would really appreciate if you let them know that you are going to

pivot. Don't just go blank on because we don't get paid until we place somebody. So I think that that's kind of one of the things that you know, what goes around, comes around, is something that I try to really think about. And I think that if, if you are thinking about getting into this, or if you already are a recruiter and you're successful, or if you're having a hard time, definitely reach out to me. I would love to

network. I would love to chat. I'm always here to kind of help out my fellow recruiter.