The typical associate attorney job search involves 3 stages.
Stage 1: Identifying Potential Targets
Top-tier law firms hire hundreds of associates per year. However, a firm's needs change throughout the year. It's important to monitor the lateral market so you can be aware of opportunities in your target cities and areas of law as they arise, so you are ready to pounce immediately. The BigLawHire weekly job alerts are a great way to stay on top of the market, and put your job search on auto-pilot. Our legal recruiters can also contact firms confidentially on your behalf to find potential openings before they hit the open market.
Stage 2: Submitting Applications
Every law firm has a different onboarding process. It can be overwhelming, and uncomfortable, for a busy associate to effectively manage applying to several competitor law firms, all while juggling their current workload. The process of law firm review can be slow, especially if you don't follow up regularly with the law firm. The common expression "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" can often apply here. In-house law firm staff can become overwhelmed with applications, and your application may get lost in the stack if you don't follow up regularly. Our legal recruiters can submit your application to all of your target firms and provide you with constant updates. We make the process as simple and efficient as possible for you, so you can stay focused on your day to day and let us handle the busy work. We follow up with law firms regularly and none of our candidates go unnoticed.
Stage 3: Interviewing and Negotiating
Many associates will interview with several law firms at the same time. Logistically, it can be quite difficult to time everything so you finish interviews with all your target firms, receive their feedback and offers, and be fully informed to make a decision. You may feel pressured to accept an offer, but later regret not taking an interview with a couple more target firms because of time pressure. Our legal recruiters can schedule all your interviews and negotiate on your behalf with the various law firms. It may be possible to leverage multiple offers to negotiate key issues, like starting salary, bonus, moving expenses, start-date, etc.
Whether you are just monitoring the market or actively seeking to lateral, check out the BigLawHire job board for the latest associate openings!