The One-Offer Legal Market
by Linda Green Pierce
While the economy is growing, albeit not at any spectacular rate, job recovery continues to lag and economists say the unemployment rate may still be in the 10% range a year from now.
Economists also predict that the economy will create some jobs again this year. My personal experience, as a recruiter placing exclusively in the legal field, is that I am seeing there are jobs beginning to come "on line" in the legal profession. Good news at last for lawyers seeking to make a move in order to focus or enhance their practice, increase their income or relocate.
In the Pacific Northwest, recovery after recessions or dips has tended to be slower than the rest of the US. That's still true today from where I sit in Portland, Oregon. My counterparts in other areas of the country are seeing more of a pickup in legal jobs than I am yet. I can see that the change is beginning in the NW as well.
I'm still faced with a real challenge in working with candidate lawyers. That challenge is for the candidates to fully understand that the market will not produce a typical job search and job change opportunity. In recent years, I might have been able to offer two or three law firms, or law firms and a corporation, as possible interview opportunities. In today's market the opportunity might be with one single employer.
So, this is my challenge and the challenge to the candidate: How do we evaluate one single opportunity? Lawyers have had a historic perspective of enjoying more than one opportunity in possible future employment and, indeed, many final decisions on which job to take have been based on the process of elimination.
So if you have a job offer from one singular employer --- and it's a job you want, in a city you want with an employer you feel will make a good home -- how do you accept that job without feeling something has been left on the table or that there's just one more rock to turn over?
The answer is to dig much deeper into the offer you have. After a candidate and I have spent so much time and effort trying to get an offer, the process of evaluating the offer to see if it is right often takes a back seat. With the one-offer job market, you have to bring that offer right up front into the driver's seat.
Most legal employers will not expect you to make a decision on the spot. You might typically be given a week to make up your mind. Weighing the job will help you make up your mind. But in the case of the one-offer job market, most of this weighing should be done in advance of an offer. So let's take an advance approach at this point and consider the following factors as you get ready to be able to accept a one-offer job in today's market:
1. Job content: Does this job fit into my long-range career plans and personal goals? Am I proud of, and do I feel good about, this employer? Are my values aligned with the culture and style of the company and what it projects? You should adjust to a new employer within one to six months. After that newness wears off, are you still going to find challenges and a future with this employer?
2. Your supervisor(s): Can I work and get along with these lawyers or (in the case of a corporation) with these lawyers in the legal department and these internal clients I will see every day? Are the people you will work with interested in your success and growth? This is often an overlooked benefit in assessing an offer, where so much going-in attention is paid to money and benefits. Having a mentor and personal chemistry with those you will be working are worthy benefits to be evaluated.
3. The money: Is the salary offered "at market" in the area? Many lawyers coming to the Northwest take large "haircuts" at entry to this market. Obviously a New York or Los Angeles salary is not a Portland, Oregon or Seattle, Washington salary, largely because of cost of living and perceived value of the lifestyle. But it's important to learn if your offer is market for the area. If it is not, why is it less? Does this employer have a tremendous benefits offering? Does the entry salary get you into a firm or company, but there is tremendous upside for salary growth? Dig further into the offer to learn how individual increases are determined and when. Potential for growth can often outweigh a starting salary point.
4. Compatriots: The interview process is a time to get a sense of corporate culture. It also gives you a sense of your peers. Ask for them to be included among your interviewers. If in your initial interview process you only visit with supervisors and potential business partners (corporation), ask to come back and visit with those you will interact with on a daily basis: your peers and paralegals or other staff.
5. Location: Simply stated, can you get there from here? Can you see yourself living in this location or region or making this commute? Location can be a satisfaction issue not to be underestimated. I have candidates who will willingly and joyfully move across the country and others, already in a "home" populated area, who won't move to new position, no matter how attractive, if it adds 20 minutes to their daily commute.
6. Hours and billable requirements: What is the expectation of your work pace? If I'm expected to work and bill XX hours a month in a law firm, is there work for me to do/go after in order to achieve that number? Where does that work come from and how do I gain it? Is that number realistic for me and my family? If the job is within a corporate legal department, what are the expectations? How much travel is there? Is each lawyer tethered over the weekend to technology and expected to answer the phone? Are there hard and fast office hours? Is a portion of the week available for working from home? Does this job allow me the other commitments in my life for family, friends and other activities?
7. The intangibles: Will they be there for me? How do you feel about this company/employer when you think about an emergency coming up in your life? Are they flexible; are they rigid? Will taking this position change the way I work, the way I operate or alter my lifestyle dramatically? If so, will I embrace those changes and can I handle them? Perhaps, as with many lawyer candidates I place, it will be the best change in their lives. And that's what to strive for in the evaluation of intangibles.
Getting a one-offer job doesn't mean you need to take the offer. But if all the requirements you're seeking are there, you may not need one or two comparative offers in order to make a solid, informed acceptance of your offer.
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