What do headhunters ("legal recruiters") want?! Forum

[Anonymous User]

As someone that just graduated from law school and am a new associate at my firm, I am mind boggled by the amount of calls and emails I received from legal recruiters on a daily basis. We all remember well how difficult it was for us to land a job during OCI or job fairs, and now these recruiting calls are non-stop. I know I am a lucky one that has a job as some of my classmates are still looking for one, hence it is even more strange that they cannot find jobs, yet these legal recruiters always seem to have "position available."

Like seriously, what can they gain from a first year associate that they cannot from a new hire?

Anyone else have similar experiences?

[Anonymous User]

I got a good many calls during my first year, and they have only increased as I have become a mid-level. I bet I get at least 3 a week.

Is there any way to get them to stop calling without being rude? I usually politely ask them to not call me anymore because I am not interested in moving, but I have definitely gotten calls from the same folks again.

[nealric]

Here's the deal: Most recruiting firms just go down the list calling every biglaw associate out there. They don't care if you are first year who started last week or an 8th year associate up for partner. Sometimes they will do a targeted cold call, in the sense that they know there is an opening for a 3-5 year litigation associate, and they only call 3-5 year litigation associates. Usually, they just want your resume so they can pitch it all over town and sell you on anybody who may bite. Biglaw firms only want laterals from biglaw firms, so the recruiters are just loading up candidates they can pitch. They are salespeople looking to earn a commission.

While flattering at first, a call from a recruiter rarely means an actual employer is interested in you. It means a salesperson is churning their leads and nothing more. When I was actually ready to lateral, recruiters were a waste of my time.

[Anonymous User]

Here's the deal: Most recruiting firms just go down the list calling every biglaw associate out there. They don't care if you are first year who started last week or an 8th year associate up for partner. Sometimes they will do a targeted cold call, in the sense that they know there is an opening for a 3-5 year litigation associate, and they only call 3-5 year litigation associates. Usually, they just want your resume so they can pitch it all over town and sell you on anybody who may bite. Biglaw firms only want laterals from biglaw firms, so the recruiters are just loading up candidates they can pitch. They are salespeople looking to earn a commission.

While flattering at first, a call from a recruiter rarely means an actual employer is interested in you. It means a salesperson is churning their leads and nothing more. When I was actually ready to lateral, recruiters were a waste of my time.

This is really key. And to answer your question, they want money from the firms where they place candidates.

I want to scream my experience with a recruiter from a mountaintop so others don't make the same mistake. I don't blame the recruiter 100%, as I am also at fault of course! But I had the experience that a recruiter was not only a waste of time, but also actually harmful in my lateral position search process. I had applied to firms on my own, and was waiting to hear back when I got a call from a recruiter about a firm I hadn't considered. I wish the recruiter had never called. In fact, I had already decided to not use a recruiter.

In my own search process, I had carefully gone through and picked firms that had a significant number of partners and associates in my practice area. I had looked at the firm that the recruiter called about, but decided not to apply due to there being a very small amount of folks in my practice area. I explained this to the recruiter, but somehow I got convinced to submit my materials and interview because it was a "unique opportunity." The interview went well, and the practice group seemed promising and perhaps was a unique opportunity. After the interview, the recruiter pressured me to accept quickly, since they were "interviewing other people." And I foolishly did. Once I started, I quickly learned that the group was not for me-it was not what was pitched to me in my interview among other things. I left in a matter of months.

What was even more agitating is that within a week after I accepted, I got calls for interviews at a handful of firms that I applied to on my own that would have been much better fits. So my own process seems like it would have worked very well. I think the moral of the story is is to trust your intuition when working with a recruiter, and don't let yourself be swayed away from what you think is the right thing for you in your search. I was extremely lucky that it worked out for me, and I was able to transition to something that was an excellent good fit, but it can be hard to lateral again so quickly.