Email Practice Chair or Recruiting? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I applied to a firm back in February or March. The firm never got back to me. It wasn’t a posted job or anything, but I thought I would get an interview since they had just had a few associates leave the group.

Fast forward a few months, the firm has a search. A few recruiters emailed me about the job, but I told them I already reached out. Fast forward a few more months. I get more emails from recruiters about the job.

Should I email recruiting again or just reach out to a chair of the practice? I’ve heard of people having success just bypassing recruiting and going to a partner. I know it’s ballsy, but I don’t have anything to lose. Worst case, the partner remembers my resume (if she ever saw it back in february) and tosses it. On the other hand, maybe the partner at least wants more information and sends it to recruiting.

I just wonder if my application will get lost in a pile if I email recruiting.

[oblig.lawl.ref]

I applied to a firm back in February or March. The firm never got back to me. It wasn’t a posted job or anything, but I thought I would get an interview since they had just had a few associates leave the group.

Fast forward a few months, the firm has a search. A few recruiters emailed me about the job, but I told them I already reached out. Fast forward a few more months. I get more emails from recruiters about the job.

Should I email recruiting again or just reach out to a chair of the practice? I’ve heard of people having success just bypassing recruiting and going to a partner. I know it’s ballsy, but I don’t have anything to lose. Worst case, the partner remembers my resume (if she ever saw it back in february) and tosses it. On the other hand, maybe the partner at least wants more information and sends it to recruiting.

I just wonder if my application will get lost in a pile if I email recruiting.

Seems like you don't have much to lose. A middle option may be to email the recruiting committee partners if you can find them? That's what I did in law school looking for SAs and it was very effective versus emailing a general recruiting email address. But seems like you have some relatively niche practice experience? If that's the case may make sense to go direct to the hiring partners.

I know it's a little ballsy but I actually think most (but not all) love a well-qualified candidate reaching directly out to the person hiring for the role.

[justanotherlurker]

Nothing to lose in applying directly. Emailing the practice group chair is good, but if you can find out who the Hiring Partners are, that might be better. They're often listed on Vault or other places.

No one was hiring in February/March, due to uncertainties about COVID. It is unlikely that they kept your resume sitting around for 10 months. So, I'd assume you're applying fresh.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks. I have a friend in recruiting who says firms hold onto resumes 2-3 months, usually. So I doubt they have my resume. Also, I doubt it was ever sent to the hiring folks.

Would emailing the hiring partner make sense even for a lateral position? I know people recommend that for SAs, but I thought it’d make more sense to email the chair of the practice since he or she would have a better idea of what he or she is looking for.