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The firm I will be at in a couple months is a highly respected firm (but not vault and under 100 attorneys). Pay & benefits are on par with BL. In all likelihood I will probably miss out on being headhunted but just in case, I wanted to ask about how the whole headhunter thing works.

Does someone just call out of the clear blue and say “I saw your impressive bio and…. (please fill in the blanks). Or is it usually the other way around, with the associate phoning the headhunter? If so, again please fill in the blanks.

If the headhunter firm calls you, I assume their fee is paid by the firm (possibly not if the associate makes the call?). Also, how common is headhunting?

Associates that I know at biglaw firms get frequent, unsolicited contacts from headhunters. I assume you could also reach out on your own, though.

I work in a respected boutique and get called occasionally. Not sure if it's bc firms sought me out, although I've tried to screen the calls. Other ppl at my firm apparently get called very frequently. They'll trickle in don't worry

ph14 wrote:Associates that I know at biglaw firms get frequent, unsolicited contacts from headhunters. I assume you could also reach out on your own, though.

In general, are the firms the headhunters are calling for legitimate places you'd theoretically want to work, or is it like the equivalent of an annoying spam email?

Good question.

TheSpanishMain wrote:

ph14 wrote:Associates that I know at biglaw firms get frequent, unsolicited contacts from headhunters. I assume you could also reach out on your own, though.

In general, are the firms the headhunters are calling for legitimate places you'd theoretically want to work, or is it like the equivalent of an annoying spam email?

Both. Almost always they have a position or two in mind. About 20% of the time, ime, do they actually mean it or have a clue when they say it would be "a good fit."