Candidate Resource Center

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How employers see you

You need to remember that the largest, most prestigious and highest-paying law firms (with few exceptions), generally look for staff members who reflect the image they have of themselves - hardworking, bright, and driven by client service. The most important initial indicator of your hiring appeal to a firm is the organization with which you currently work. As a rule of thumb, firms want employees who have received training at least as good as their own. However, this is not to say that our candidates cannot move up to a job offering greater pay and benefits than their current firm. Quite the contrary - - it happens every day, because our candidates are not average.

Outstanding skills, experience, and performance set you apart from the pack. If you were fortunate enough to land a job with a top national law firm for your current job, you may be especially marketable. Furthermore, if you have experience in a highly desirable practice area, you may be marketable in almost any case. This is one area where our expertise comes in handy - we know what the law firms are looking for, and we can tell you if you have it.

Overall, firms are asking one fundamental question: Do you have the training and motivation to be an asset to the firm? We are asking the same question. However, we go a step further. We believe that we learn even more about your particular skills and experience than the most of the legal hiring departments we serve, in order to present you to the firms you desire by showcasing the qualities you possess that we know they want to see.

What Can Give You an Edge?

What do we look for? First, we concentrate on those candidates with particular experience or education that makes them stand out in the crowd. Where your current employer and work experience does not, in and of itself, properly indicate your potential, we will work with you to determine which of your particular skills are the most desirable to your target firms. If we find something in your background that may make you an excellent candidate for some of the best firms, we will put your information in a special database. When a job requiring your special skills comes up, we'll contact you immediately. Once we receive your approval, we'll get to work doing our utmost to get you that job.

Law Firm Staff, Inc.'s Candidate Analysis Tools

Please answer "Yes" or "No" to each of the following questions:

Are you looking for more responsibility or less?
Do you have experience with a well-regarded firm?
Are you a college graduate?>
Are you a person with great attention to detail?
Do you have particular degree or certification related to your field of specialization?
Have you received any awards or honors either in college or from your employer?
Do you have any special legal work experience or language skills not generally offered by other candidates?

How to Analyze Your Responses to These Questions

Your answers to these questions should give you a good idea of the type of legal employer with which you are likely to want to begin your search. If you have the classic background and drive that the largest firms and corporations seek when selecting new members of their staff, your answers to these questions would make that clear to you at once. If your answers indicate to you that your background and drive are such that you are unlikely to find a happy match at a large law firm, you will be better suited by beginning your search looking at middle market firms. This is not necessarily "choosing down." Pay is often competitive, and working conditions sometimes better, in these so-called "less prestigious" firms. Finding a new position is about finding the proper balance among your career goals, your compensation, your working conditions, and your lifestyle desires. We pride ourselves on our promise to take all these factors into account when counseling candidates on their move to a new position.