Partnering With a Legal Support Recruiting Firm? Avoid Making These 5 Mistakes

Working with a legal support recruiting firm can help you streamline the hiring process, find better talent, and plan ahead to avoid hiring crises – but only if you choose the right firm and make the right calls.  Here are the top five mistakes organizations make when partnering with recruiting agencies and how to avoid them.

  1. Not being candid with your recruiter. Whether it’s a discussion of your budget, your expectations, or your company’s culture, failing to be candid and open with your recruiter is a recipe for disaster. Recruiters pride themselves on their flexibility and their skill at finding the right people even in tough situations.  But if they don’t have the information they need to make the right match, both sides may walk away frustrated.
  1. Failing to leverage your recruiter’s knowledge of your field. Legal support recruiters specialize in learning as much as they can about the fields in which their clients work. Companies that enter the hiring process with an unrealistic sense of the candidates available or of the compensation they must offer to get the talent they need are setting themselves up for failure.  Your recruiter can provide the information you need to get great people at competitive rates – if you take advantage of their knowledge.
  1. Choosing a recruiting firm that doesn’t fit your industry and budget. A big-name firm with a national reach sounds great, but if you run a small law firm or legal department that focuses on deepening its relationships at home, a large national recruiter is less likely to find the people you’re looking for. Instead, consider a recruiting firm that focuses on finding and placing top talent where you practice – your recruiter will know the field, will know your competitors, and will be more likely to identify legal support staff who are already committed to calling the area “home.”
  1. Only calling your recruiter when you need help. There’s nothing wrong with calling your recruiter in an emergency. But if you only call at the last minute, you’re not using your relationship to its greatest advantage.  By connecting with your staffing firm early and often, you’ll be able to develop a better sense of which types of candidates are the right “fit” for your organization and position your firm or department to attract top talent before you’re ready to launch another round of hiring.
  1. Trying to “go it alone” in long-term planning. Many law firms and legal departments assume that recruiters are there to fill job openings. And they are – but staffing firms also specialize in helping their clients see the “big picture.”  Talk to your recruiter about strategic long-term staffing to improve results while minimizing costs.

At Kent Legal, our recruiters strive to match top legal support talent with law firms and legal departments throughout the greater Toronto area.  Contact us today to learn more!

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