In my early days of recruiting, a resume was a static (and sometimes very lengthy) document that regurgitated your career story, kind of like a memoir. A hiring attorney or reader would actually, well, read it – and then think about how you might be a fit for a position. For better or worse, those days are long over. The statistics I have read vary a bit, but most studies suggest that employers spend 5-10 seconds on an initial review of a resume. Your resume must be concise and to the point. You must do more than tell your story but instead tell the hiring manager why you are the solution to ..read more

Maybe they never went away, but in recent months, I am hearing more about unusual interview questions. What is your favorite food and why? How many gas stations do you think there are in the U.S.? Batman or Spiderman? What is a good joke you have heard recently? Many years ago, as a law student interviewing for jobs, I had that first odd question….if you could be any kind of tree, what would you be? Did I say a Mighty Oak or a Giant Redwood? No. Was I offered a call back interview? No. My answer: A weeping willow tree. Yep. It is my favorite, and it just quickly rolled off my tongue. I provi ..read more

Misconception #1: Internal recruiting teams find the same high-quality talent as external recruiters: Not always true. Niche market recruiters (such as legal) have long-standing relationships with highly desired candidates who are not actively on the market and not searching job boards, but who may be open to considering unique and interesting roles. Misconception #2: Internal recruiting staff can do the same job as quality legal search firms. While this is a common view of some firms, a legal recruiter makes a living by finding talent that law firms and legal departments cannot find on thei ..read more

Ghosting…a term that typically relates to dating, but one that also has surfaced in the hiring process. Ghosting is used to describe a situation where someone suddenly vanishes or stops returning your calls, emails or texts, and ends all communication and contact with another without any apparent warning or justification. Sadly, it not only applies to dating, but it has crossed over to the business world as well. A few years back when I was recruiting within a law firm setting, there were a couple of times when a new hire did not show up on their start date and they never communicated as to w ..read more

I recently discovered that I really love country music – kind of a surprise to me, but there it is. What I have also discovered is that there are some great recruiting and retention lessons in the genre of country music. Country lyrics – more than any other – tend to be honest, sincere, and just plain real. If country singers love whiskey and Applebees, they want you to know it. If a song is about someone they love, well, they just say it. Interestingly, those are qualities that are needed now more than ever in the recruiting and retention of valuable employees. In recruiting, it is easy to t ..read more

I’ll admit in the past I was a Bachelor series fan. I watched every season up until the last year and then I just sort of lost interest. But, I happened to catch the most recent episode featuring bachelor Clayton. I have to say, it did not let me down in terms of drama or the “you won’t believe what happens next” narrative. Clayton falls in love with all three remaining women. Susie chooses to leave because Clayton admits he has told all three that he is in love with them (and, by the way he was “intimate” with them too). Rachel and Gabby ultimately decide to accept his rose and to see how th ..read more

Does anyone remember the song “Human Touch”, a now kind of old Bruce Springsteen tune? I loved that song, and though Bruce was talking about a slightly different kind of touch:), the title made me think of how important the human or “personal” touch is in recruiting at this moment in time. Our clients who have realized this concept in the post-lockdown world are winning – or at least avoiding common pitfalls that are befalling some of their competitors. These wins are coming in the interview process, at the counter-offer stage, and in the early and vulnerable integrat ..read more

Is the current legal job market really inactive right now? The landscape may be different, but McCormack Schreiber continues to place top legal talent as employers have turned to otherwise non-traditional ways in interviewing, hiring, and onboarding new hires. Contrary to what you may be thinking, now is NOT the time to sit back and wait until we are back to a robust hiring environment to begin or continue a job search. In fact, at McCormack Schreiber we have a number of clients with active job searches for both lawyers and paralegals, and they are actively interviewing – and even hiring with ..read more

This is a familiar refrain we are hearing from clients during this uncertain time. We can help! We have infrastructure and processes in place to handle temporary/contract placements and can seamlessly facilitate getting you the help you need now. In conjunction with our permanent search business, we are uniquely positioned to recruit exceptional candidates and to identify, screen and staff short and long term attorney and paralegal projects. For those of you who have not tried temporary or temp-to-perm arrangements, here are a few important things to know: Cost Savings – Whether your company ..read more

In the current environment – where much of the country is working remotely – employers are heavily relying on video conferencing tools to conduct interviews. As a job seeker, how you present yourself is crucial to landing a new position, and you must be as mindful of this in a video interview as you would for an in-person interview. Here are a few tips for a successful virtual interview from home. 1. Test your Wi-Fi connectivity Be sure your home Wi-Fi connection is stable and test the connectivity strength in advance of the interview. If possible, connect directly to your modem for the stron ..read more