The thoughts of our managing director, Lynn Sedgwick, on the impact of the Apprenticeship Levy in the legal sector have been covered by a number of media outlets, including The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), Lawyer Monthly and HR News.

Since April, all employers in England with a pay bill of over £3 million are required to pay 0.5% into the Apprenticeship Levy. In return, firms receive financial support or grants for taking on apprentices. For smaller firms who employ less than 50 people, 100% funding is available for young people’s training programmes.

Lynn said:

“Apprenticeships in the legal sector are nothing new; aged 15, Charles Dickens studied the law as an attorney’s apprentice. However, with the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, the door is now open for a swathe of new entrants to the legal profession and with it increased social mobility.  And while this shift in attitude within the profession clearly isn’t going to happen overnight, encouragingly we’ve already seen an increased appetite from law firms such as Addleshaw Goddard to set up their own apprenticeship schemes.

“As far as routes into the legal sector are concerned, traditionally it has come via a university degree with individuals applying for a training contract with a firm once they graduate. However, the Levy is opening the way for new recruits to work in a law firm and develop the skills, knowledge and experience that will build them a career in the profession, with many choosing the paralegal apprenticeship route as the way in. The Levy looks set to ensure that people who may have been excluded from entering the profession in the past – because they couldn’t attend university, for example, – are able to do so.

“By breaking down barriers to entry and offering candidates a different route into law, many will have the chance to develop a rigorous, demanding, absorbing and well-paid career, whatever their background – which can only be good for the profession as a whole”.

We usually use this blog as a platform to offer advice, tips and updates on the legal landscape. However, we’re expanding rapidly and are on the lookout for individuals to join our team. Do you have what it takes to make it as a recruiter? Here are the top five skills you’ll need to succeed.

Confidence

You’ll need to be able to hold your own with people who are experts at what they do, and don’t appreciate their time being wasted and that means you have to be confident. Nobody wants to be consulted on a potentially life changing job move by someone who they suspect might know not their specialist field as well as they say they do. You need to be confident enough to take on new areas of expertise, but also be able to portray that confidence to clients and candidates. In addition, you’ll have to be comfortable picking up the phone and engaging with people who don’t know what your credentials are and likely to be at least mildly sceptical about what you’re doing. Many jobs require people to be confident, but not many where it’s as important as it is in recruitment.

Communication

Along similar lines, you’ll need to be an effective and concise communicator and able to get your point across quickly. You’ll probably be speaking to people who are busy in their current roles and don’t want to waste hours of their lives chatting to a recruiter. You’ll also need to be able to master your email communications and online marketing on platforms like LinkedIn. After all, you’re not going to have much success if your job advert iz ritten lyk dis.

Resilience

It’s not just applicants who face rejection, recruiters do too and you need to be able to take the bumps on the road and still be able to perform to the best of your ability. You’ll have good days and bad – that’s a given – but the secret is being able to prevent the bad days from affecting your output.

Target driven and motivated

At the vast majority of firms, you’ll have certain KPIs to work to. That’s an approach that’s not suited to everyone and not all organisations have the same model, people who are motivated by the idea of working to specific goals will do well here.

Multi-tasking and speed

As a job applicant it’s unlikely you’ll have used just one recruiter to help your job search and organisations are the same and will look to multiple sources for their own talent. This means that if you can move quickly and efficiently, then you’ll be able to beat your competitors. However, you’ll also have a lot to do at once and will likely be dealing with a lot of vacancies and therefore multiple companies and even more candidates. Consequently, you must be able to juggle multiple projects and various tasks simultaneously. You’ll have to keep in mind the details, experience and motivators of a large number of people and this requires a lot of organisational competency. If you can master the idea of ‘less haste, more speed’ then you’ll do well.

Do you have what it takes?

If you’re looking for a career in a challenging and fast-moving, but also highly rewarding, industry and want to join a successful, supportive and rapidly growing organisation, then get in touch with one of our expert consultants for a chat.  And for more insights from the team take a look at our other blogs.

©Depositphotos.com/Olivier26

Sourcing legal talent has always been a concern for law firms, however according to the Law Consultancy Network, recruitment and retention is the single biggest challenge facing law firms over the next twelve months.

The survey, which was produced in partnership with the Law Gazette, found that 50% of law firms identify recruitment and retention as one of the top three challenges facing them in 2017. Cash flow was the second most cited challenge, with 21% of all firms surveyed indicting this would be a challenge over the next year. Respondents also highlighted improving profitability, succession planning and growth as key concerns for the New Year.

Commenting on the findings Andrew Otterburn, Partner at Otterburn Legal Consulting and member of the Law Consultancy Network said, “It is interesting to see that once again the key issue is recruitment and retention of staff – the key issue for most firms over the last two or three years. Cashflow and profitability is also a major issue, and many firms are vulnerable to any slowdown in property, which has boosted income in recent years. It is important that firms build a reasonably strong cash position now, in advance of any potential slowdown.”

Somewhat surprisingly, political uncertainty was only the third most cited option, with just 18% of respondents indicating that it is one of their top three strategic concerns for the next year. However, it is clear that Brexit remains a long term concern for most law firms, with 74% of respondents indicating they are either ‘slightly’ or ‘very’ concerned about the impact Brexit could potentially have. Just one in four respondents claim that they aren’t concerned about the effect of Brexit on their business.

Two thirds of respondents had considered the possibility of a merger in the last six months, the highest figure recorded since the second half of 2014. Firms are also more optimistic about the potential of a merger taking place, with the number of approaches made or received up from 42 in the previous half to 47 in the latter half of 2016.

It’s unsurprising that recruitment and retention of top legal talent is a key concern for law firms. As the legal market becomes increasingly crowded, legal employers need to ensure they are able to create effective talent pipelines and prevent leading lawyers from moving to other firms, after all their profitability depends on the hard work of their partners and associates.

What are the key concerns for your law firm in 2018?

Read out blog for our 8 steps to successfully recruiting legal talent.

To discuss your recruitment needs with one of our experts, call the office on 01772 259121 or email enquiries@clayton-legal.co.uk or Register a Vacancy directly online.