Tips on Handling Cold-calls
Your choice of a recruiter will have a profound impact on your short-term and long-term opportunities. A recruiter generally cannot help you if you have applied to a particular opportunity through another recruiter. We offer a few tips on handling cold-calls and selecting a good legal recruiter:
Do not readily give out your resume.
Most law firms will give credit to a recruiter for a resume submission for six to twelve months from the date of submission. In other words, the first recruiter to send in your resume will be paid, even if you or another recruiter send in your resume a couple months later. Some recruiters will blast your resume to the entire AmLaw 100 to lock-in their right to a fee.
This does not help your job search. If there is no matching opening or, worse yet, if there is no matching practice in that office or no office in that city, the firm may question your judgment for “engaging” a sloppy recruiter to work on your behalf.
Mark your resume, “Not for Distribution” in pdf.
Often, a recruiter will want to see your resume, before discussing a particular position with you. To satisfy their request and to avoid the possibility of unauthorized distribution, consider placing a header that reads in bold, “NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION” and then create a pdf version.
Ask the recruiter questions.
Some have little recruiting experience, no legal experience, no experience in your geographic market of interest, and/or no relationship with or knowledge of the firm they want to send your resume to. Ask the recruiter questions before you send over your resume. How many placements have they or their agency made? How many interviews have they secured? Have they or their colleagues met with the firm they want to send you into?
Research the recruiter.
Take a look at the recruiter’s website. Where are they located? Have they practiced? Have they practiced in the type of firm you’d like to join? In that practice area? If not, can they at least speak intelligently about firm life, the market in your area, or your practice? Do they say that they have “National” coverage, which is virtually impossible for an individual to do with any level of proficiency? Do they recruit in other areas beside law, potentially signaling lack of focus in legal?
Talk to friends/colleagues about the recruiter.
Ask for references. Look up the recruiter on LinkedIn; reach out to any connections you have in common.
Beware of the phantom opening.
Some recruiters post phantom openings on their websites, just to get your resume. Relatedly, some recruiters call about the “unadvertised opening with Cravath”, which may not actually exist. You offer your resume in response, and two weeks later the recruiter tells you that the position closed or that the firm “rejected” you. In the meantime, the recruiter has sent you to each of the AmLaw 100.
Be wary of claims of an “exclusive” on an opening.
Some recruiters will claim to have an “exclusive.” If the opening is on the firm’s website, then there is likely no exclusive. Firms do reach out to select recruiters with unadvertised positions; a recruiter may have an exclusive or semi-exclusive on such a position. Do your diligence on the recruiter, so that you do not fall victim to the phantom opening trick above.
There are many good recruiters. They cannot help you with a particular firm, if you have already applied to that firm through another recruiter. To fully maximize the benefit of using a recruiter, make sure you select one who is talented, reputable, informed, and connected.
