Articles From the Team
Life's not a race, it's a marathon
Life's not a race, it's a marathon
Mark Levine, In-house Director and founder was recently interviewed by business magazine Insider.
What is your proudest achievement in business?
Establishing BCL Legal was probably the biggest achievement to date and has afforded me the opportunity of working with many of the UK’s leading companies and legal professionals. Another one has to be recruiting a lawyer last year for The Queen. Last – but certainly not least – is working with my in-house colleagues and I’m proud to say we are now the largest in-house recruitment team outside London.
Do you have a motto that guides the way you do business?
What goes around comes around. In recruitment, reputation is the main key to success so it’s important to be honest, trustworthy, reliable and nice to work with. You never know when your luck will change and who you might need to call upon!
Which individual has inspired you in your business life and why?
I set up BCL Legal with James Batt and Vicky Clark only six years after leaving university so they’ve played a massive part in my business life. Part of the success of the company has been the mix of skills and personalities the three of us have brought.
How do you make contacts that are useful?
By talking to and meeting as many people as possible and core contacts for me are lawyers working in-house across the UK. However over the years I’ve built up a varied mix of legal contacts and other recruitment professionals. I’ve recently been asked to work on two new roles for clients: one was recommended to me via another recruiter and the other by a law firm. Word of mouth is king!
Do you use Facebook or Twitter and if so with how much success?
I don’t use facebook or twitter to any great extent, but I do use LinkedIn which is a good work tool. Our website is key to how we grow our profile and it’s becoming an information tool for both in-house and private practice lawyers.
Tell us one tip which could be invaluable to anyone in life or business?
‘Life is not a race, it’s a marathon.’ My mum first used this when my grades at school weren’t where the needed to be and I think it can be true in the workplace. Sometimes I get calls from individuals who are disappointed with, for example, a pay rise and I always get them to focus on the job and the experience they’re gaining. If that is still positive then, in time and with greater skills, I promise them the increased salary will come, if it doesn’t, I can always help find them a new opportunity to move to!