Articles From the Team

What’s in a name?

Here at BCL Legal I focus on private practice recruitment in the East Midlands and Cambridgeshire. I get the opportunity to recruit at all levels of seniority from recruiting partners, directors, senior associates, associates, solicitors and newly qualified solicitors across all commercial disciplines.

Recruiting solicitors who are at different levels of experience is interesting as everyone has different ideals as to what is most important to them. One thing I find which is of importance is the title they will be stepping into, what ‘badge’ they would like to wear.

For some candidates, the title is not important, but for others it can be the make or break of whether they would be interested in joining a firm.

Titles determine the level of experience you are, however some firms have different titles for the same level of experience, its just how their particular structure works. For example in one firm you could be a senior associate but in another a principal associate. This can be difficult for some when making a transition.

I had a candidate that was a senior associate in their current firm and was interested in going for a role for another firm. However, when it came to them being offered the job, although everything ticked the boxes, firm, work, people, commute, it came down to title. The firm they were moving to titled those as principals who were at the same level as senior associate. It was simply how they named and structured levels of seniority. This was a deal breaker for the candidate, as they felt the name did not fit, somehow the word ‘senior’ was important to them in feeling they were at a higher level of experience. Titles can be that important, if it’s important to you make sure you speak to your consultant about this as we can advise you on this.

Also, it is interesting that in some respects the title of a person is important in terms of the job they do. For example, I had a candidate who felt that their title affected how they brought in business and those they worked with who had the title of Partner had more ‘buy in’ with the clients as they were viewed as top of the food chain.

When we speak to you about opportunities, we discuss with you the level of the role and the title of the role as although everything could tick the boxes for you, the ‘badge’ has to fit.

If you would like to discuss any opportunities or have a discussion about a potential move please contact Victoria Noble at BCL Legal.