We appreciate entirely the difficulties law firms have when trying to take on new staff. How do you know a candidate is going to stop with your firm and not turn out to scare all your clients away or worst still set up on their own across the road and poach all your existing clients? The answer is that you don't know what a candidate is going to be like, but you can certainly undertake a few tests. Here are our recommendations: 1. When interviewing, try to make the candidate sweat. Not literally (you'll probably sweat as well if you turn up the heating!). Try to get them under pressure. Ask awkward questions and probe their answers. Someone who handles you politely and fairly comfortably is probably going to do the same in a work situation. A candidate who gets distressed or aggressive will almost certainly do the same with your clients when faced with confrontation. 2. Get the candidate to meet your staff on the day of interview day. You may think that yo...
Award winning blog with 100s of articles on the legal profession, legal recruitment and legal job markets by Jonathan Fagan, MD of Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment, recruitment consultants based in the UK providing a full range of services for solicitors.