Lawyers Careers is an innovative new initiative launched by Lawyers Weekly. The new trailblazing platform was forged from the growing frustrations of both candidates and firms when it comes to the archaic recruitment and interview process.

The platform essentially empowers candidates to “craft” their dream job scenario on a secure and private platform. Employers that are currently in the market for candidates can quickly and easily match the right candidate to their needs. Lawyers Careers recognises that there will always be a proportion of the profession that is “for hire” for the right opportunity.

The new platform empowers legal professionals to be prepared for that dream job without the need to actively seek work. The big difference to the usual recruitment process is that the job comes to the candidate.

One of the main attractions for creating a Lawyers Careers profile is that it enables the legal professional to give prospective suitors a true sense of their values, skills and aspirations, as well as their qualifications. Importantly, it gives the candidate the scope to state the salary that they would expect. It is then up to the prospective employer to meet their requirements rather than the other way around.

According to the nrol Law Firms Salary & Market Report 2023, 42 per cent of lawyers leave their jobs for a better salary, 30 per cent for more flexible working arrangements, 25 per cent for increased career advancement, and 20 per cent because they are dissatisfied with their work/life balance.

This followed reports of lawyers being “very exhausted”, with 83 per cent of Lawyers Weekly’s audience admitting that they were “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to work while on leave and 39 per cent saying they were working over 50 hours a week – well over the “ordinary hours” of 38 hours a week stated in the Fair Work Act.

Moreover, the nrol report showed that energy and projects lawyers would be most in demand as firms increase their offerings to attract and retain talent.

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Likewise, litigation and banking lawyers are expected to be in high demand in the financial year 2024, but corporate/mergers and acquisitions lawyers are expected to see a decline, nrol director Jesse Shah told Lawyers Weekly following the release of the report.

The report findings clearly show that the legal profession is ready for change, and Lawyers Careers represents the future for lawyers and legal professionals who want more control over how they shape their careers.

Candidates say job search process is ‘cumbersome’

However, while many legal professionals are looking to leave their jobs for several reasons, they find that the job search process is riddled with challenges.

Agile Market Intelligence recently surveyed Lawyers Weekly readers earlier this year on the hurdles they face with job search tools and the application process on traditional employment platforms.

It revealed that the majority of candidates (91.8 per cent) said they have some level of frustration with the process, while almost a third (31.2 per cent) indicated that they were extremely or very frustrated.

Almost three-quarters (70.5 per cent) said pay transparency was the most common challenge, highlighting the lack of salary transparency by employers.

Interestingly, almost half the respondents (47.5 per cent) said they found existing job platforms to be unreliable in suggesting roles that accurately reflect their position or seniority, which could lead to delays in time to employment.

More than half (57.4 per cent) of the candidates said they found creating multiple cover letters and updating résumés to be cumbersome, emphasising the need for an alternative careers and application platform that is led by the candidates.

New platform gives candidates the power

Lawyers Careers has been designed to simplify this process and place candidates in the driver’s seat.

They create a profile and promote their skills, knowledge, and experience.

Alongside this, they can detail their expectations around salary, flexible working arrangement, career progression, and training and development.

Employers can then search for candidates on the platform, interact with these profiles, request contacts, and approach those who they believe match a job opening in their firm or organisation.

Prioritising privacy

Candidates can protect their privacy by preventing their current employer from viewing their profile.

During the registration process, they can state which company or companies they would like to hide their profile from, and Lawyers Careers will hide their profile from companies that match the names.

They can also log into their account and access the profile privacy section to add or edit this information.

Click here to register a candidate account now and begin paving the way to your dream career.

Alternatively, you can use your Lawyers Weekly account to create a Lawyers Careers account.

N.B. Lawyers Careers will open externally to employers soon, so watch this space. If you’d like to get involved or be informed when the feature is released, click here.