In an employer’s market, Naiman Clarke Legal director Kristina Steele advised candidates against going into the job market for the wrong reasons, as employers are giving out job offers to fewer candidates and are now more likely to wait for the right person.

Speaking on a recent episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, produced in partnership with Naiman Clarke, she analysed the salary review conversations she’s been having with candidates and how employees and employers can navigate these conversations.

While recent years have seen the profession be a “candidate’s market”, resulting in inflated legal salaries and mid-level lawyers and senior associates in high demand, as hiring slows slightly in the market, so do potential raises and salary increases – and as a result, Steele said there were a number of questions that candidates should be asking themselves before going to market.

“Some sensible questions to ask yourself is, if I didn’t get the salary and or title review that I want, what else is my role potentially lacking? You know, do I feel I’m not getting enough mentorship or for more senior candidates? Am I not getting enough autonomy and the experience that I want to be doing and the work that I want to be doing? You might not have got a promotion now, but have a genuine conversation with your employer. Why didn’t I get this promotion? What can I do to get it? What is a likely time frame? Just ask,” she said.

“And if all the boxes aren’t ticked and there are several boxes that aren’t ticked, then absolutely, you know, go and speak to someone about the state of the market, what your chances are of achieving, what you’re perhaps not achieving already, and just go to the market sensibly with in mind that it’s your reputation that you need to uphold here as well. And there may be some fantastic opportunities out there for you at the moment.”

The legal profession has also shifted over the last few years, with the market slightly tougher on candidates.

“I can’t take a broad-brush approach across all candidates out there, all lawyers out there looking for new roles; I certainly think some are more savvy as to the change in markets than others. But yes, markets change every year for varying reasons. And the market we are in at the moment, people are less flexible. There’s not as many opportunistic hires happening as I’ve seen previously,” Steele said.

VIEW ALL

“And what I mean by that is someone with an amazing profile I could approach one of my clients with, and they would just grab the experience with two hands and, you know, interview them. [However, it’s a little bit different now. I think people are being more careful with budgets and really just focusing on the teams that they want to build or, you know, is a firm-wide project to build out that particular space.”

In terms of actually approaching these conversations in the current market, employees need to have evidence to support their salary expectations – and employers need to remain transparent around reviews.

“I think it’s important for employees to, if they are seeking an increase or a promotion, back it up with something. You can’t just be entitled and say, ‘I haven’t met my budgets this year, but I want a $10,000 pay rise.’ I think the most sensible thing to do is keep note of your work, keep note of your achievements, really give them something to consider and a reason to go above and beyond and keep you happy and retain you at that firm,” Steele said.

“Regarding employers, I think the best thing for them is just transparency. You know, explaining why a review has resulted in certain ways, whether that’s where the firm’s at, any future goals the firm may have, you know, in comparison to the rest of the market. It’s a difficult one, and I do think it’s very firm-specific and practice-specific, but transparency and making a lawyer feel that they’re on the right path and they’re with the right people in terms of employment.”

Despite these challenges, Steele said she was “really excited” about the new financial year and that job security is unlikely to be an issue despite a turbulent economy.

“It was a difficult start to the year, and Q1 of this year was a bit clunky, as we like to describe it, but we’re really busy. We’ve seen no drop in recruitment at this time of year, which is usually at the end of the financial year with, you know, budgets running out,” she said.

“We’ve got a lot going on. You know, there are potential issues with the economy, but it swings in roundabouts and affects different practice areas. So, I think there’s a lot of opportunity moving forward.”

The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Kristina Steele, click below: