Valerie, an experienced Private Client legal secretary, first started talking with our legal support consultant Matthew in the Spring of 2017. She had taken the difficult decision to leave her previous position due to increasing frustrations and was taking her time to find a role she could commit to.
Matt discovered her CV on a popular job board and got in touch for a chat to find out exactly what she was looking for, and ultimately, if he could help.
“Valerie was such an interesting candidate to work with. She was brilliant – qualified, experienced and with a high technical capability, and she knew exactly what she wanted from her next firm.” Matt explains, “It meant I had a clear direction about what sort of placement she was looking for.”
Matt summarised Valerie using our bespoke profiling criteria, listing her strengths, her career aspirations and began to match her with potential clients. When we have a candidate, we will always let our clients know about a good match, even if there isn’t a live vacancy, because we want them to know we’re always on the lookout for them.
“Pretty shortly after starting to work together, I realised that Valerie was an excellent fit for one of our clients, so I reached out to our partner at this particular firm, and lo and behold, his secretary was retiring and so the recruitment process was due to start soon.”
Matt set up an interview, and after a short and speedy process, Valerie was offered the role to start ASAP and was even able to complete a thorough handover with the person retiring to ensure a smooth transition.
When we caught up with Valerie to see how she was getting on, she could not have been happier with her new job.
“From the beginning, I felt like I belonged, and everyone made me very welcome. I can honestly say that despite having a staff of only 17, everyone gets on so well and we all have a laugh. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the partners from the secretaries/admin staff as we all muck in and laugh together. I work hard but I get rewarded. If I start early, they are happy for me to leave early. My mother has been into the office. Staff take children into the office if childcare is a problem. Customers bring their dogs in - which is always a treat! I frequently hear the words "We appreciate what you do", "We like your work" "Thank you" and "Please". The Partner I work for is a delight and, for the first time in a very long time, I enjoy going into work.“
If you’re looking for a new role, whatever that role may be, get in touch to see how we can help.