By Annie Dang

 Candidates are starting to trade in their current job and ‘upgrading’, with more opportunities opening up in the legal job market compared to a year ago.

According to recruiter Georgie Chong, the past year has been a trying time for candidates. There were redundancies across many practice areas, bonuses were withheld or curtailed by employers, and development and training for staff was ‘put on ice’, she says.

This caused many candidates to suffer ‘battle fatigue’, but as the market improves Chong says that candidates are being open-minded to what recruiters have to say. Candidates are starting to receive calls from headhunters, and this sets the ball rolling for candidates to potentially jump ship if they come across a better offer, she says.

While there are a number of factors which may entice candidates to change jobs before the market has truly recovered, Chong says candidates will be highly motivated if the new role offers growth, professionally and personally. “People generally change jobs because of environment. Candidates don’t want to jump from the frying pan into the fire,” she says.

“Before they make the decision, they would consider both push and pull factors.  These include who the bosses are, the growth of the company they are currently with - and also the one they are moving to - and the reputation of those companies.”

One lawyer who is making the move is Jack Lee. Trained as a tax lawyer, Lee traded in his job at an international law firm for a local experience. Of his previous role, Lee says he felt like he was at a stand-still. “I couldn’t see any progress in the type of work I did and the skills I could build doing it. The GFC didn’t help either - there weren’t any opportunities to move with a bad market. I felt my career options were limited,” he says.

The desire to broaden skills and gain experience was a main motivator for Lee’s departure.  “People are generally always on the lookout for roles that add to their skillsets or provide an alternate experience, and are willing to make the jump if they come across a job that offers what they are looking for,” he says. 

ALB spoke to a number of legal recruiters to see what type of roles candidates are on the lookout for in the current market.  The top three responses were roles where candidates can gain more skills; roles which provided a different professional and work experience; and a role in a better environment.

ALB also polled a number of lawyers and asked them what factors would encourage a move, with those who enjoyed their work environment listing pay increase first, followed by international experience. Those who disliked their work environment listed the type of work they did, followed by promotion opportunities.