Survey: CEOs plan to boost hiring, spending

According to a recent AP survey...WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new survey of chief executives says a majority of America's largest companies plan to increase hiring in the next six months and more than 90 percent expect sales to rise.  The Business Roundtable http://businessroundtable.org/ says "52 percent of its members plan to step up hiring.  That's the largest proportion for the group since it began surveying its members nine years ago. The trade group represents CEOs from the nation's 200 largest companies.  More than 60 percent also plan to spend more on long-lasting manufactured goods, such as computers and machinery.  Still, the executives expect the overall economy to grow only a modest 2.9 percent this year. That's up from their forecast three months ago of 2.5 percent.  [However] The survey was conducted in early March, before the crisis in Japan."

What does this mean for contract assignments, temporary staffing, and/or project-based work?  Well - it is widely accepted and known observation that - as we have just witnessed for the past 18 months in particular - temp staffing has been on the upswing.  And - as predicted - we can now see the rest of the hiring trend materializing in this increase in non-farm, direct-hire employment.  Increases (and decreases) in (temp) staffing jobs are a very reliable earning warning system – and a true economic and employment indicator.  For example – an increase in demand for contract workers (temps, casual employees, project-based help), foretells by many months in advance – of an increase in direct-hire employment and overall job creation.  Research conducted on this topic by the American Staffing Association http://www.americanstaffing.net (of which this blogger is a Member) “adds important nuance to the conventional wisdom that the temporary help industry is a coincident economic indicator and a leading employment indicator.”

Article Reprint: A New Group of Law Firm Suppliers in Chicago

A New Law Firm Group in Chicago is a Resource for ALA Members

Submitted for publication in the monthly newsletter of the Greater Chicago Chapter of the ALA (Association of Legal Administrators).

By:  Curtis A. Linder

With the theme of this newsletter issue focusing on connections, I am writing about a new law firm related networking group called the Law Firm Consultant Network (LFCN).  Founded by Beth Keno, of Keno Consulting in Deerfield, Illinois, LFCN is an exclusive group of noted law firm advisors who collectively provide professional expertise to the Chicago area legal community.  This group was formed to be resource to law firms and professionals working with law firms in the Chicagoland area.

LFCN members provide services or products to Chicago’s law firm community.  Each member of the group is in a unique sector or practice area and share their connections and referrals with fellow group members.  Beth Keno was interviewed for this article, sharing her perspective on the group and the valued resources the group can provide ALA members.

Curtis Linder:  Beth, what led you to create a group like this? 

Beth Keno:  One of my goals for starting LFCN was to develop the resources my clients and connections need.  Working with law firms means I need access to a “bench” of other top-quality, experienced professionals that also serve the Chicago legal community.  I figured, if I needed a bench like this, then so did others.  By bringing together other professionals who provide products and services to law firms I felt this type of organization could be a great resource for legal administrators, marketing professionals, litigation support managers, and others supporting the work of law firms in the Chicago area. 

Linder:  What are the advantages for law firms in getting to know more about this group? 

Keno:  Good question Curtis.  Having worked with law firm professionals for over 15 years, I have learned how important it is for these professionals to find quality resources that have experience working with law firms.  LFCN was formed as a virtual one stop shop for all things law firms.

Linder:  Lastly, how will law firm administrators be able to tap into the collective expertise of LFCN?

Keno:  The LFCN website, which is currently in development, will have a forum were members of LFCN of Chicago will share advice, opinions and expertise on relevant topics that website visitors can follow.  The group will also be hosting events several times a year.  These content-driven events will be designed to provide value to the participants in the form of networking and professional development.  As a group, we will continue to explore other ways to add value to the legal community.

For more information about LCFN and its members, contact Beth Keno at 312.857.3570 or beth@kenoconsulting.com 

Curtis A. Linder is the President of Linder Legal Staffing Inc. which provides Chicago area law firms and corporate legal departments with as-needed, law-related staffing solutions.  He can be reached at 312.236.6400 or curtis@linderlegalstaffing.com

Direct-hire Placement Fees NOT Based on "Percent of Starting Base Salary"

I read in a reprint of a Reader's Digest story this blub/quote:  Rule # "21. “Be careful if a headhunter is negotiating for you.  You may want an extra week of paid time off and [would rather] be willing to sacrifice salary, [in order to get the time off] but he (she) [the recruiter] is negotiating hardest for what hits his (her) commission.” – an HR professional in New York City.  That was taken from a story called the top "22 Secrets HR Won’t Tell You About Getting a Job," that was posted on Shine - the "Manage Your Life" blog hosted by Yahoo.com  I hope I have provided for proper attribution for the source of that quote.

But the point is (about a recruiter doing what is best for the recruiter, and not necessarily what's best for the candidate) is a good one.  That is one of the reasons a few years I ago I began toying with the idea of a quoting placement fees to clients for a fixed dollar amount.  Such as $X,000.00, or $X,500.00 - with X being a single digit.  You get the idea.  For entry-level paralegal positions - a direct hire fee could be $2,500 or on up to $9,500 for an experienced paralegal.  But I wanted to get my clients to stop thinking in terms of "x percent per every thousand dollars of base salary."  That seems antiquated and arbitrary.  In fact - it would be fun (but time consuming) to go back and see who invented that placement fee equation and when.

In my book, the placement fee is a dollar amount - that is really all you can take to the bank.  It is the $ sign, not the % sign that matters.  And the percentage scale slides based on base salary.  So if the search effort by the recruiter is the same, then why not take that "moving target" (the sliding fee) and nail it down to a flat, fixed figure, quoted to the client up front.  When I do, I think clients are 1. surprised by this (me quoting a flat, fixed dollar amount fee) and 2. they like knowing exactly how to budget for the fee at a fixed and known amount in advance of filling the position, and 3. the client becomes curious about why no one else in the placement field is doing this.

Give Your Resume Proper Name (the attached document)

Here is my stock email reply to a job-seeker who emails me their resume with their attached document named resume.doc or resume.pdf  It is frankly unbelievable that I receive so many resumes from both paralegal and lawyer job-seekers with poorly named resumes.  If anything, being a paralegal or a lawyer is being a document manager.  And people - if we can't get the most basic (and important) document named properly - give it up.  I know I can't "change the world" on this topic - but I can try.

Dear -------,

So, as I thank you for emailing us your resume.   Do you mind if I offer you some real-world advice on the topic of document (resume) naming skills?    OK, great.

The first thing I noticed was that the attached document (your resume) that you emailed to us is not named very well.  It has the generic name of "resume.doc"   That would be like working in a law firm and naming an important client document will.doc or contract.doc or letter.doc

You will learn soon as a lawyer/paralegal/law clerk that how well you name a document – be it a brief to a judge, a memo to an associate, or a contract for a client – is a most vital skill – for many reasons.  Such as – for later locating the document or by not having to “open” the document first to know what it is and whose document it is – things like that.

Many other jobseekers also email their resumes to us and some (most!) of those documents have the exact same name, "resume.doc," or similar.  You may not have thought about this - but before we can save and store resumes with similar names, we (the recipient) are forced to take the extra step of re-naming the document to something more identifiable (to the sender) and unique.

Plus – if I save to my computer a resume called resume.doc – my word processing software (MS Word) will automatically ask me if I wish to over-write that document (the newer resume that just arrived) and replace an older version of the resume (presumably from a previous sender), so you can imagine the trouble that would cause.

Here is a solution/option/recommendation.  An excellent example of a properly and uniquely named resume would be: "Mary.Worth.2010.resume.doc" for instance.  [.pdf is OK too]  Without even opening the document, anyone she sends it to will know that it is her resume, even once it is detached from her email.  And besides - it just makes good sense.

So if you decide to give your resume document a more specific name (only a suggestion!), other employers will surely appreciate the effort and so will we.  And, more important - you will look like a real expert to a possible future employer.  So if you do decide to (re)name your resume more properly, please email it back to us.

Lastly, I give this advice not merely for my sake, though it does help us manage and store candidate resumes immensely.  I offer this advice to you – a job seeker, in that it will improve how your document-naming skills are viewed by possible future employers.

Sincerely,

Curtis Linder

March 2011 Resume Review

For the past eight years, once a month I have reviewed a [redacted and anonymized] resume for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.   http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/  I am on a panel of six other qualified and esteemed resume reviewers.  To see the resume I am reviewing below, click on the title line of this post, above.   Since we comment on lawyer and paralegal resumes, we use a scale of Five Gavels, instead of stars for movies.  Here is a reprint of my March 2011 resume review:

Let us title this review The Case of the Missing Enter Key.  Besides some other basic document formatting inconsistencies, the bulk of this review will focus on a key skills that, as it turns out, is also lacking from many of the other hundred or so resumes I see each month. That skill is, for lack of a better phrase, "hitting the Enter key twice." More on that later.

Here is a quick overview of what else is wrong with this resume. Yes - all of this is wrong: Double formatting text - that is setting text in BOLD and ALL CAP AND ITALICS.  Pick one text modification - not all three.  The right side page margin is set unnecessarily tiny, at one half inch - but with his tab settings, it is narrower than that.  The bullet points are circles not solid black dots and that looks odd. The text in the Summary section paragraph (which, by the way I DO like) is centered and that is hard to read.  It should be set justified left.  The text in the address section and other contact information is set justified right, flush to that side.  Again - odd.

Now on to today's lesson. Resume writers need to do a better job of line spacing.  Line spacing is the amount (or lack) of space - vertically - between lines.  Looking at this resume - he does a fine job of this under his Employment section.  That is - hitting the Enter key an extra time at the end of a line and that creates a blank space line - which helps the title stand out better for the reader.  But, the author fails to employ that same technique (hitting the Enter key an extra time) under his Education title.

Be consistent - if nothing else.  For all of this - and probably a few more nits I could pick - this is a Two Gavel resume on our Five Gavel scale. Fix a few things and it is at least a Four.

A word NOT to use in your cover letter and/or resume email

I have seen this a few times over the past few years.  I think it is an East coast phenomenon.  But it grinds my gears to read that word in this context.  It was an email from a new lawyer/job-seeker, with resume attached.  Redacted - it went like this:

"Greetings, I recently graduated from __________ School of Law in 2010 with a 3.09 grade point average.  I am barred in Illinois and currently searching for an attorney position in the Chicago area. Attached is a copy of my resume.  I heard of your lawyer placement and staffing company from a classmate who registered with your firm and I would like to schedule an interview at your earliest convenience.  I have heard wonderful things about your services and look forward to hearing form you."

Whoa - reading the word barred on that type of email is like fingernails on a chalkboard.  I replied to this person's email:  Your resume looks great.  But may I make a small suggestion?   You’ve hit a nerve with me.  I really think you (and some others) are misusing a the word “barred.”  As in, “ I am barred in Illinois…”  I can’t find any known definition of that word which equates to being the same in meaning being “licensed to practice law” in a state.

I totally understand what you mean, but barred mostly means "prevented from" or similar.  In your use – it could even mean “barred from practicing law in Illinois,” which I know is not the case.   I think this is East coast slang – but it’s you letter/email...

Welcome Message and First Post

I have decided to begin another blog.  This one is related to my professional life and career.  As the title states, this blog will contain comments on things and trends I observe in the Chicago-area legal community.  Specifically I will create short, weekly posts on:

• Hiring, jobs, and the legal job market in Chicago
• Resumes.  There will be plent on resumes here
• Contract assignments (formerly known as temping)
• General trends in law firms (without naming names)
• Technology trends
• Things I observe in the law departments of corporations
• Suggestion to candidates and job-seekers on email protocal and resume formatting
• And other comments in general....