Thinking about changing legal jobs? What you need to know ...
Changing legal jobs is something most professionals will consider at some point in their career. Sometimes a better salary or career progression is the focus, in other cases it may be to get a better work-life balance, more job flexibility or simply feeling that a particular firm is no longer the right fit. From our experience in legal recruitment, we’ve seen many candidates make successful moves by taking the time to assess their options properly. We’ve also seen people rush into a change for the wrong reasons, only to discover that the grass isn’t always greener elsewhere.
In this guide, we look at some of the key things to think about before changing legal jobs. We’ll cover whether a move to another employer or a different area of law makes sense, the importance of salary and benefits, flexible working arrangements and location, as well as the long-term impact a move could have on your legal career. And, we’ll explain why doing your research before applying for new legal jobs can make all the difference when it comes to finding a role that suits both your ambitions and your lifestyle.
Things to consider before making a career move
If you’ve been in the legal profession for a while (even if you’re still in your first job), you’re likely to reach a point where you begin to consider switching jobs. It’s common enough in many careers, and the legal profession is certainly no different in this respect.
However, if you’ve been considering making a change, you should make sure you fully understand what you’re feeling. We’ve compiled the following guide to help you work through a few areas to think about before you do anything at all.
Should you change employer or move into a different area of law?
Plenty of people enjoy the work they do, but not the business or company they do it for. If you recognise that situation, it could be that you’d prefer to move elsewhere but stay in the same role. If that’s the case, you can focus on looking for similar legal positions at other companies.
In this scenario, you should think about the progress you’ve made so far in your legal career. If you currently work for a small legal firm, perhaps you could consider a larger firm which might have more scope to progress in future. You can also look more closely at larger firms to see what their track record is like in this and other respects.
If you’re considering a career change, yet you’d like to remain in the legal profession, think about whether you need to go back to studying. This could be something to do alongside your current job, or it may require leaving and going back to university to study a particular course or gain a specific qualification.
The bottom line here is to consider all the possibilities before you decide to leave your current position. You won’t always need to gain further qualifications to switch jobs. For example, you might be working as a legal secretary and you’ve gained an interest in working as a conveyancing legal secretary – a more targeted role, if you will.
In this case, you may need to consider a lateral move into an entry position as a conveyancing legal secretary if you do not already have experience in that role. Over time, you can then look for roles that require some experience, and that therefore offer a better salary.
What type of role is right for you?
Learn what type of legal role may suit your style?
If you are thinking about becoming a solicitor in the UK why not take our legal career quiz? It’s designed to help students, graduates, career changers and aspiring legal professionals discover which legal specialism may fit their strengths, interests and working style.
Compare salaries and benefits before changing legal jobs
Comparing your current salary to what you might get if you switch to a new place of work is only the beginning. You also need to consider any other benefits you get on top.
You may find it useful to make a list of your current benefits (whether you claim them all or not). You’ll then find it easier to compare them to details of packages provided for other legal roles you might consider in future.
Note that the perks of a legal role aren’t limited to better holiday time or the availability of free food and drink. Some workplaces offer ongoing training and learning opportunities that aren’t available elsewhere. If you’re looking to get a better position in future, you might benefit from those opportunities more than you’d think. If you have access to legal training courses and other opportunities at present – even if you’re not working in the best company – you might want to make the most of those by remaining in position for a year or two longer.
There are lots of other potential job perks you might receive too, but the biggest and most popular of all is having access to flexible working hours. We’ll deal with that in the following section.
How important are flexible working and work-life balance?
What’s your work-life balance like? Does it suit you? Many legal roles do provide the flexibility to allow for working from home, whether on occasion as it suits or as a regular part of the working week.
If you switch roles or move to a different company, will you retain that flexibility or lose it? Conversely, if you’re currently required to always be in the office, could you find a more balanced role in a different workplace?
You should think about your own preferred approach to working, too. Some people much prefer being around others in an office setting. Imagine a busy office with several solicitors and legal secretaries present. If you’re still in your first job, you’ll likely take in a lot more in that setting than you would if you could work purely from home.
Alternatively, you might prefer a hybrid legal role if you live further away from the office. You might also get more done at home than you do in an office setting, given that you won’t be distracted from your work by other employees.
We’re all different, so think about how you prefer to work and whether your current position offers that. You can search for flexible legal roles as well if you do decide to switch positions. You might prefer to work at home for four days and have just one day in the office every week to check in with other paralegals, for example.
Before we move on, remember that flexible working also relates to when you complete your required hours. Some companies offer a lot more freedom in this respect than others, so if you like having that freedom where you are now, bear it in mind if you start looking for other legal jobs. You may not easily be able to replicate your current working pattern.
Would changing legal jobs mean relocating?
It’s obvious that you’ll have fewer job opportunities if you live in a small town to those you’d have if you could reach one or more nearby cities. There’s the commute to consider as well – even if you can reach a city workplace from a town that’s miles away by train, would you want to? Would you be happy to spend three or four hours on a daily round trip?
If you have decided to look for another legal role and you cannot find anything suitable locally, you might need to look further afield. If you’re outside the scope of a daily commute to your nearest city, you might need to think about moving, too.
The practicality and likelihood of being able to do this will depend on your personal circumstances. If you’re single, it might be easier to move, although you should consider whether you’d be happy moving away from friends and family.
It’s harder if you’re married or have children, as any move will affect multiple people each day. If you think you might need to move to a different location to be able to progress your legal career, you should think about how far you’d be happy to move. You might then be able to create a shortlist of potential locations.
If you take this route, make sure you research the available legal jobs in each location. It’ll give you a better idea of whether one city or urban area is better suited than another.
Research legal jobs carefully before making a career move
With all this in mind, you might now have an idea of whether you’re happy with your current work or not. If you’ve qualified as a solicitor and you enjoy the work, you might be happy to stay in that role but switch to a different employer.
Alternatively, you might want to switch focus. If you currently work in a commercial setting, perhaps you might like to switch to family law instead. You might have an interest in dispute resolution, conveyancing, estate planning, or any of a dozen other areas.
Work out whether a job opening provides opportunities for growth over time as well. Don’t merely focus on the immediate benefits you might receive for changing jobs, whether you stick with the same area of law or not.
Still thinking about changing legal jobs?
The bottom line here is not to make any rash decisions, no matter which legal role you’re doing now and where you might like to go in future. Take your time to go through the above suggestions. This will help you get a better sense of where you are, whether you like your position, and what sort of changes you might make.
As we’ve seen, sometimes a job change can be for purely personal reasons. In other cases, it can involve a much bigger change that will affect the people around you as well. Yet in every case, you shouldn’t make any quick moves.
If you’re thinking about a job change, whether to another company or to switch to a different legal role, try and think of the pros and cons of going ahead. It’s natural to have times when we don’t enjoy our work or feel we’re not progressing. However, oftentimes they pass.
If they don’t, you can use our legal job search facility to help identify the best roles you are suited to apply for if you’re ready for a change.
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