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UK firms remain wary despite elevated recruitment figures

Re NQs and Junior Lawyers - the support from the SRA and Law Society has been non-existent. A couple of months ago there was a "webinar" (CPD available - whoooopee!) and we were told we could join the "junior lawyers division" - so you can attend the junior lawyers ball and share dole queue experiences I suppose - like either is really going to help! Re Getting "Volunteer" experience... (a) it does not pay the bills, (b) we do not live on thin air, (c) the experience is most likely not relevant if you are trying to get back into a City firm and (d) this is just "cheap" talk to make the giver of the advice (often with no experience of being unemployed EVER) feel like they are saying something "constructive" and "positive". Re Numbers Sacked - Reminds me of the government massaging unemployment figures - it's disgusting. It's even more disgusting that this is simply published with none of the figures being seriously challenged. What people really want to know is how many were sacked/"managed out" etc. The figures seem to bear little reality to what I heard was happening at many firms across the City. Agree - dig deeper, a LOT deeper! Comment on Freshfields "tapping" their alumni - why are these schemes always hailed as "innovative" and "creative". Clearly it's just a way of getting previous people in without having to pay recruitment agency fees, the partners know that these people have no intention of coming back full time so they dont have to manage their careers, the hours are so flexible etc. It's all about being in the firm's favour. The article could do with a lot more investigative grit. This is similar to the Skadden sidebar programme - hailed as innovative - how many took the sidebar and crucially how many are being taken back.......

20-Apr-2010

9:33 pm