Monthly News

Ridiculous Interview Questions & Answers

We have run columns on this over the years to determine the most ridiculous interview questions and answers. Have you got any to add to the following list?

1. Why do you want to be a solicitor (also Why did you want to be a solicitor?)

What a ridiculous question. If you are recruiting for a training contract, sit back and prepared to be bored rigid by some nonsense about the law being a passion, the interviewee excited by the interesting developments and some reference to a childhood yearning to be in a courtroom. If you recruit someone more senior and ask them this question I would hope that from time to time you would get a response such as: “Good question. Why on earth did I want to be a solicitor, earn peanuts and sit here listening to idiots like you asking me stupid questions? I’m off to do something more constructive with my life….”

2. If you could take one person with you to a desert island, who would it be and why?

Again a ridiculous question. At one stage the answer used to be either Margaret Thatcher or Ronald Reagan, but these days the stock answer appears to be Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan or Mother Theresa. What do the interviewers get out of asking this question, apart from a deep sense of excitement as the candidate squirms in their seat worrying about whether to say Belinda Carlisle, Englebert Humperdinck or Captain Sensible….

3. If you were a tree what sort would you be and why?

Try asking this question in your next interview. Go on, try it…. Fascinating responses are guaranteed. A ridiculous question, but sometimes produces interesting answers mainly through ignorance both from the interviewer and the interviewee as to what constitutes a tree…

Any more? Email your questions or answers to cv@ten-percent.co.uk – we usually award a prize to the best/worst question/answer.

Monthly News

Does Google Instant make any difference to your website?

Look on any online marketing website and you’ll probably be greeted by a host of news articles, blog posts and comments that edge towards Google Instant being the end to SEO as we know it, the end to competitive marketing for small businesses and that single letter keyword searches are the future.

Google Instant works by predicting what the user is writing and displaying different pages of search results as the search is conducted. It is without question that this new format of delivering search results is quicker and indeed will challenge conventional search engine marketing practices. Now, more than ever before, it is important to be in the hallowed top 3 on the first page, as it’s predicted that users will change their searching habits and will not spend time clicking through pages of search results.

The one thing that stands out when using Instant is the fact that sponsored links get a higher prominence in the first half of the search page. PPC (Pay Per Click advertising) will become more competitive as businesses pump more money into Google AdWords to ensure their message is seen by more users. The cost associated with popular search markets, such as Travel and Finance, is likely to sky rocket as the larger firms secure their place with their big budgets.

So what should businesses look at when assessing the challenge of Google Instant throwing its virtual spanner in the online marketing works?

1) Has it actually affected your viability on the internet? There is no point changing anything if Google’s reassurances are true. The search engine says it will not affect the current rankings as this isn’t a change to the index. This change is about how the index is displayed and offered to users.

2) Track where your traffic to the website is coming from – use of Google Analytics and other tracking devices is invaluable. Specifically look at the keyword performance, which ones have been strong and new keywords that are generating quality traffic. Bounce rates – users who enter your site and leave straight away will become interesting as you will be able to assess how users are finding your site through Google and whether Instant is bringing you visitors of a different quality.

3) PPC costs will rise as it gets more competitive and Google will probably have a strong emphasis on ‘impressions’ – this is if your ad has appeared on a search result page for more than 3 seconds – this not only will distort performance figures, but it could lower your quality score, meaning you have to pay more for future clicks. If you are over spending on certain PPC keywords but not converting these into quality visits, investigate further into more targeted ad campaigns.

4) Look at alternative search engines. Bing may not have the majority of the online search market space but it is still a viable search engine with often good conversion rates. By spending some time optimising for alternative search engines you will be widening your net.

5) Stick to the main principles of online marketing. Keep focused on the primary rules of marketing – ‘find your target market.’
At the moment only a small proportion of people are using Google Instant (it appears to only kick in when you log in as a Google user – ie you have an Adwords account or use gmail) so follow its developments before it gets rolled out further and you’ll be a step ahead of the game.

Monthly News

Starting a Job? 5 Top Tips

Starting a new job can be very stressful. www.ten-percent.co.uk has produced a quick guide with 5 top tips.

 
1. Make sure you say hello and introduce yourself to everyone you meet. Do not assume that anyone knows who you are. Be nice to everyone and sit on the fence in any office politics discussions for at least 2 months.
2. Strike up a rapport with any secretaries or support staff you will be working with on a daily basis. Do not instruct anyone to do anything for you for at least 24 hours if possible.
3. Make sure you have your employment contract signed and agreed by both sides. Contracts tend to get forgotten very quickly…
4. Take your P45 from your last post with you to work, as well as your practising certificate, proof of ID and proof of residence.
5. Take some personal items with you to work for your desk space and make your space your own. This shows that you are committed to the firm/company.
 
There is an old saying that first impressions last a very long time. People form an opinion of you very quickly and once formed it is very hard to break without some perceived drastic behavioural change. If you start off being very friendly to everyone this should create the impression that you are nice, personable and easy to work with, even if this is not true….
 
Stress in the work place is a common cause of a whole host of problems, both mental and physical, and if you start off avoiding this stress it can have a very positive effect on your future experiences.
Monthly News

Working Remotely – an interview with Hannah Luhde-Thompson

Working Remotely – An Interview with Hannah Luhde-Thompson Hannah Luhde-Thompson is a senior recruitment consultant with Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment. She has been working for the company since 2007 and before this was with the Legal Services Commission. She is an experienced business adviser as well as a recruitment consultant.

Q: Tell us about your role with Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment.

A: I am a senior recruitment consultant with the company and work remotely from my office near to Denbigh in North Wales. I have flexible hours that vary according to my own available time.

Q: How does this work?

A: Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment has servers with all the software on I need to use, and I simply log on to work.

Q: How do clients and candidates get hold of you?

A: I am often available via email, but also our head office can pass through messages. We use a package called Eclipse, which logs all our telephone calls, emails, faxes and records which means that my colleagues at the head office can immediately see what is happening and give real time feedback to any callers.

Q: Do you enjoy working like this?

A: It has its ups and downs. Because I work flexible hours sometimes candidates and clients get a bit frustrated when trying to get hold of me. However it suits me as I live in quite a remote valley on a smallholding, and commuting to work would be a massive headache.

Q: What main benefits can you see for a law firm working in a similar way?

A: Flexible staffing. If you have a lawyer, for example in wills & probate, why do they need to be in your office? Do you really need to spend the money on providing them with office space, or could they do the majority of their work from home? This is what Ten-Percent decided a long time ago – there is no reason for a recruitment consultant to be sat in an office sending emails or making phone calls, when they can do the same from home. The important thing is to have regular meetings so that people do not lose touch with each other.

Monthly News

How to Recruit a Rainmaker (with or without a following)

www.ten-percent.co.uk – Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment

Recruiting a rainmaker is the holy grail of most partners in law firms. We get telephone calls every week from firms that go:

“Hello, we would like to recruit a solicitor – 3 years PQE for corporate commercial work, with a proven track record, a good level of ability and experience in a reasonable law firm.”

Excellent we think, but then:

“By the way, they have to have their own following.”

This is the killer requirement for us – these lawyers on the whole simply do not exist. There are solicitors with a following – immigration solicitors who get regular referrals from interpreters, crime solicitors with candidates who follow them from firm to firm, family solicitors with regular referrals from charities, corporate clients with companies who follow them and of course solicitors in the fortunate position of being related to managing directors of businesses etc..

However, the vast majority of candidates have none of these. A very select few have this level of following – most simply have 3 years worth of experience, a bit of marketing under their belt, and at best a couple of personal connections to potential sources of work.

So how do you recruit a rainmaker?
The simple answer is that you need to look at exactly what you want to recruit. The other option smaller firms go for is an experienced solicitor who they think will generate them work more quickly than a fairly recently qualified solicitor. Smaller firms can invariably not afford the services of an experienced solicitor and instead need to offer commission levels or profit share.

We think this is a mistake.

Firstly, do you really want to recruit a solicitor with a following?

1. Solicitors with a following cost a lot of money – they almost always only want to move if there is good regular income on offer, otherwise, why would they want to join your firm? A recent example is a commercial property solicitor who has a personal following of £130,000, and expects £105,000 as a salary.

The profit for the firm is only £25,000 each year.

2. Solicitors who are 15 years PQE and do not have a following (and are prepared to accept commission based pay or similar) tend to have baggage to go with them and probably do not wish to take a role where they will be rainmaking. Usually they are interested in “ploddy” work, as a partner recently termed it.

We think that the solution to recruiting rainmakers is to identify a future potential rainmaker. For example a solicitor who has recently qualified but who has included information on her CV about her marketing activities, demonstrated how she added value to the department she worked in, and given you an actual figure for this.

A potential rainmaker is a solicitor who indicates on their CV that they have suggested marketing ideas to the firm she is working for, or one who not only goes to networking events but also give you an idea of the results from that event.

 If you have a budget of say £4,000 per month for a new solicitor and a new department/source of work, you would get a solicitor for say £2,000 basic, and this leaves you £2,000 for marketing.

If you recruit a solicitor and pay £4,000 per month to the solicitor, this leaves you no budget for marketing.

We accept that the solicitor you get for £2,000 is not going to be as experienced or able to handle work as one for £4,000, but it may be that the solicitor is able to make more profit for you than the more expensive one.

Afterall, working on the old adage of 3 x salary, a solicitor taking a basic of £24,000 only has to generate £72,000 in work to justify their existence, whereas a solicitor on £45,000 will need to get £135,000 in.

Think carefully before asking for a following or a rainmaker. Are you sure?

Monthly News

Budget Special – 22nd June 2010

www.ten-percent.co.uk – Legal Recruitment Consultants

What an amazing budget – I predict pictures of axes on the front of the Daily Mirror and the Sun tomorrow.. More liberal/left wing commentators will say that lower income families have been protected by the Liberal Democrats but middle income families have been hit quite hard, and more right wing observers will applaud the move to get rid of a lot of unnecessary left wing initiatives and benefits..
 
Highlights:
20% VAT (to start 4th January 2011)
no increase in tax on alcohol, tobacco and fuel.
Child benefit frozen for three years
Cuts to family tax credits removing those above £50,000.
Corporation tax cut to 24%
Small business tax cut to 20%
Income tax allowance increased by £1,000
Two year council tax freeze
Capital Gains Tax increased to 28% for high income tax payers.
Employers NI tax holiday for job creation in the regions
Acceleration in state pension age to 66 years.
Two year pay freeze for public servants paid over £21,000.
Housing benefit – paid up to £400 per week max.
Bank levy to be imposed.
Government departments to be cut by 25% over 4 years.
Forecasts:
Unemployment to fall for the next 4 years after 2010.
Growth forecast to be 1.2 % this year, 2.6% next year, 2.8% in 2012, 2.9% in 2013 and 2.7% in both 2014 and in 2015.
Not certain yet what effect the above will have on anyone, except that small businesses will be very pleased to see the small business tax levels drop to 20%, but no-one will be overjoyed to see the VAT increase to 20%.
 
CGT increases as well may have implications for any senior partners looking to sell their practices over the next few years, and the state pension age acceleration is going to result in more people needing to work longer, particularly following the recent few years.
 
I suspect rather a lot of newspapers will be disappointed at the housing benefit restriction as the benefit has been responsible for lots of fascinating stories about claimants living in London mansions and driving convertibles……
 
Public sector cuts are going to hurt some law firms more than others, and similarly with legal recruitment agencies. Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment have never quite managed to get a foot into this lucrative trade, but plenty of other agencies have established whole departments around it. I suspect a couple of larger regional law firms across the UK may well be laying off some of their specialist public sector lawyers in the next few months…

Jonathan Fagan, MD, Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment – www.ten-percent.co.uk