Read the article here.  Enjoy your weekend!

So what if you’re one of those ‘potential stars’ that’s been recently brought on board?  Leaving any job has it’s share of challenges, and leaving your first job can be as tough as it gets, never mind being tasked with the responsibilities and expectations that come with moving into your new home.  What anxieties are these new, potential ‘stars’ facing?  This is a good read from the AM Law Daily on what’s going though the minds of your latest hire and newest potential ‘star’.  Read here

I can only imagine what it’s like in his office.  The Monday morning motivational meetings must be off the damn charts.  Ever see his pre-game ritual?  Or how about his pre-game pump up speech?   How do his recruiters not make 300 calls a day?  On the flip side, what happens if you dont make your numbers?  What if your candidate takes a counteroffer?  Do you get stabbed?

In all seriousness, as a small business owner, you think about this stuff.  Maybe it’s when the train’s late, or it’s snowing.  Maybe it’s when you’re dealing with a cabbie or traffic, or both.  No matter what business you’re in, law, executive search, whatever, you’ve probably wondered at some point how you could do your job from a boat, from a remote cabin up north, or the beach.

It’s like when you go on vacation.  You don’t want the vacation to end, but you need to go back to work at some point.  So you start to daydream how you could stay on vacation and make the money you need to keep it all going.  Ultimately, you never do it.  The thought turns into a ‘maybe someday’ and you go home…until you read an article like this.  Enjoy, maybe I’ll see you in Bali one of these days.

To read the article, click here.

Ok, enough of the ‘value-added’ soapbox.  Read what I’m talking about here.  Enjoy your week!

It’s kind of like that kid in school who was super smart, but didn’t play a sport, or didn’t get involved in any extra-curricular type things. “Yeah, you’re smart, but you don’t have that ‘it’ we’re looking for.”  Making Partner is the same idea. ”Yeah, you work a ton of hours.  You filled the quota, by far.  But…you can’t sell.  You have little or no book of business.  And the economy just isn’t right for us to pull the trigger.”  You’re thinking, “Awesome.  I hate my life.”

So for all of you law students thinking of taking the plunge once you graduate to get on-track and make Partner?   Read this.  It’s as educational as it’s common sense, and hopefully it wakes you up to realize that you need to bring more to the table than just your daddy’s work ethic.  Making Partner is an enourmous achievement filled with many rewards, huge rewards, but it’s not just about the hours.

Now get to work.

Don’t get me wrong, the traditional law firm and their traditional players is what created the ‘glow’ about BigLaw.  The ’white shoe laywers’, the bow ties, the societal exclusivity, was all part of the aura of wealth and affluence that came with being a lawyer at a century old law firm.  And it still exists, in all it’s grand glory.  It’s just that as the generations go by, like in all other industries and professions, the wants and needs of the players, and what they bring to the table, change.

The search profession has been going through this for a number of years now.  The ‘old guard’, for lack of a better way to describe them (no offense because I’m kind of one of them myself), has always harped on hammering the phones, 100 calls a day, no emails, must be in the office to do business, etc….  The ideals are right, don’t get me wrong, but the players these days have more at their disposal, and technology has made the world smaller.  These new players know it, and if they can utilize the technology to become more efficient, instead of becoming lazier by it’s existence, they will be better recruiters than we ever were.  (side note however, nothing beats an actual phone call in our business.  It might be a Droid, Skype technology, or whatever.. but the phone is still king for recruiters.

Anyway, here’s the article from Virginia Essandoh with the Legal Intelligencer via Law.com 

Enjoy your week!

Speaking from my own experience as a recruiter, having had one in my whole career (just lucky, they’re standard in my industry), I can tell you that they are mainly meant to scare you.  Your employer, or former employer, just wants you to keep your distance for a period of time.  How much distance, and how much time, is what’s up for debate.  If it’s too strict, you can argue ‘right to work’ and a judge will probably agree with you.  In my experience, the more reasonable the terms, the easier it is for the employer to enforce.  As the candidate, you just have to have the stomach, and the resources, for the process that determines how reasonable (or not) the agreement really is.

Read on to see what Mr. Anonymous had to say:   N0n-Compete Article Here