NAELA's CareerCenter

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Serves as a lead role overseeing all aspects of law student recruiting for Chicago, partnering with the National Student Recruiting Manager and Chicago office leadership/relevant Committees to manage all aspects of law student recruiting (summer and first year associate). Develops and implements plans for building and maintaining relationships with key schools, coordinating on campus interviewing, onboarding and exit interviews of summer associates, training, managing social events, mentoring and work assignments.

• Manages all facets of the Chicago recruitment process (summer and first year associates, foreign associates, etc.)
• Coordinates with key stakeholders to implement the student recruitment program:
  • Hiring Partners to develop hiring goals, recruitment strategies, on-campus interview process, status reporting and meeting agendas;
  • Recruiting Committee and School Team Captains to discuss candidates, recruiting programs, strategies and processes;
  • National Student Recruitment Manager and HR/ADR Recruitment Managers in other offices to coordinate OCI, applicants for multiple offices, website, promotional materials, gifts, etc;
  • Practice Leaders regarding hiring needs and first year associate placement;
  • Law school career services;
  • Diversity professionals on law student outreach, candidate follow up, diversity tracking, and diversity strategy;
  • Marketing professionals on website, ads, promotional materials, dedicated intranets/extranets, etc.; 
  • Employment Counsel for legal compliance/risk management
  • HRIS professionals to implement procedures for department software tools such as LawCruit, viDesktop for summer work assignments, Simplicity, LinkedIn, data integrity and reporting, etc.
• Manages the on-campus recruitment program including on-campus interviews, call back interviews, events, etc.; travel to law school events as needed
• Manages on-boarding and orientation and exits of summer associates
• Oversees the development and administration of the training, social events, mentoring, work assignments, evaluations and offer process during the Summer Program
• Manages the budget for summer program and lawyer recruitment
• Participates in all relevant local office Committee meetings and events for recruitment and diversity, etc.
• Trains, develops and manages the Chicago lawyer recruitment team and recruitment work allocation
• Maintains applicant tracking data and reporting
• May support lateral attorney recruiting or other activities during the "off-season" for campus recruiting 
• Bachelor's Degree, required
• Advanced degree in Education, Human Resources or Law, preferred
• Minimum of five years of law firm or professional services firm recruiting experience, required
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office products, required
• Knowledge of applicant tracking [LawCruit], work assignments and performance evaluation [viDesktop], and HRIS [PeopleSoft] software, preferred
• Deep knowledge of law firm student recruiting process and cycle, required
• Understanding of best practices in increasing diversity and inclusion through the recruiting process
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, able to communicate effectively and in a professional manner with all levels of the Firm and outside vendors
• Ability to work in a diverse team environment and effectively support the demanding needs of the Firm
• Ability to work under pressure, meet deadlines with shifting priorities
• Must be a self-starter with a high level of initiative
• Strong customer service skills, able to anticipate needs and exercises independent judgment
• Strong attention to detail, organizational skills and the ability to handle multiple projects
• Maintains confidentiality and exercises discretion
• Exercises solid strategic thinking and problem-solving skills
• Manages processes for direct reports in regards to performance appraisals, annual compensation, goal setting and performance counseling
• Demonstrated leadership and supervisory experience
• Operational budget analysis and recommendations
• Conducts analysis of staffing levels and participates in the recruitment process
• Able to determine and implement change processes to improve workflow efficiencies
• Process and service-oriented with strong leadership and project management skills
• Able to set priorities and delegate in an efficient manner
• May require occasional lifting of up to 20 lbs.