The Classified Waste Land – One Against the World
Responding to classifieds is almost a waste of time — but this past week, I was reminded about how much of a waste it really is.
A potential client sent me links to several jobs to which she planned to apply. They were all from LinkedIn. I said I’d take a look at them for her. I haven’t checked specific job listings on LinkedIn for a while, and I was flabbergasted by what I found.
I should have known better than to be surprised, so let’s just say I was reminded of what I – and any other qualified career coach – have known for years: Classifieds draw hundreds of responses, sometimes more than a thousand for a single position.
One LinkedIn classified for a GC spot at a consulting company has drawn 677 responses so far. A Deputy GC ad for a financial services company has drawn 202 resumes in just 5 days – that’s more than 40 incoming resumes per day, day in and day out! A LinkedIn posting for a GC at a lifestyle company has drawn 706 responses in 30 days, with more coming in.
How in the name of Mary are you supposed to compete
against 677 or 706 other lawyers?
Your chance of getting an interview are less than 1%.
The companies can wade through that pile of resumes and find two or three candidates who exactly match their specs. They can want to hire someone left- handed with blue eyes and find a perfect match.
Making it worse, some of these jobs allow for remote work – at the higher-level in-house positions, this is not unusual. This means the company can choose from applicants anywhere around the world if they have the proper US admissions.
So if you are looking for an in-house counsel role, you are not just competing against lawyers from your local area, you are competing against lawyers from all around the country, and even all around the globe. American companies can hire full-time senior in-house counsel to work remotely from India for $30 to $50 an hour, or around a high of $100,000 per year.
Classifieds are the easiest way to find job opportunities and apply to them. It takes minimal effort, very little time, and creates the delusion that you are actively seeking a job. Because that’s what it is – a delusion.
Recruiters are another easy way of finding jobs – all you have to do is send in your resume and let them find a job for you, right? Wrong. Recruiters are paid by the hiring companies to find attorneys with specific practice areas skills, years of experience and depth of knowledge in a hiring companies’ industry. For this they get paid 20-30% or so of the candidate’s first year compensation package, so for a position with a $350,000 package, the recruiter’s fee will be around $80,000 to $105,000 or more.
Recruiters are not paid that kind of money to find lawyers who have never done the specific work the employer needs, or who don’t know the employer’s industry. Recruiters put square pegs in square holes, and are all but useless to lawyers seeking a bend in their career paths.
I have talked with many attorneys who were seeking new careers, but who gave up because they never received responses from classified ads and got nothing but negative feedback from recruiters. Classifieds and recruiters are not likely to help lawyers seeking alternative careers. But there is a way out. In a free call, I will be glad to discuss better ways that are easy, but that also work.
__________________________________
Bruce Blackwell has been named at the top of the 2026 list of “The 10 Best Career Coaches in New York City” by Digital Reference, and has been called a “Dean of Career Counselors for Lawyers” by the New York State Bar Association.
If you are an attorney or executive and have been thinking about “what else is out there?” get in touch with him for a virtual cup of coffee. In a confidential, no-cost call, you can discuss your situation and get expert career advice. To schedule a call, click here: https://live.vcita.com/site/bruce.blackwell
If you like this article, please click on “Like,” add a Comment, or share it with a colleague. Thank you!