Do Electronics Patent Attorneys Really Grow On Trees?
For the first time in a very long time there are more Patent Attorneys in the UK with a technical background in electronics looking for work than there are jobs. Fellows and Associates’ MD, Pete Fellows, elaborates.
Cast your mind back to late 2007. The economy was booming, the British banking sector was the darling of the business world, Live Earth had taken over the summer and as a recruiter of Patent Attorneys finding someone with an electronics background was the Everest of IP recruitment challenges.
Finding an electronics Attorney was exhilarating, I could usually achieve several interviews very quickly with whichever firm the candidate deemed worthy of their presence, bidding wars were not uncommon and salaries increased rapidly and massively ahead of the rest of the profession. I accepted quite a few search assignments given this scarcity and at the time headhunt could be a necessity in order to have a chance of realising a positive result.
So as we begin 2010, finally and unimpressively heading out of recession with a meagre growth figure of 0.1%, I suddenly find myself in a position I could have only dreamt of back in 2007. There are loads of Electronics Attorneys on the market. Yes that’s right, loads. In fact I can find them much more easily than almost anyone else. And no, for the most part these are not candidates who were victims of redundancy; these are people currently in jobs, looking to move.
The problem is that unlike 2007 there are only now a handful of firms that are recruiting and nearly all of the really interesting positions are outside of London. As a recruiter who is generally well informed by a very cooperative network of spies, I have found that all of the major (and minor) recruiters who usually make an appearance in the CIPA Journal are recruiting, by and large, for the same few positions. Sure, some of us are providing more of our candidates to one firm rather than another and do get exclusive work but I think we all know who the firms that are recruiting are. I’m finding that most of my candidates are interviewing (usually through me or occasionally competitors if they didn’t have the good sense to come to me first) at the same 3 or 4 firms and perhaps the odd corporation. Therefore, where a firm would at one time have had one candidate apply to one job, they now find themselves with the luxury of choice – a heady experience indeed.
What is the cause for this you ask? In part I think the profession collectively held its breath for most of 2009. In the past, firms would have chanced their arm hiring a good electronics Attorney given that they would likely pick up the work to recoup their initial expenditure. This kind of candidate speculating is less appealing during a downturn so now only those firms that really need someone are recruiting. And of those where they perhaps would have once hired a qualified Attorney now a part qualified or even a trainee is more attractive. In addition to this for most of 2009 candidates decided to stay put, not wanting to risk sticking their necks above the parapet given the number of redundancies there had been throughout the year. It’s now a new year and there’s a collective sense that 2010 will be better than 2009. Many of the candidates that have been sitting tight in jobs they weren’t particularly happy with (or worse, who took jobs, due to redundancy, as a stop gap to something better) are now on the market.
These circumstances have therefore left me and all of my competitors in the unusual situation of having electronics candidates that are not producing recruitment revenue as quickly as one would normally anticipate. In addition, the more unsavoury recruiters with their tactical comfort zone of blanket bombing firms with the CVs of prospective employees irrespective of whether or not they were instructed to do so, are finding this strategy ineffective. In fact in many cases it is not only very detrimental to the recruitment firm’s brand and reputation (not a problem for me) but it can be highly damaging to a candidate’s employment chances (which certainly is). For example, if a candidate’s CV had been sent on a speculative basis to a firm in January who were not recruiting then the candidate would have been rejected at that time. In April they decide to recruit and they receive the same CV. From the firm’s perspective and given that there is now the conditions of choice wouldn’t they look less favourably on a candidate they know has not found a new position in four months?
In the market conditions of 2007 unsolicited introductions could be a fruitful, if inelegant, tactic. In 2010, recruitment requires a great deal more finesse. Fellows and Associates wherever possible will place all of the candidates we are currently working with but we have to be more creative in how we sell them to firms. In some cases this might mean waiting and requires a great deal of patience from applicants. However, a reasoned, unhurried and deliberate strategy will likely produce results whilst a cover all firms in one hit panic will not and even worse it will make the former much more difficult to achieve in the aftermath of the destruction caused by the bombing.
Conclusions:
For Employers:
1) If you are expecting to recruit in Electronics at some point in 2010, DO IT NOW! More choice and hence much more bargaining power over candidates currently exists than ever before. If the general feeling of cautious optimism is correct then recruiting later in the year could be more expensive and much more difficult.
2) Given that there are a number of available candidates (particularly in London), then maybe it will be better to partner with one recruiter and perhaps achieve more favourable terms than have all recruiters compete with each other at full fee. Our clients are starting to do this; we have a number of exclusive arrangements and have just signed an annual retained arrangement for ongoing recruitment with one of the largest firms in the UK.
For Candidates:
1) Be very selective. Ensure your recruiter (ideally Fellows and Associates) is telling you what they are doing before they do it. Working with your recruiter as your partner in achieving your goals will usually produce much better results. Loyalty to a recruiter can mean that they are loyal to you, giving you first refusal at positions that arise.
2) It’s not all about London. What I have described above is not necessarily true about some regions of the UK. For example, the North is enjoying a mini boom in terms of Patent Attorney vacancies, some of which are really exciting, career changing, Partner creating positions. We have current open positions in several firms in Yorkshire, the Northwest and Scotland. Salaries are often similar to what you would earn in London but you typically get more direct client work and a lower cost of living! There is also, in general, less competition for places.
Want to hear more? Contact Pete via email at: [email protected] or call: 020 7903 5019. For more information on Pete, see his Linkedin profile and consider joining the Fellows and Associates Linkedin Group.