Soft benefits are increasingly playing a more prominent role in keeping employees happySimply Law Jobs is a leading jobs board for the legal industry in the UK. Recently, they conducted a survey via their website, which asked jobseekers about their motivations when searching for a new role.
In total, 183 active jobseekers were surveyed about their job search, which resulted in some surprising results. They were asked the following questions:
1. What’s your motivation for looking for a new job?
2. What’s the most important factor when looking for a new job?
3. How often do you search for a new job online?
What’s your motivation for looking for a new job?
When asked about their motivation for looking for a new role, 34% of jobseekers said that they were looking for a new challenge. Better salary came in second place, motivating 23% of jobseekers. 16% of those surveyed said they were currently unemployed, while 12% were searching for a more senior role. Just 10% were looking for somewhere closer to home.
These results give us a fascinating insight into the current legal jobs market. It indicates that a third of legal professionals on the hunt for a new role are not sufficiently challenged in their current role. While this gives us clues as to how recruiters can think about attracting these candidates, it also hints at how firms can retain these employees in the first place. Ensuring that employees always feel that they can progress in their role is essential.
What’s the most important factor when looking for a new job?
We also asked jobseekers what the most important factor is for them when looking for a new job. 38% of those surveyed said that salary the most important factor, while location came in at a close 2nd, with 35% of the vote.
While it may not be surprising to learn that salary is considered so important for many legal professionals, the fact that location is so close behind is an interesting factor for recruiters to consider.
Of those who said that location was the most important factor, 54% said they were willing to travel between 5-30 miles for a new role, while just 24% said they would be willing to relocate. This shows that even among legal professionals who consider location to be a top factor in a new role, they would be willing to travel or even move for the right job.
12% of legal professionals surveyed said that benefits were the most important factor, while 5% said bonuses were essential.
How often do you search for a new job online?
When asked how often they search online for a new role, 47% of jobseekers surveyed said they searched for a new role daily. 26% said they searched 2-3 times a week, and 15% searched weekly. It seems as though jobseekers in the legal industry will check regularly for new roles to appear.
CEO of Simply Law Jobs, Ian Partington commented on the results: “This information gives a valuable insight into the jobseeker’s mind, providing recruiters with the opportunity to better understand what candidates are looking for in a new role. As a leading jobs board for the legal sector, we make it our aim to understand what jobseekers value for their career. We hope the research we’re doing can be used to a company’s advantage in retaining and recruiting excellent candidates.”
This survey allows us to gain a better insight in to what motivates jobseekers to find a new role, and shows the factors they are thinking about during their job search journey. While salary still plays a big part in the final decision, we can see that it’s not all just about the money, and that many people are considering the potential lifestyle decisions too before pursuing a role.
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