FAQs

At Frasia Wright Associates, we pride ourselves on professionalism, integrity, and confidentiality. As a candidate, you’ll be guided through every step of the process, benefiting from our specialist knowledge of the Scottish legal market and our close relationships with firms, organisations, and public bodies across Scotland and England. Our services are completely free for candidates.

When registering with agencies, it’s important to stay in control of your CV and applications. We recommend using no more than two agencies at a time and keeping track of who is submitting your CV to which firms to avoid confusion or being seen as a “time-waster.”

When you tender your resignation and receive a counter-offer, it can feel flattering—but it’s also tricky territory. Here’s how to navigate it:

Key points to consider:

• Remember your original reasons: Why did you start looking for a change? Those motivations usually don’t disappear overnight.
• Employer perspective: Good companies understand that high performers seek growth. They also know they’ve likely already gotten great value from your contributions.
• Long-term impact: Accepting a counter-offer can raise doubts about your loyalty and commitment. Research shows that 80% of employees who accept counter-offers leave within six months.
• Professionalism matters: Never use a counter-offer to “play” employers against each other. The professional world is small, and your reputation matters.

Bottom line: Treat a counter-offer with caution. Appreciate it, but don’t let it sway you from your long-term goals.

The second interview means that you have caught their attention, and have proved you are technically competent to handle the role in question. So your starting point should be what can you add to this? Because the interviewer is precisely looking for you to add to the 2nd meeting, you need to be thinking how do you add value, what do you have that is more than technical competence? What more can they learn about you that will further enhance your profile? At all stages in the interview, and especially at 2nd interview, take the initiative and be proactive in self-promotion whilst importantly gauging how the interviewer is engaging with you.

The Interviewer may also be waiting for you to reveal yourself. Adopting a responsive and proactive approach is as essential.

Start by assessing what the promoted role truly requires: the skills, influence, and impact expected. Where can you add real value?

Consider the bigger picture: your long-term prospects at the firm, the core practice areas, and how they align with your strengths. How far down the line are you aiming for senior or partner-level roles? And, as always, think about fit—does the firm’s culture match your style and personality?

Also, weigh the career upside. Will this promotion strengthen your professional experience if you stay, or if you move on later? Could a similar role at another firm better advance your goals? Make sure your experience builds the broader perspective you’ll need for future growth.

Build a genuine relationship with your recruitment consultant — one founded on trust, respect, and open communication. A good consultant won’t just fill roles; they’ll understand your goals, offer honest advice, and guide your career strategically. Recruitment today is more than matching CVs — it’s about partnership and long-term value. Your consultant should know where you are, where you want to go, and how to help you get there.

When it gets to breaking point, you really need to raise this sensitive issue. We understand how hard this can be, you want to show you are capable, committed, ambitious, driven, on board with the business objectives, but you have to look after your physical health and mental well-being or you are no use to anyone. If you are lucky to have an understanding Partner you can discuss this with, then do it. If not, try HR, or maybe even start at the other end of the scale and talk things through with a colleague. It is always a good idea to think about possible solutions.

Perhaps you agree that during the week, you will finish 1 or 2 days at 5-6pm, and not take work home. The key is to think very carefully about what changes could be made that are practical and feasible, without jeopardising the commercial goals of the practice or your health any longer. It is also always worthwhile to look at your home life, and consider again very carefully any changes you can make there that could reduce some of the pressures you feel you are under.

No. You may be surprised to find out that from our experience a high percentage of trainees are keen to remain with their training firm upon qualification. The reason why is quite simple. If you are happy with the firm, you feel you are getting the exposure to the work you want, are interested in and enjoy, then there is no reason to move just for the sake of moving.  In any case, many NQs review their own position, often 6 months down the line. So if you are happy with the firm, then staying with them will not do you or your career any harm.

Many lawyers contact us for a chat about salary levels, especially at salary review time. As well as chatting through our annual salary guide on our website, there is inevitably some discussion around industry levels, annual increments, and knowing what you are worth. The measures you can use when you are preparing for this discussion are to look at business objectives that have been set, whether you have achieved them and by how much. Gather all the evidence you can find of your achievements in the past 12 months, and give careful thought to how you communicate this. The key is to spell out how you personally have added value.  Remember that employers want a motivated workforce, and they know that denying what is due will not achieve this.