Valerie A. Fontaine earned her JD from UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings) and her BA, Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, from UCLA. She was on the Editorial Board of COMM/ENT, a Journal of Communications and Entertainment Law. Valerie practiced law with a prominent Los Angeles law firm and entered the legal search profession in 1981. Valerie is past Secretary to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC) and former Chair of its Newsletter Committee. She currently serves as a consultant to NALSC headquarters.
With the NASDAQ hitting new highs almost every day, and constant news stories of overnight IPO riches, the lure of big stock options has proven almost irresistible. Attorneys are leaving law firms for corporate law departments at unprecedented rates in hopes of snagging future big bucks. Until recently, law firm lawyers would jump at the…
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Sending a thank you to your interviewers is not only polite, but also serves several strategic purposes. It reinforces the positive impression you made during your interview, emphasizes your enthusiasm for the position you seek, or provides an opportunity to correct any misunderstandings that may have occurred. A thank you message is another way to…
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Beware of the fine line between appropriate follow-up and pestering. Proper follow-up communicates interest, enthusiasm, and initiative; conversely, improper follow-up communicates naivety about the recruitment process, excessive assertiveness, or even desperation. One of the most difficult aspects of job-hunting is waiting. Once you send a resume to either a recruiter or a prospective employer, allow…
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Past performance often is the best indicator of how a candidate will perform in the future. Therefore, most prospective employers take reference checking seriously, and so should the candidate. If you plan ahead, choose your best reference sources, prepare them properly, and follow-up appropriately, you can maximize your chances of receiving those all-important stellar references.…
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