u/X-Model-7057

I currently work in compliance. Yesterday I got a LinkedIn Inmail message out of the blue from a recruiter for a compliance position at an investment management firm. Usually I'd ignore a message like this but he's connected on LinkedIn with one of my contacts I know irl.

I looked up the recruiter and he works at what seems to be a legit global recruitment company specialising in finding talent for investment/financial services firms. His name is listed on the website as a director. I Googled the company and it said the recruitment company is well-established and legit.

He asked to book a call with me, so we had a 10 minute call yesterday. Over the phone he seemed professional. He asked my salary expectations, and what I do in my current job. I asked the working hours (which were standard 9-5) and the name of the investment firm that was recruiting, which he gave me but stressed he was telling me this in confidence. I looked up the firm and it seems legit/well-established. An alum from my uni works there. It even has physical offices in the UK and overseas. He asked me whereabouts I'm based, which did raise some alarm bells in my head, but I think he wanted to know how close I was to their main UK office.

He rounded up the call by telling me that of all the people he'd spoken to thus far, I seemed like the best fit for what the investment firm was looking for and asked if he could send my profile over to them. I assume this is just lip service from recruiters to get commission, but I said yes, and he asked me to send over my CV. I haven't done so yet.

Overall this seemed legit. The only red flags for me were when he asked where I'm based, and that the investment firm hasn't publicly posted this job opportunity anywhere. I found a similar job posting from this same company on LinkedIn, but it got ZERO applications, which might be why they're asking a recruiter to help them. Nevertheless, I'm still a bit wary of including my phone number and email address on my CV, even though the recruiter knows my phone number already. What do yall think? Should I send my CV? Fyi I am looking for a job, as my current one kinda sucks.

I got a TC at a national law firm on the same level as Ashfords but I’m unsure if I should take it. My goal was to land a TC at a mid-market international commercial law firm (e.g. Addleshaw Goddard), but I was unsuccessful. 

This is my first cycle, and I applied to 7 international firms. I was 1 stage away from landing the vac scheme at a firm in the same tier as Watson Farley & Williams, and got to stage 2 (VI) on a Silver Circle firm. I’m not good enough to land a TC at international firms yet, but with enough practice I think I could pull it off in my 2nd cycle, which is why I’m reluctant to take the TC. Where you train influences future opportunities, so if I want to try large-scale international work it would be an uphill battle to do so starting from a smaller firm. Currently I’m applying for DTCs at international firms to see if I can get one before having to accept this TC offer.

But there’s another part of me that thinks I should take this TC instead of subjecting myself to another cycle, cos of how bad the entry-level legal job market is right now. My plan was to work for several years at an international firm, then lateral to a smaller national firm like Ashfords or Foot Antsey as a senior hire. Given that the firm where I got the TC is on the same level, I could just work my way up to a senior level. My question is: how viable it would be for me to move to an international firm like Addleshaw Goddard after qualifying if I decide my TC firm isn’t for me? It’s a smaller, less prestigious firm so I don’t know if international firms would be willing to give me a shot.

What would y’all advise?