Nadia is a Talent Manager at Clarion Solicitors, a legal practice with over 300 employees covering an incredibly wide range of services for clients. Based in Leeds, their reach extends far beyond the shores of the UK using a winning formula that combines technical legal expertise with commercial acumen, excellent client service, and a genuine human approach.
People in Law’s Megan Wesley sat down with Nadia, to talk all things recruitment, all things law, and all the things she’s achieved in a reasonably short time.
Megan Wesley: Nadia, you describe yourself as an honest, ethical and transparent recruiter. Someone who works to demystify the sometimes opaque processes of recruitment in order to deliver a first-class candidate experience. But where did it all begin for you?
Nadia Hemmings: The truth is, I’ve had a few careers. I started off in recruitment, had a good few years in marketing and a brief stint as a primary school teacher. But I always knew the private sector was for me. I’d worked with Clarion back when I was an agency recruiter so when I sat down for a coffee with the in-house team and they asked me if I’d consider working for them I was excited and extremely flattered. It came at a good time. I was ready for a change and knew that they’d be a good fit for me and what I wanted to achieve because of how I’d seen them treat their own people.
MW: Did you ever see yourself moving into the legal sector? As an in-house employee?
NH: Absolutely not. My experience with law firms had always felt very transactional and cold. But here it’s different. Clarion is an incredibly vibrant, dynamic and progressive place and instantly understood and appreciated the value I would bring to their work. It’s the perfect match really and I’m immensely proud of what I’ve achieved so far.
MW: What makes it the perfect match?
NH: It’s the culture. Really. I found it super easy to get to grips with it because it’s exactly what it says on the tin. We shout about it because it’s true. I could see it even before I’d joined. The everyday attitudes, the actions and behaviours of every single person here. It drives a culture that sits alongside our genuine focus on living and breathing our values. I came in as the first fully dedicated recruiter and, truthfully, they won’t mind me saying this, there was a lot to do. There was a real lack of process and structure and strategy. And that wasn’t anyone’s fault. These things need a dedicated person to manage and oversee. I quickly saw there were things that could be implemented quickly, others that would need a bit longer and others still that needed proper planning. I broke it all down into chunks of time, wrote up the strategy and initiatives I wanted to implement, presented them and here we are.
MW: Tell me a bit about what you’ve implemented. And what you’ve achieved. What were the challenges you faced; the problems you set out to solve?
NH: If I had to choose one I’d say the website careers page. Breathing new life into this gave me a chance to focus on what I think good recruitment is and really gave me the chance to put myself in the shoes of candidates. To look at it through their eyes. Was it transparent enough? Were we being ethical? Were we being honest with candidates? It really brought together my love of both marketing and recruitment. I love nothing more than hearing from new hires that they visited our careers page before interviews, assessments, meetings etc, and they tell me that everything they read is an authentic, accurate representation of who we are. Shoutout to Danny, our copywriter.
That being said, I’d say the most rewarding part of my job is the work I do around the social mobility initiatives here. We’ve already done so much to help level the playing field, and I can see it has genuine impact. There’s plenty more in the pipeline of development around this and whilst it’s aimed at all levels, I have a soft spot for the early careers elements of the initiative. Seeing the work-experience elements open up doors to those who don’t have equal opportunity brings me joy. It might be the ex-teacher in me speaking but leading the employability workshops always puts a smile on my face.
MW: You speak a lot at events and work hard to build partnerships on Clarion’s behalf. How does that work shape the wider employer brand at Clarion?
NH: I’m Clarion’s biggest fan. As I see it, all employees are custodians of the employer brand. I just have the perfect platform to shout about it because my job is to think of what candidates want when considering a new employer. When I’m at events or networking I can just be myself and talk about my own experience in a relatable way. But it also allows me to keep learning about what matters most to people at any given time. The landscape and jobs market shifts and evolves so frequently and I’m able to communicate and engage with audiences knowing what keeps us attractive and relevant to prospective talent.
MW: Nadia, you’ve not only been nominated as a rising star, but you’ve also won the People in Law Rising Star award. How does it feel?
NH: Being nominated was wonderful but I won’t lie, winning was even better! Clarion was nominated for the Excellence in Recruitment Award, which was announced first, and I was somewhat deflated when we didn’t win because recruitment excellence is what I strive for. But then I recognised myself in the words spoken by the presenter when they announced the Rising Star winner and it was a little surreal because I knew it was me before my name was announced.
I’m especially proud that recruitment as a discipline is recognised through me winning this award and it wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for my brilliant manager Helen who every day puts all of her faith and trust in me to do what I do best.
MW: Any words of wisdom to share?
NH: I joked when I won that it’s a little ironic being a rising star when I’m quite far in my career overall, albeit newish to law, but it just shows that it’s never too late to make a new start and I’m proud to probably be one of the oldest recipients of the award – a badge I’ll wear with honour!
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