SARAH HAYDEN
Legal Recruiting Coordinator
Perkins Coie LLP

How long have you been a member of WALRAA? What has been your favorite experience so far?
I've been a member of WALRAA for two years.  My favorite experience so far was the 2018 Educational Conference.  I thought the breakout sessions were really great!

How has WALRAA helped you in your field?
It has allowed me to meet so many others in Legal Recruiting. I'm able to listen to their stories, learn about their experiences, and apply some of their ideas to my own work.

How did you first learn about and get started in Attorney Recruiting/Career Services?
I joined Perkins in February 2016 and started helping out with Legal Recruiting that summer (their busiest time).  I became a full time coordinator within the department by April 2017.  

What is your favorite moment of your career so far?
I really enjoy getting to meet lateral hires in the different stages of the hiring process. I first meet them in the interview stage and if they're hired, I then get to on-board them and see how they acclimate within firm. I also really enjoy our summer associate program as I attend many of the events with our summers so it adds fun activities to an otherwise very busy time.  

What is it that challenges you most in your job?
Honestly, it has to be the workload at the busier times of the year. Our summer associate program won't have even ended when I've already started planning and preparing for OCI.   

How do you balance your career and personal life?
While my hours and commute makes a personal life on weekdays a bit more difficult, I find time to see my family and friends as often as I can on the weekends.  

What professional goals have you set for yourself this year?
I'd like to continue to learn more about legal recruiting both within my firm and from our WALRAA membership meetings.  

What is the best professional advice you have received?
The best professional advice I've received is also echoed by my mom often - be an advocate for yourself!  Fight for what you want and don't take "no" for an answer.

What do you like to do for fun?
Cue the common answers - reading, watching tv, movies. I also love spending time with my dog and love to travel as often as I can to new places.  I hope to visit Spain this fall and head somewhere warm over the winter holidays.  

Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
I'd have to change this question to "most people at WALRAA" because my friends know I'm a giant nerd.  I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and am still waiting for my letter to Hogwarts...

ASHLEY NETTLES
Attorney Recruiting & Development Coordinator
O'Melveny & Myers LLP

How long have you been a member of WALRAA? What has been your favorite experience so far?
1 year. I thought the Industry Survey with Eva Wisnik was very helpful. 

How has WALRAA helped you in your field?
This is my first law firm job; when I was thinking about switching industries, a WALRAA member told me about the organization, and I reached out to a few people on the board to talk to them about their career paths. These conversations helped me determine that legal recruiting would be a good fit for me, and ultimately positioned me to apply to and accept an offer at O'Melveny. I'm very thankful for WALRAA helping me get my start here and introducing me to a great field!   

How did you first learn about and get started in Attorney Recruiting/Career Services?
In my previous role, I helped run our internship program, which quickly became my favorite part of my job. I decided to try to make that piece more of a central part of my day-to-day, and in conversations with others, stumbled on attorney recruiting. 

What is your favorite moment of your career so far?
I love our summer associate program! I enjoy the recruiting process and figuring out who is going to be part of our class, as well as planning for their arrival. Their first day at the firm has to be my favorite part though: they bring such a nice energy and excitement to the office as a whole. 

What is it that challenges you most in your job?
I think the most challenging part (which I also like) is that we get to wear a lot of hats, and it's just a lot to juggle all of the different components and make sure that you aren't dropping the ball on any of it. It really is true that no two days are the same, which I also really enjoy.   

How do you balance your career and personal life?
Honestly, I haven't found this to be too difficult so far. We have a really great team, and when everyone is committed and is working hard when we are at the office, then we can all have a good personal life outside of the office too. Some parts of the year are of course busier than others, but it helps to have a flexible, can-do-it attitude at all times. 

What professional goals have you set for yourself this year?
I've learned so much this first year, and I'm excited to continue to learn and grow in year two. Specifically, I'm looking forward to going back through parts of the recruiting cycle for a second time and making recommendations for ways we can improve based on my previous experiences. 

What do you like to do for fun?
I like to get outside as much as possible, especially now that the weather is warming up! I also love attending concerts (preferably at Wolf Trap or another outdoor venue). My husband and I love to travel; we are planning a trip to South Africa this year, which I'm very excited about. 

Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
I love dachshunds. I had a dachshund growing up named Buddy, and it makes me very happy when I see one walking around DC. I look forward to the day when I can have my own again!