Colleague Spotlight
Meet Dana Hale

At The Advocates, we know that our success is built on the dedication and talent of our people. Behind every placement and every client partnership is a team member whose hard work, creativity, and commitment to our mission make it all possible. Here's another feature in our Employee Spotlight series, highlighting the individuals who bring our values to life every day.

Dana Hale is our Training & Development Director, but she is also much more than that. She has been with The Advocates for six years, and has taken on various management responsibilities outside of sales & recruiting that are crucial to our success. She is a mentor figure for new hires, a go-to resource for advice and assistance and a sales superstar.

 

What is your role at The Advocates?

Training & Development Director and Advocate. I’m an Advocate focusing on attorney placements and work for TLSS as a client liaison. I also help train our employees, which includes coaching, shadowing their sales and candidate meetings, organizing our internal training materials, and making sure we are up to date on best practice policies. Outside of that, I am also an Advocate, so working on the placements of associates and partners as well as sales on that side.

 

What stood out to you the most about your hiring process?

The Chronological Behavior-based Interview, 100%. I came to my interview ready to speak to my work experience and address traditional interview questions. I was thrown for a loop when we started talking about my life story. I still remember that meeting, I even remember what I wore – that’s how impactful it was. I learned so much about myself, and was excited by the prospect of working for a company that actually cared about its people.

 

What part of the mission do you connect with most?

The fact that we genuinely care about our candidates’ long term success. I’ve worked at other companies where it’s very surface level, and that couldn’t be further from the truth here, with how in-depth we get not only with our candidates, but also our clients. We work with so many clients long-term, helping them build out teams, and together find out what works and what doesn’t. There is genuine joy in being the person to make that connection for a candidate and client, and make someone’s life better. I really connect with being a matchmaker between our clients and candidates and being able to genuinely make a difference for both.

 

In your own words, describe the importance of the work you do.

We’re not saving lives, but we are improving lives. We genuinely get to make people’s lives better, because it is so important to be satisfied in your career. Law is a really hard career, and law firms can be really difficult places to work at. When we get to place someone with a firm that aligns with them culturally, allowing them to achieve the goals and show up as their best selves, it is very rewarding.

 

How have you grown professionally since working here?

Being very candid with clients and candidates to get to the crux of the issue. I am willing to share the good and the bad with clients and candidates in an empathic yet straight forward manner. It is the only way to actually be someone’s advocate. As sales people, our tendency is to only focus on the positive, but you are doing them a disservice in doing so. I have learned to let that go. It has created stronger relationships and more trust.

 

What is your best success story?

I worked with a partner who built a successful book entirely on their own at a major firm. They worked at their firm nearly their entire career but hit a plateau in building their practice because of their firm’s structure. In working together, we identified a firm that valued his practice, promotes cross-selling, and pitching clients as a team. Not only do they feel more valued and happier at their new firm, but their practice has continued to grow dramatically. They are thriving.

 

What has been your greatest accomplishment at work?

Sticking to our process even when things get hard.

 

What advice would you give to someone starting in your role?

It’s okay to not know. Be curious, ask questions, read everything you can about the legal market, and take as many meetings in-person as possible to learn from lawyers about their craft.

 

What do you enjoy most about working with your team?

We all genuinely want each other to succeed. No one is in it just for themselves, I’m surrounded by caring and thoughtful people. There’s no one here that I don’t trust.

 

What has been the most fun you’ve had on the job?

Spending time in-person with coworkers, including attending events, meetings, and Friday happy hours together.

 

What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?

I live in an old hotel from the 1800’s and my backyard is a former graveyard.