Meet Sonja Cotton of Sonja Cotton & Associates in Paradise Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonja Cotton.

Sonja began her career in the late 80’s as a recruiting manager for a prominent Phoenix law firm. In this role, she was responsible for both the coordination and implementation of the clerk program and lateral attorney hiring. After six and a half years as a law firm attorney recruiter, it was only natural after continued success to take on a new challenge and join a top executive search firm to utilize her strong relationships within the community and her market knowledge in law.

After receiving tough training in-house and a proven success with easily gaining loyal clients and also ranking tops as a recruiter, it was time to take her skill set to, yet again, a new level. This time, she embarked on a new journey to start Sonja Cotton & Associates, a highly successful recruitment company specializing in both corporate and legal placements. She has been ranked number one for many consecutive years. With her combined law firm and corporate training in human resources and recruiting, she is a frequent speaker regarding the interview process and current hiring trends in the legal market.

Her outstanding community service and increasing business success have since expanded into the Phoenix, Las Vegas and New Mexico legal markets. Her innate ability to aggressively find highly qualified candidates for employers is a talent that is second nature to her. Because of her tremendous market knowledge, years of consulting experience, and strong community relationships, it is no surprise that she has successfully placed thousands of qualified candidates into rewarding new careers.

Has it been a smooth road?
Not always a smooth road for Sonja Cotton & Associates. The Great Recession was a struggle for every recruiter across the country. There were virtually no permanent positions available and large firms were laying off a record-breaking amount of employees. Sonja Cotton & Associates was lucky enough to have attained solid relationships with her clients who referred many candidates to them to try and help them find a new position. We would sit through countless interviews with people crying because they couldn’t find a position, were losing their homes and saw no relief in sight. We remained compassionate. It was a terrible time, but we survived. While other agencies were closing their doors, our company utilized the strong temporary placement market, thus keeping people working until the job market returned.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Sonja Cotton & Associates story. Tell us more about the business.
Sonja Cotton & Associates has built a strong reputation in Phoenix, Arizona. In fact, our tagline reads, “A name you can trust.” We specialize in the permanent and temporary placement of legal specialists, including attorneys, paralegals, administrators, secretaries and other support staff. We often hear from our candidate’s comment that they come to Sonja Cotton & Associates because we have the best jobs!

Our company started in late 2004. The owner, Sonja Cotton had a strong legal background working in top Phoenix law firms and decided that it was time to do what she had dreamed of doing since she began her legal career, become an executive search specialist to help people find jobs. It didn’t happen overnight. She worked three jobs to lift her company off the ground, but she was determined to be successful at what she loved doing and new she couldn’t give up. She knew it was time to fulfill her dream of starting a recruitment company. Little did she know how successful it would become. Now Sonja Cotton & Associates reaches to Colorado, Nevada, California, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Our future forecast: Sonja Cotton & Associates is based in Phoenix, Arizona where you find an emerging healthcare clientele. This is a great location and opportunity to add a healthcare division. The legal industry is also going through a major change in that technology has allowed law firms and corporate legal departments to downsize support staff assistance and bring on more technical assistance such as paralegals with strong technological skills. The attorney industry is changing as well following the Great Recession and hiring more specialized attorneys, especially with portable books of business. Sonja Cotton & Associates adapts to keep up with such demands.

Contact Info:

• Address: 11811 N. Tatum Boulevard
  Suite 3031 Phoenix, Arizona 85028
• Website: www.sonjacottonlaw.com
• Phone:(602) 230-7500
• Email:jobs@sonjacottonlaw.com

 

Image Credit:
Sarah Yohn, Kristine McElhaney

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