First impressions are always important. While an interview may not be a firm’s first impression of a candidate—as they have reviewed the candidate’s resume prior to the meeting—it is the candidate’s overall first impression of the firm. A well-structured, properly-conducted, thorough interview gives candidates a glimpse into a firm’s culture and a good idea about whether or not it could be their best fit. If they do not like an important aspect of their interview, then they might not consider accepting an offer from that firm. Law firms are unknowingly losing their top candidates, due to a variety of reasons within the interview process. In this blog, you can find a list of some common reasons that a firm’s interview process might be costing them talent, along with some solutions to these problems.
High Competition in the Market for Legal Talent
The legal talent market is more competitive than ever. There is a high demand for top talent, with a significant shortage of legal professionals in several areas of practice, like real estate finance, IP, and labor/employment litigation. Firms are searching for the best of the best. As a result, top legal candidates are often presented with multiple offers, and typically have very high expectations for what they want in a firm and in their career. Candidates and firms alike are becoming increasingly selective throughout the hiring process, which is why impressions made during interviews are so important.
Slow Hiring Processes
If your firm takes too long to make a decision, it is likely for a top candidate to go with another offer. Hiring processes can have lengthy timelines, often caused by decision paralysis or a delay of multiple partners providing their consensus. This has the potential to deter candidates from waiting around for an offer at all, or even accepting. For example, the RMN Agency once had a candidate wait over three weeks to hear back from a BigLaw firm. While she was waiting, she was given an offer from a boutique firm and accepted. Even when she finally got an offer from the BigLaw firm, she felt tied to her word and stuck with the position at the boutique firm.
Here, we also see generational differences and challenges come into play. Gen Z, to which the current first-to-fifth-year associates belong, has built for themselves a reputation of having short attention spans—they will likely be turned off if they find the process taking too long. To combat this, firms should streamline their decision-making in order to move candidates through the hiring process as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Poorly Structured Interviews
Two crucial factors of interview structure are consistency and trained interviewers. If interviewers are asking different questions from interview to interview, or failing to evaluate key competencies within the candidates, then they are not truly getting a proper feel for who may be the best fit for the position. In addition, if the interviewer is untrained, lacking interviewing skills and an ability to connect with someone they are just meeting, then candidates may not feel inclined to consider the firm as a serious option. An easy solution to this is to implement a standard framework for all interviews at your firm, as well as training for all interviewers. Also, it would benefit firms to consider adding a social component to the final rounds of interviews. Sharing a meal—or some other type of after-hours social—in a casual setting can go a long way in observing the way a candidate fits in with current employees, as well as their soft skills.
Overly Rigid Requirements
Some firms tend to overlook skill and potential, instead overemphasizing pedigree. In doing so, they forget that the most important thing is a candidate’s ability to do their job, not how high they were ranked in law school or how prestigious their previous firms were. Avoiding non-traditional backgrounds causes many firms to miss out on diverse candidates who could bring new perspectives into their environments. In order to not run into these issues, firms will want to reassess what is most important for performance in the position and emphasize a focus on that during interviews.
The Candidate Experience
If you give a candidate a bad experience during their interview, you are essentially building a challenging reputation for yourself. Avoid unclear communication: do not ghost the candidate, give them vague timelines, or frustrate them by rejecting them abruptly. Make sure the interview is not too impersonal. You want to provide your candidate with a good understanding of your firm’s culture, values, and enthusiasm in the workplace. Making your candidate feel welcome is equally helpful in giving them a positive experience, and will likely make them feel more inclined to consider accepting an offer, should you extend one.
Lack of Flexibility in Scheduling
Candidates are often interviewing while juggling full-time caseloads, as well as various things in their personal lives. If your firm is not being flexible enough with their interview scheduling, then it may become too inconvenient for a candidate to continue considering the position seriously. To best help the busy legal professionals who are taking your interviews, offer early, late, or remote time slots that they can work around their full schedules, and also be quick with scheduling—do not leave them hanging for too long. The RMN Agency’s legal recruiters are experts in assisting you with interview logistics and rescheduling, and they can aid you in improving this part of your interview process.
How to Fix It: A Smarter Interview Strategy
Losing top legal candidates due to a flawed interview process translates directly into lost time, money, and significant potential for your firm. The competitive legal market demands a proactive approach. It is imperative for HR and legal leadership to immediately review and improve their interview processes. By implementing a candidate-centric interviewing strategy, modernizing workflows with technology, and crafting a compelling narrative about your firm, you can transform your hiring process. Hiring the best legal talent starts with respecting their time, as well as demonstrating that your firm is worthy of their trust. Partnering with a trusted legal recruiter who intimately understands your firm culture, interview process, and specific needs will end up saving your own time, as well.
