When A Law Firm Considers Who It Wants To Interview And Hire - Multiple People Ask, Do We Like This Attorney?
Description
In this insightful webinar, Harrison Barnes explores the critical considerations law firms make when deciding whom to interview and hire. He delves into the importance of a candidate's likability and how it influences hiring decisions. With practical examples and expert advice, Barnes provides valuable guidance for both job seekers and hiring managers in the legal field. Whether you are an aspiring attorney or a seasoned professional, this replay offers essential tips to help you navigate the hiring process effectively.
Transcript
Today's webinar is one of the most important in terms of the questions that law firms ask when they're hiring you. And, I did want to share this real briefly. This is the five most important things that law firms are asking whenever they're hiring you. I talk about this pretty much in every webinar. Today is about the fifth one: whether or not we like you, but it's also about whether you can do the job, which essentially asks if you have the qualifications and experience to do the work. Can you be managed, meaning do you look like you'll follow instructions and do what you're asked to do? Will you do the job long term, meaning do we believe that you'll stick around if you're offered the job? And the fourth one is, do you want the job, meaning people are more likely to hire you if you really want the job as opposed to if you don't. The fifth one, of course, is do we like you, which is what today is about.
This is actually about more than just liking you; it's about fitting in with the culture. It's about everything that's going on behind the scenes when people are made offers and join firms. It's also the most subjective, meaning it's not so much based on your qualities but more on the feeling you give people when they interview you, whether they feel like you'll support them, whether they actually want to spend time with you and like you. By the way, people hire people who are most like them. It doesn't necessarily matter what your background is, but they hire people with certain personality types. Some people are very detail-oriented, some are very enthusiastic, and so forth. Everyone has different types of personalities, and people tend to want to bring in people they feel share personalities similar to them.
When people look at your resume, a lot of questions come up. One of them is understanding how to be liked by law firms and other factors involved. Most law firms, by the way, have weaknesses in the hiring process. People will always get into certain law firms that don't have the qualifications to work there. People who shouldn't be hired are always hired. The main reason for that is because law firms are often hiring the most likable candidates. Ultimately, that's what happens. People with better qualifications are ignored, and resumes that come through from people they like are given preference. All sorts of things happen behind the scenes. Almost all hire discussions that I participate in, where I'm talking to law firms and they're choosing between multiple people, involve something that happened in the hiring process where someone really decided they liked the person. Somehow, interviewing was able to make a connection with someone, often not the most important person in the hiring process, but that person suddenly became an advocate for the candidate and convinced others it was the right choice.
I've seen that play out an incredible number of times. The connection made often makes the difference. It's also how people advance to partnership positions and other things as well, by making a connection. A strong advocate will typically downplay the attorney's weaknesses. If there are objections to the person for one reason or another, that advocate can downplay them. They'll often talk about the person's strengths and how those strengths will complement what the firm needs. They'll provide very compelling reasons for hiring that person over another.
I've seen this happen countless times. The reason it happens is just because someone is able to make a connection. Sometimes it's multiple people, but someone is able to make a connection with that candidate and then becomes their advocate. I had an experience very early in my placement career that I've never forgotten. I placed an attorney in Los Angeles with very good qualifications, very interesting, but he wasn't getting interviews. He fixed a few things on his resume, and suddenly everything changed. After six months or so, he was very unhappy at the firm. He called me, wanted to meet for lunch, and told me he was unhappy and didn't have any work. The partner he was working for had moved to another firm and wanted to know if I would help him get a new position. At the time, I believed that because I had placed him at the firm, I couldn't work with him. I felt that if I helped him move firms, it would be undermining one of my clients. So I told him that I couldn't help him move firms because I had placed him there, and it wouldn't be nice to them. He was upset and started crying, which surprised me because he wasn't the kind of guy you'd expect to start crying. He went back to the firm and told them what happened. They hired him, and this partner had left. I was the only person who had helped him get a job, and he couldn't get a job before working with me. It wasn't fair that I wasn't helping him.
A few days later, the firm called me. They had resurrected some people I had sent them several months previously and said they wanted to interview them. The recruiting coordinator at the firm said I was a new favorite recruiter and they wanted to do everything they could to connect with me and help me grow. My recruiting firm was pretty young at that point. In rapid succession, they immediately hired four candidates from me. The firm's recruiting coordinator told me they were prioritizing applicants from me because they knew they could trust me, which they said was rare in the business. In two cases, the same attorneys I had submitted had previously applied weeks earlier on their own, but the firm honored my submission and not the candidates' direct applications. In a couple of other cases, out of these people they hired, some were questionable in terms of their qualifications to work at this firm. One woman was maybe 15 years out and had only worked in-house. It was a very unusual hire for a top, highly regarded firm. I was very surprised.
But I constantly saw this sort of thing when I was recruiting. The first recruiter I ever hired, when I had just been doing the job for a couple of months, asked me if I could pay him a commission for attorneys hired at another firm, regardless of whether they came through him because he had a contact there. I asked who it was, and he told me it was a hiring partner and they lived together. I didn't think much of it, but I started responding to job orders from that firm and agreed to pay him a small commission. It ended up being an incredible business decision. We made hundreds of thousands of dollars in placements at this firm. They hired me exclusively for all their openings. I became their preferred recruiter, and they hired and found reasons to hire my candidates instead of those applying directly or through other recruiters for years, at least a decade. It was really something. Once this firm interviewed someone that came through me, they almost always hired them. A lot of times, there were things wrong with the attorneys. They were people you wouldn't think would get jobs there, but they did. It was an excellent firm and could have done better, but it valued that relationship.
This was a long time ago, but it taught me the importance of these sorts of connections. Connections matter. Your ability to be liked by other people matters. The ability of the person talking to others can make a huge difference. It really does. The power of your relationship with people inside the firm, whether it's the recruiter's relationship or your relationship, can make a huge difference. Law firms often overlook much better applicants and make the wrong hiring decisions, but they make them based on some sort of connection. For years, I dealt with a firm in the Midwest that would never interview or hire candidates I sent them. I didn't understand what was going on. I called the hiring partner and asked why. He told me he was friends with a recruiter who sent him all of his candidates, and he hired all his people through that recruiter. I thought it was similar to the situation I was dealing with when I was on the benefiting end of that. It didn't sound like a sound hiring process. It seemed harmful to the law firm and the candidates applying through this connection. I started asking around about this attorney and found out he had some drug problems and had been spiraling out of control for a few years. I was introduced to the head of the firm, and eventually, I was able to build a good relationship.
The point is that a lot of favoritism and connections are involved in law firm hiring. Firms often hire based on that favoritism and empower certain people inside the firms. There's nothing wrong with that; it's the firm's prerogative to hire the kind of people they want. They hire people coming through those with connections inside the firm, and these relationships can make a big difference. I'm not being critical of it. It can increase trust between people. People are tribal by nature, so they want to hire people they know. At one point, I looked around our company in a meeting and realized that everyone had come through someone else I trusted and liked. That's how a lot of things work in our business and in the hiring business. People hire people they like and trust.
When hiring, many law firms have biases that influence their decisions. These biases can be related to the timing of applications, the connections candidates have, or the perceived fit within the firm's culture. Understanding these biases can help you navigate the hiring process more effectively.
For instance, law firms often prioritize the first applicants for a position. The initial batch of resumes is typically reviewed, and interviews are scheduled from this pool. Subsequent applications might not receive the same level of attention, simply because the hiring team wants to conclude the process quickly. This means applying early can significantly increase your chances of getting hired.
Additionally, firms tend to hire people who are similar to their existing employees. This similarity might be in terms of background, personality, or interests. Establishing a connection with your interviewers by finding common ground can be crucial. This connection doesn't have to be profound; it can be as simple as shared interests or mutual acquaintances. The goal is to make the interviewer feel comfortable and see you as someone who fits into their existing team.
However, it's not just about getting hired; it's also about maintaining the job. To do this, you need to be seen as someone who can follow instructions, respect the firm's hierarchy, and contribute positively to the team. This often means balancing your personality to be assertive enough to stand out but not so much that you're perceived as a threat.
In summary, the keys to navigating the law firm hiring process include applying early, making connections, fitting into the firm's culture, and being a good follower who can be managed effectively. By understanding these dynamics, you can position yourself more favorably in the eyes of potential employers and increase your chances of securing and maintaining a position in a law firm.
