As we bottom out on the recession and move into recovery, many corporate legal departments have started making what they believe are opportunistic hires. They seem to think that recent layoffs have made it easier to find candidates with the right legal and interpersonal skills. That's just not so. Instead, the abundance of unemployed attorneys has actually made the good-to-excellent candidates more difficult to find, since they are afraid to leave their current jobs. "Active" recruiting is required to locate the top attorneys and avoid paying cash for a potential clunker.
Do these statements sound familiar? "It is a buyer's market for candidates today!" "Finding a great employee is a cinch when you get 200 resumes the first week after a job posting!"
Have you been hearing these kinds of statements in your organization lately? Do you think they're true? If you do, we recommend that you ease your foot off the hiring accelerator and consider some of the realities of the current market, candidate pool and recruiting dynamics.
As the dust begins to clear from the recent economic downturn, in-house legal groups are starting to hire again. Some are filling positions that have been on the books for months, but were put on hold due to recession-induced downsizings, hiring freezes and other economic uncertainties. Others are jumping in because they want to upgrade the quality of their legal groups and believe there are opportunities to hire some excellent candidates whose industries have been decimated. Others, who had temporarily outsourced some of their legal work, now want to bring that work in-house.
Whatever the reason, the path to finding the right candidates for a particular position is currently obscured by a veritable avalanche of attorneys who are unemployed because the recession. The unusually large numbers of unemployed attorneys are muddying the waters and clogging the candidate pipeline. (Note: OK, we are being a bit cute here with the title of our article, and mean no disrespect to recently laid off lawyers. As discussed below, there can be valid reasons for top talent to be part of a RIF. In all candor, unemployed candidates need to understand that they bear the burden of proof in explaining to potential employers that they were not laid off for performance related reasons.) On top of that, HR departments and hiring managers are inundated with internal issues caused by the recession. As a result, most companies simply don't have the resources or market knowledge to decide whether an unemployed lawyer is an outstanding candidate, and many of them are literally paying the price.
Studies show that a bad hire can cost 50 to 200 percent of a person's salary and benefits. In addition, these misfit hires often strain customer relations and lead to negative publicity. Then there are the difficulties, legal issues and other problems involved with the separation once the company realizes they must cut their losses and let the new hire go. But the quality of the hires, not the costs, should be the concern.
What is particularly frustrating is that many companies have bought into the theory that we're in a "buyer's market," and though they wouldn't hire on their own in a good economy, they are attempting to do so now, often with ill-fated results. If you think that the right candidate will reach out to you if you simply post an ad on your company's Web site, you may need to reconsider. That approach is as replete with problems as it has always been and will in no way ensure that you get the candidate who is the perfect fit for your efforts.
In the current environment, the right candidates are even harder to find than usual - because the sheer number of available attorneys can obscure them and the top candidates are less likely to want to move given the current economic uncertainties. You always need to find them, rather than sitting back and hoping they find you. Therefore, you need to look for the "passive" candidates - those attorneys who have the correct skill set for your position but are not actively in the job market.
Slogging through hundreds of resumes is not the way to find these candidates. Your search must be purposeful, swift and targeted. Research must be performed to determine where the right candidates for your specific position are likely to be found and then they need to be approached in a positive, open manner.
You must reach out and find the diamonds in the rough. You or your recruiter need to have personal conversations with attorneys who weren't even thinking of moving, but will consider it now that they have learned of the terrific position you are attempting to fill. It will help attract them if you have an expertly crafted job description with all of the performance objectives clearly outlined.
Once you've found the most-qualified candidates, a thorough screening is essential. It is the only way to obtain critical information about a candidate that isn't available on their resume or revealed in an interview. Recruiters typically examine potential candidates from a number of perspectives so the hiring party can be as well-informed as possible. This includes "testing" them in various public situations, so their interpersonal abilities and persona will be revealed. Additionally, the candidate should be asked to express, in writing, how they believe their skill set matches the job requirements, why they're seeking this particular position and any other relevant issues.
Recruiters, whether internal or external, should document the timeliness with which the candidate complies with the screening process, how they answer questions posed to them - factual and behavioral - and the kinds of questions they ask. They should be able to tell you if the candidate is motivated to do the work required and if their personal style will fit with the culture of the organization and the people to whom they will be reporting and/or overseeing. Screenings should enable the recruiter to determine if the person has the ability to properly prioritize work, deal with "crunch" periods, work well under pressure, manage disciplinary matters and oversee workers, and interact appropriately with customers. It should be clear that they will be able to handle the types of situations demanded by the position.
Once a candidate has completed the initial screening and interview process, it is important to do a thorough reference check - asking substantive, open-ended questions of several references. We recommend creating a checklist that is unique to each candidate and noting any potential concerns such as their maturity related to a certain task, ability to interact with executives, etc. And don't just rely on the names the candidate provides. You need to go beyond those people to find some clients, colleagues and/or personal connections who aren't already on their list (with the candidate’s permission of course).
Candidates sometimes misrepresent the reasons they have been let go from a previous position, and even a "for-cause" termination is much easier to hide in a job market like this, in which layoffs are prevalent. Therefore it is critical to use every available resource to confirm the real reason a candidate ended their previous employment. This is another reason to expand your hiring team as this kind of due diligence takes time and is generally best handled by objective outside specialists.
It is helpful to have in-depth knowledge of the legal market and how various legal employers are handling current staffing levels. For example, it is easier to believe an unemployed candidate's story that they were laid off because there was "no work" when one is aware that their firm just lost a big client that the candidate was supporting, or that their company sold off an in-house division that cut their legal work in half. You need to be able to determine if a candidate was laid off through no fault of their own, and when there was cause. It is this kind of "insider" market knowledge you should seek when looking for a search professional to assist you.
Another thing that can help ensure that your company's search is successful is to find the industry niches and geographic markets that have been hardest hit by the economic downturn - and therefore have a large quantity of skilled attorneys who have recently become unemployed. Distressed industries, such as auto and financial services, as well as geographies in economic decline have a glut of extremely qualified candidates right now, many of whom are willing to relocate for jobs with more upside potential.
In addition, there are certain types of legal needs that are mounting - for instance, we are seeing a great demand for regulatory specialists and compliance attorneys at all levels. To find lawyers skilled in these areas, when demand is high, takes an extremely focused effort; these types of lawyers are seldom laid off.
In some companies, the recession has produced cultural changes. This has created a demand for senior-level attorneys with strategic corporate experience and wide-ranging skill sets. Companies are also looking for candidates whose visions are consistent with their own. To find all of these traits in one individual is not easy. If you rely solely on resume reviews and "key word" searches, your efforts will be unlikely to produce the results you are after.
Whatever your hiring needs, remember, as the haystack gets bigger, the needle gets harder to find.
Julie Daniels is a managing director in the Dallas office of Major, Lindsey & Africa, a legal search firm. Previously, she served as Director of Legal Affairs for two consumer products companies. She then worked for a national staffing company, where she was responsible for business development and legal recruiting. She can be reached at (214) 378-1010 or jdaniels@mlaglobal.com.
Robin D. Kardon is a managing director in Major, Lindsey & Africa’s San Diego office. She practiced for 10 years as a commercial litigator, including time as head of the litigation team at Goldstine, Skrodzki, Russian, Nemec & Hoff. She can be reached at (858) 202-5348 or rkardon@mlaglobal.com.
Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal copyright 2010 Daily Journal Corporation. All rights reserved.