Attorney Recruiter Reveals Four Secrets to Hiring Top Legal Talent

Attorney recruiter and leadership expert Scott Love shares four key secrets to winning top legal talent to your firm.

(PRWEB) November 29, 2004 -- When it comes to hiring top legal talent, the concepts are very simple to understand. It's just a matter of doing those things that win the most desirable candidates to your team. "It really is that simple," says Scott Love, founder of the Attorney Search Group. "But the problem is that most people never take the time to find out what really motivates the candidate."

Love says that there are four critical steps to make your firm more appealing to the talent that everyone else is chasing after. In an increasingly competitive market, you need to think out of the box and focus on how you can serve the prospective candidate pool.

1. Get clear on the uniqueness of your organization and the opportunities within it. Love states that most law firms miss the mark when it comes to this because they've never taken time to look at their firm from a marketing perspective. "Marketing is all about differentiation, so you need to find out what is different about your firm and what is different about the experience that a recent graduate or lateral will feel when working there." Love recommends talking to partners and associates and getting their feedback through confidential surveys. Ask them why they joined, why they stay, and if there was one thing that they would pass on to a prospective candidate, what would it be?

2. Find out from the candidate what motivates him or her beyond compensation and show how your firm can deliver on those desires. Find out what the top three things are that they would need to see at an opportunity (outside of compensation) and present your firm or in-house position in those terms. Love sums it up by saying, "Don't sell your firm based on why you joined it or why you find it appealing. Instead, find out why someone else would join it, and show them that your opportunity will help them achieve what they really want. Remember, it's not about you. It's about them."

3. When the candidate transitions, stay with them. At the time they turn their notice in, they are susceptible to changing their minds and taking a counteroffer to stay. "That's the most critical time of the whole deal and the time that they need to build positive relationships with as many future colleagues as possible." Love says that the mistake most employers make is to assume that the deal is closed when the candidate accepts the offer. "It's not closed until they show up, and even then sometimes it's not really closed."

4. Love says to tell stories of how a future colleague is experiencing what that prospect wants to experience. Tell success stories that validate that the motivations of the candidate can be realized within your firm. "Credibility is built on specificity. If you back it up with factual evidence, such as stories, then it's not your opinion but an irrefutable fact. If you tell them your opinion, then it loses credibility. But if you say, 'Let me tell you about one of our partners and how she is doing here what you tell me is important to you,' then you win them over completely."

Love is also the author of two books on recruiting and writes a nationally syndicated leadership column called 'Leading to Win." He conducts associate, partner, and in-house counsel searches and also keynotes at corporate and association meetings on leadership, rain-making, and building authentic employee motivation. He can be reached at 828-225-7700 or at www.attorneysearchgroup.com.

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