New York Lawyer
August 16, 2001

Q:
I feel like we have a hiring problem here. Recently, I and others in my firm interviewed a young lawyer for an associate job. She seemed extremely nice and her resume was golden � top grades, law review, you name it. She said she was very interested in insurance defense litigation, which is what we do. She seemed like a perfect fit, so we hired her.

Well � after a few months it became apparent we had made a big mistake. I don�t know how she had such a stellar law school record, but we found her to be uncooperative and she made big mistakes. Amazingly, she spent all her time planning her wedding rather than working. How could we go so wrong?

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A:
Hiring is one of the hardest things organizations do. It�s also arguably the most important, especially in a knowledge-based industry such as the law where you�re only as good as the people you have. While many mainstream corporations have highly evolved hiring systems, law firms often have a pretty basic approach: the candidate has the skill set, she seems nice, let�s hire her. What this doesn�t address are the candidate�s values, decision-making abilities and work habits.

Many legal employers put far too much emphasis on law school performance, grades and skill sets. Academic performance is an indicator but not a guarantee of future success. Think of all the successful people in the world who performed dismally in school! So you should be willing to look beyond the golden resume and discussions of grades, practice interests and experience.

An approach I call �stealth interviewing� is to ask about anything but the obvious, since candidates will have canned answers for questions they can anticipate. Instead, ask candidates to talk informally about things such as their hobbies, where they live and where they went to school. Listen closely to how they made decisions. Does the candidate talk about picking a college because it was small, collegial and close-knit? Maybe he won�t fit in to your large, rough-and-tumble law firm. Or does the applicant talk about pursuing a hobby to the point where she became so expert she began teaching others? That would mesh well if your workplace emphasizes teamwork and knowledge building.

If the potential hire talks fondly of enjoying the spotlight and responding to lots of attention, consider whether he�d work well in your egalitarian workplace where people don�t spend a lot of time celebrating successes. In short, add up the informal clues the person tosses out to get a sense of what�s important to him or her. The other side of the coin is that you must have a realistic understanding of the characteristics and culture of your office so you know who is likely to share your values and attitudes versus those who will bomb out.

And beware of counting on a feeling of personal chemistry as an entrance requirement. You will likely only hire people who look and act like you and come from a similar background. Successful workplaces tend to have a diverse staff. While it�s absolutely necessary to hire people who share the firm�s values and who have the right skill set, be open to different styles and personalities so that you don�t become a bunch of Stepford lawyers.

Sincerely,
Holly English
Principal Consultant, Values at Work