THE SMART WAY TO HIRE WHY IT’S TIME TO SHAKE UP YOUR LAW FIRM’S HIRING PROCESS
Most businesses use a similar hiring process. Prospective candidates send in their resumes for the hiring manager to review. Then, based on almost nothing more than those resumes, they decide who is valuable enough for an in- person interview. Finally, after a 30–60-minute conversation, they choose the perfect employee. If that doesn’t sound crazy to you, keep reading! First, a resume isn’t an adequate yardstick to measure skills and competency. Anyone can throw words on a page, and there’s nothing qualitative in even an honest work history. Simply knowing that someone completed certain tasks isn’t an indicator of how well they did them, and, while adding an interview is a necessary improvement, it doesn’t solve the problem. The truth is, if you hire someone after only two steps, you won’t know their true skill level. Instead of evidence, you’ll need to rely on assumptions and guesses. Themissing piece of the hiring puzzle is a test of competence. At Spotlight Branding, we’ve solved that problemby sending all of our applicants a
pre-interview assessment to complete at home. You can do the same thing by giving potential employees mock work to do before their interviews; for example, send them contracts to review and give feedback on or request that they draft amock letter or email to assess how they would communicate in a specific scenario. This allows you to spend your time wisely by only interviewing the candidates with demonstrated abilities. Furthermore, we suggest providing another test that is in-person after the interview. This usually means providing the candidate with a private spot in the office for a second round of mock work.
That will give you a chance to see how they work in real time and lay to rest any concerns about whether they had assistance on the original test or struggled to complete it in a timely manner. When designing these tests, ask yourself, “What do I want to test for?” Is it their ability to craft an argument on the spot? Their writing skills? Their attention to detail? Choose a skillset, then work backward to identify tasks that can demonstrate it. Paired with a clear job description and challenging interview questions, this hiring formula is practically foolproof. And, it sure beats making decisions off of just a resume and a conversation!
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THE ULTIMATE (AND FREE) BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONAL APP
If you’re looking for more great resources to drive your business forward, take a look at these episodes from our industry-leading podcast: The Law Firm Marketing Minute.
At Spotlight Branding, we use Trello as our primary workflow management tool. However, this app is so versatile that it can practically be whatever you want it to be. This free app has been immeasurably helpful in allowing us to manage projects for our clients and keep ourselves organized with our other daily tasks. This app works like a virtual board with individual cards you can use to organize and work through projects. Each card comes with the ability to import attachments like PDFs or other documents to keep everything in one place. You can also assign due dates on a card so that nothing ever falls through the cracks. Best of all, multiple people can collaborate on a board, so it truly can be something everyone in the office uses to keep projects moving forward. While there are other specific case management softwares out there, Trello can be great for you to brainstorm ideas, organize your daily tasks, or map out other initiatives in your firm.
WHAT SHOULD A WEBSITE COST FOR MY LAW FIRM? – LFMM 276
In this episode, we explore what your law firm website should cost. It’s also important to understand what you’re getting technically and strategically. That’s going to help you compare pricing from one competitor to the next. Find out what the range for this service should be today! If you want more referrals, better clients, and higher ROI on all your marketing, call us today at 800-406-7229 to schedule a consultation!
Listen to this episode and find even more at LawFirmMarketingMinute.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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