Get good candidates by harnessing basic tech tools

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By Elizabeth Millard
Dolan Newswires

As many executives have noted, it’s the people that make a company great, not the products or services. But often, finding the right employees can feel daunting, especially with such a high demand for skilled talent.

Let technology come to the rescue.

Fine-tune your recruiting and get better results by tapping into technology-fueled tactics. Here are some tips for your next hunting trip:

Limit or skip using the job boards

Online job boards like Monster.com and CareerBuilder have their place, but in law offices, they tend to be much less effective.

“Job boards are today’s version of the classified ads,” says Mike Frommelt, a principal at executive search firm KeyStone Search. “It’s a passive approach. You’re hoping someone will see the ad, but those aren’t he kind of candidates you want, usually.”

He notes that when searching for attorneys, a law firm needs to tell a compelling story, and job boards don’t allow for that level of interaction. Even with non-attorney positions, the boards don’t reach the type of candidates that most firms tend to desire, Frommelt believes. “You want the people who aren’t actively searching, the ones who are happy in their jobs. Those are the best candidates, and those people aren’t surfing around on Monster.com.”

Get to know the nuances of LinkedIn

Launched from the living room of its co-founder, LinkedIn is fast becoming a go-to resource for professional connections. According to the company, about two new members sign up per second.

Recruiters love the site, and so should you, because it features not only the resumes of its members but also testimonials, updated skills information, photos and indications of who’s in each person’s network.

Particularly useful are the groups, which can have thousands of members internationally or a small, local presence. You don’t need to join a group to see discussions or member profiles, although it’s useful to join if you want to post job openings. Because the openings are emailed to every member of the group as well as archived on the LinkedIn site, this can be a free, effective way to find candidates, believes Doug Berg, co-founder of Minneapolis-based Jobs2web and “chief recruiting geek” at SuccessFactors, which recently acquired Jobs2web.

“I’ve heard about tremendous success using the LinkedIn groups to post jobs, and that makes sense,” he says. “You have people within a focused area of expertise.” For example, if looking for patent attorneys, a user can do a search on that specialty and then refine the focus more by location.

Use the company’s website more effectively

To see an example of stunning recruiting practices, look at the Bloomington-based Nerdery, a firm that builds interactive projects. Even in a very competitive market for technology professionals, the company added 120 employees last year and is on track to hire at least that many this year, said Hillary Heinz, the company’s marketing producer.

Part of that success comes from emphasizing the company culture on the website and having a frequently updated blog. Photos of company parties and events are helpful as well. “Our site is designed to show off our culture but also our capabilities,” Heinz says. “We have a casual dress code and free soda, but we’re also advanced in terms of technology, and we hire people who have a passion about that. Our site helps to showcase what we offer.”

Since about 25 percent of new hires come from employee referrals, the company has set up separate pages on the website for each employee so they can do recruiting themselves. The URL of each person’s page is on his or her business card, and employees can personalize the site with their own content and photos, notes David Medwid, the firm’s “nerd hunter.” He says, “This helps to remind the site visitor of who they met, and they feel more personally connected that way.”

For law firms, clearly articulating the culture is especially important in recruiting, Frommelt adds. All other efforts to recruit — hiring a search firm, working a LinkedIn network, etc. — lead candidates to the firm’s site. Having frequently updated pages that reflect the firm’s vision, culture, news, practice areas and other major differentiators can be crucial.

Tweet wisely and find Twitter leaders

When sending job postings into the online ether, Twitter can be useful as both a bulletin board and a more active tool.

But much like Monster.com, these types of listings can sometimes get lost in the online noise, Berg says.

He suggests finding a “Twitter leader,” someone with a strong following who can tweet about the job as well. This might be a hiring manager at your company, but it could also be someone within the industry who is well respected and is very active on Twitter.

Also effective is to harness Twitter in a way that draws people into the discussion. For instance, the Nerdery recently hosted a Twitter job chat, in which 200 of its employees participated in an online Q&A. The company then posted the best parts of the chat on its daily blog.

Consider video interviewing

If the candidate is in another state or another country, it’s possible to get that same in-person feel with a service like Skype. To get more cutting edge, take a look at local startup Hyier, which allows companies to get video responses from candidates.

Hyier lets clients see the personality and communication skills of a potential employee, says founder Derek Buschow. Clients can ask specific questions that should be addressed in the video. For example, a company may ask how candidates handle last-minute deadlines, and then the hiring manager can compare the answers.

In general, Berg suggests that the final interview step should still involve meeting a candidate face-to-face — we’re not yet at the point of sending in robotic avatars, after all — but refinement of technology-based strategies can develop a strong pool of candidates with minimal expense.

Hiring for a law firm or filling corporate counsel positions can be challenging, but technology tools can aid in telling the organization’s story effectively and persuasively.

Elizabeth Millard has been writing about technology for 16 years. She attended Harvard University and formerly served as senior editor at ComputerUser.