Are you pushing their buttons?

Law graduates of today are at home on the internet. They have been using the web for more than a decade, downloading the music, buying on Ebay, socialising via online communities like YouTube, My Space and Facebook and more recently Twitter; the internet is their first choice for research and communication. Are you interacting with them or just talking to them?

Graduate recruitment has undergone major changes over recent years, as online technologies have seen increasing numbers of employers direct their recruitment initiatives primarily online. Traditional print based recruitment leaflets, brochures and advertising obviously still has its place and the big law firms will still continue to make presentations on university campuses and at job fairs. However most firms are now using their web sites to, at least, handle initial job application submissions.

Today's graduates are at home on the internet. They have been using the web for a decade or more, downloading music, buying clothes online and then selling them again on Ebay, socialising via online communities like YouTube, and My Space and chatting through Messenger and Twitter; the internet is without a doubt the medium they turn to first.

It is not surprising then that applying for a job online is like falling out of bed. According to a recent survey in the FT last summer, 235 leading UK employers for the Association of Graduate Recruiters found that 70 per cent of companies accepted only online applications. Just 2 per cent accepted only paper applications.

Online advantages
The advantages of shifting as much as possible of the graduate recruitment process online are easy to identify. For a mid size or large UK law firm, for example, which receives hundreds of graduate applications each year the time saved could be the difference between winning and losing a top candidate, and competition between city law firms is intense.

Another advantage of the the internet is the access to a potentially much wider graduate pool from both home and abroad. Most students will have access to the internet and in most cases use the internet to do their initial employer background research. They will therefore form their initial judgments based on the strength of a particular firm's website, it's look and feel and it's content and online submission processes.

Speed and efficiency
According to a recent FT article, for accountancy group KPMG, the online application process is compulsory for its own graduate recruitment, and they say the impact on efficiency has been huge. Previously a large amount of time would be taken sending rejection letters, they say, but the new system helps filter candidates more thoroughly and ensures the company's ability to get back to both successful and unsuccessful candidates as quickly as possible. The speed factor is helpful to candidates, too, as they spend less time in limbo waiting for an answer. Long before an application form is completed, however, the internet can help students decide whether a company is really for them or not. These “self deselection” tools are now quite common on many law firm websites and are becoming ever more sophisticated and challenging.

In terms of the application process itself, the balance between online and traditional elements may not change too much in the future, apart from the possibility of more interviewing via web-based videoconferencing. There is likely, however, to be a lot more use of the internet by employers for making much earlier contact with potential employees, long before an application form is considered.

Social networking
Social community sites such as MySpace, YouTube and Facebook open up a new forum for employers to make contact with potential new recruits. These social search networks owe their growth to the power of viral marketing and have huge potential to firms trying to tap into and communicate with students and graduates. Success in targeting these communities as with traditional online forums is most importantly based on how you do it.

The bottom line is that most UK law firms still treat online recruitment with a distinct lack of imagination and insight. Some have attempted to address the issue with no more than a couple of favourable quotes from last years trainees plus an online form. While others, including several magic circle firms, have concentrated on standalone microsites with a dry static mix of FAQ style content.

Creative, interactive, structured graduate content or microsites that are cleverly presented to engage today's students and graduates on their own level and in their own environment are sadly in short supply.

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