From the ground up

Any graduate recruitment programme can represent a challenging task, particularly if the firm is seeking talent in a market that is not so established '“ or is still evolving '“ as other global jurisdictions. This case study looks at the programme implemented at the Moscow office of US firm White & Case LLP.

By Inga Masjule, White & Case LLP

Graduate recruitment in law firms around the world ranges from being very organised and systematic to being completely unstructured and ad hoc. A lot depends on the size of the firm, the type of practice and the culture of the country where the firm is located.

Having recently been involved in setting up a graduate-recruitment programme for an international law firm in Moscow, I thought it perhaps fitting to offer some suggestions in the event you are ever challenged to start up a graduate-recruitment function for an evolving or new market, or need ideas to 'perk up' your current recruiting process.

Win support from internal stakeholders
In my opinion, this is the key to success of any initiative in a law-firm environment and is especially true for a graduate-recruitment programme.

To be successful, the programme requires a lot of time, effort, financial resource and, most of all, lawyer dedication. It needs to offer something back to the lawyers '“ an opportunity to connect back to their own university, to develop professionally as a speaker or a mentor, to influence new people who are joining the firm, or an opportunity to build a team of law students.

There is plenty to do and lawyers can be involved in many ways '“ reviewing resumes, interviewing students, participating in career fairs, reviewing written essay submissions, judging competitions, reading lectures at universities, participating in open houses, developing seminar materials or mentoring summer students. We involve partners and associates, with preference given to more junior lawyers.

Build strong relationships with universities and student organisations
This is important in any market and especially in a developing jurisdiction such as Russia, where recruiting links between universities and firms do not yet exist.

In Moscow (a city of 13 million) alone, there are more than 1,200 law schools and over 20,000 law-school graduates every year. The standards of education vary greatly from school to school and there are no rankings or formal methods of pre-screening students. We had to start from scratch and develop our own methods as we progressed.

Our goal is not just to hire students for today, but to build relationships for tomorrow. White & Case has a strong tradition of pro bono work and supporting legal education. Since 2002, the firm has organised and managed the Russian National Championship of the Philip C. Jessup Moot Court Competition. This year, 200 students from 43 universities in 22 cities from across Russia attended the competition. The members of winning teams are often offered positions on our summer programme.

To build relationships with universities, we focus on their needs '“ our lawyers read lectures in universities on a regular basis, we donate books, sponsor the writing of legal books, support student events and competitions, hold open houses for students, and organise legal career fairs. Recently, a large university in Moscow has decided to establish a White & Case chair at the law faculty. This way, our lectures will be included as part of the regular curriculum for law students at that university.

Our lawyers see these initiatives as an opportunity to give back to their schools and to the community. And in addition to attracting the brightest students, we also receive public recognition. Earlier this year, Corporate Lawyer, a monthly Russian legal journal, honoured White & Case for its contribution to the development of Russian legal education.

Evaluate cost-effective ways to reach your target audience
Advertising to graduates and students is still in the very early stages in Russia. There are almost no publications for law students in the country. As in other areas, we had to start from scratch here '“ we designed all of our graduate recruitment materials in-house, producing various branded items for students.

I have not found graduate recruitment materials and brochures to be very effective. The best advertising for graduates and students in our market is still word-of-mouth. We are one of the largest legal recruiters in the market, and we use a two-page leaflet and provide information on our website.

Writing articles for magazines, newspapers and student publications profiling our junior lawyers, competitions, and our summer programme all work well for us. We also invite the media to our larger events. We have also developed a short film about our firm that we show at career fairs and student conferences.

In general, our objective for the graduate recruitment advertising campaign was to create a sense of excitement and get students talking about our firm '“ which, in turn, prompted many of them to apply. White & Case's summer programme is also a huge attraction for students '“ such opportunities for law students are still relatively uncommon in Russia.

Use best recruitment practices to interview and evaluate graduates
When I arrived at White & Case, the assessment of candidates at all levels was limited to a traditional one-on-one interview and the outcome was often highly dependent on the interviewer: his or her interest in the candidate, and personality fit. I was surprised to find out that most of the interviewing was carried out only by lawyers, without the involvement of HR or marketing professionals.

When it comes to interviewing graduates, many traditional interviewing methods cannot be used very effectively '“ most law-school graduates in Russia have little or no job experience, English is not their first language and they are unsure how to present themselves. All of this makes it difficult to evaluate them.

In our office we have developed a graduate-assessment programme that enables us to make better hiring decisions both for summer students and permanent junior legal positions.

As part of this programme we use a number of assessment methods, such as: open houses, where we meet and assess students in an informal setting over lunch; phone interviews, where we pre-screen students; graduate interview days, where 12 to 15 students (in quick succession) get interviewed by a panel of two lawyers and an HR staff member; and, essay submissions, where we ask students to write short-answer essays, in English, on a number of topics. We also encourage referrals and informal contact between applicants and existing employees, to ensure we choose the students who are most likely to become successful associates at our firm.

To process the resumes we receive efficiently, we have implemented an online applicant-management system. This is used to process all résumés, schedule interviews, send online interview evaluation forms and store interview evaluations.

Create a summer programme to evaluate student potential
One of the key assessment methods for graduate students is our summer programme.

Started in 2006, the summer programme is organised every July and August. We take between 15 to 20 law students, generally in their final year of studies at university.

The objectives of our summer programme are to enable the students to develop an understanding of what it is like to work in an international law firm; to provide them with the chance to learn practical skills that they are not taught at university and to evaluate their potential as junior lawyers for our firm.

Each summer student is mentored by two associates in different practice groups. During the programme, students attend seminars and lectures presented by our lawyers and partners, receive practical assignments and do a lot of socialising and team-building. We have a structured evaluation process where students are given feedback throughout the summer programme, with a formal evaluation at the end. In the past, we have made offers to approximately 90 per cent of all students who have successfully completed the programme.

Building a graduate recruitment programme from the ground-up is a challenge. It is even more challenging to do it in an evolving market, such as Russia. One lesson we have learned here applies to those recruiting young lawyers anywhere in the world. No matter where you are or what you do, your competition will always catch up. You should never stop developing and implementing new ideas for your graduate recruitment endeavours. ?

Inga Masjule is HR director at White & Case LLP. She can be contacted at imasjule@moscow.whitecase.com