Six Ways to Ruin Your Brand

By Andi Cullins, Guest Contributor –

By now we’ve all read that the job market is turning around.   We’re noting that most Boomers really will retire – sooner rather than later – and law firms will have to contend with the skill gap.  This means the competition for the best talent is going to intensify.

In these days of social media and crowd sourcing, your firm is in no position to waste a marketing and branding opportunity with poor interview experiences.  Candidates, especially the highly sought after, have more clout than ever.  Firms need to realize that they are being evaluated and branded as potential employers by every lateral candidate who walks through their doors.  What’s more, those laterals have the means to broadcast their experiences by word of mouth and via social media.  The message they convey, for the good or the not so good, will impact who is willing to apply to the firm in the future.

Firms must keep in mind that each interview, regardless of level or outcome, impacts their employer brand.  With every meeting you are sending a message about how you value people, how well you keep commitments, how easy — or not — it is to get decisions from firm management and what’s the probability you will support your new hires.  Squandering these opportunities puts a firm at risk for winding up on the bottom of the list when serious talent is ready to make a move.

Here’s a list of the top 6 things you can do to seriously sully your employer brand.

1) Don’t respond to resumes.  A simple response is basic courtesy and easily achievable.   Yet this is the number one complaint from job seekers.  Lack of response says: we don’t even care enough to acknowledge your attempt.

2) Once you have contacted a person, don’t communicate with them again for a few weeks, months, or ever..  “Our time is more valuable than yours” is the inadvertent message.  No one wants to work for a black hole.

3) Turn the interview into the Spanish Inquisition, making it feel like an interrogation rather than an exchange of information.  Or, act like you are doing the candidate a favor by interviewing them.  Arrogance, even when unintentional, is not a quality most people look for in a potential employer.

4) Promise decisions or next steps at a certain time, but don’t follow through with your response as agreed.  Presenting your firm as a place where decisions are never made and people’s time is not valued will not set you up as an employer of choice.

5) String candidates along when they don’t fit the job and you have no plans to hire them.  There are only two reasons firms do this and neither of them are valid.  Either you think you are being kind and just can’t bear to say NO, or you are delaying in hopes of finding a better candidate.  Both will backfire.  Even a negative answer will allow the candidate to move on gracefully.  Holding on to what you may perceive as a mediocre candidate will only serve to lose you the candidate.  Ultimately they will go somewhere more responsive.

6) Go bargain hunting with your offers. This isn’t just how the offer compares to market, but where the offer is in relation to the position range and other individuals within your firm at a comparable level.  No one wants to feel their new employer was trying to take financial advantage of them.  Eventually word will get out that you are overly zealous of your budgetary conservation measures.

Savvy firms understand that every lateral who applies becomes a walking advertisement for them.

Each person will form an opinion based largely on how your interview process made them feel. In 2014 and beyond, they all have the means to spread the word as never before.  And, that will become your Employer Brand.

Guest Blog Author

Andi Cullins specializes in placing partners at law firms and corporations and assisting law firms in merger situations. Creative and insightful are words used to describe Andi. As a problem-solver who considers the overall needs of an organization, she employs a consultative approach and develops long-standing client relationships through value-added services. Representative engagements include: representation and placement of very high level government professionals, executive recruiting and coaching to build local offices of major law firms, and strategic planning for a number of law firm and professional services clients.

She has worked for The McCormick Group for more than 20 years, serving as an executive search consultant, a manager, and a corporate trainer. Andi first joined The McCormick Group in 1978 and came back in 2001. Throughout her career she has received numerous performance awards, including Rookie of the Year, Account Executive of the Year, Outstanding Achievement Award for Management, and designation as a member of the President’s Circle.

During her hiatus from the company, she served as Regional Vice President for Staffing and Mobility at Citibank – Mid-Atlantic, President and Principal Consultant for the Cullins Consulting Group, and Management Consultant for Knowledge Workers, Inc. Her experience includes developing programs in behavioral interviewing techniques for managers, training in diversity management and sexual harassment avoidance, communication and negotiation skills workshops, consulting skills training, performance management planning and coaching, and succession planning.

Andi served as a commissioner for eight years for the Arlington Human Rights Commission. She is a graduate is Leadership Arlington and a former chair of the Leadership Arlington Youth Leadership program. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Catholic University and is certified in two forms of behavioral interviewing.