CASE STUDY
Deploying Assessments to Improve Entry-Level Hiring Processes
Innovating the recruiting experience for law students in connection with OCI
An Am Law 20 law firm was exploring opportunities to create a more integrated and innovative recruiting experience for law students in connection with OCI. The firm was interested in using our entry-level assessment to uncover insights about candidates’ core strengths and potential for success at the firm that could inform the hiring process.
What we’re solving for
Services
Interviewing + Hiring Experiences
Our Process
We started by bringing together 70+ key stakeholders at the firm from different groups and departments with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. This process allowed us to get buy-in at the firm and ensure that we captured a representative population. We worked with this group to determine consensus around the core competencies that define and differentiate successful junior associates at the firm from others. We tested this combination of competencies to ensure it wasn’t adversely impacting any subgroup, and then used this data to create a unique view of our assessment results.
The firm piloted the assessment in connection with 2L recruitment during the 2021 cycle, during which students were asked to complete our assessment. Students and the firm received unique reports based on each student’s responses. The firm received an overall score for each student that reflected the alignment between the student’s core competencies and the firm’s success-driving competencies.
Ahead of the following 2022 cycle, we incorporated feedback into the reports to support an integrated behavioral interview process. We also created training programs to generate internal firm awareness about the assessment and provide support for using the insights more broadly in hiring decisions. We conducted a session with the firm’s summer associates focused on using their personalized reports to understand how they’re showing up at work. In the process, we provided direction for how they might use this information to their advantage by leaning into the areas in which they excel and dedicating some of their time to developing areas that were identified as growth opportunities.
During the following recruiting cycle, the firm deployed the assessment for every candidate it considered, including allowing non-OCI students to self-submit their resume and assessment results. The recruiting team and hiring partners used the report and our suggested behavioral interview questions to create more targeted and tailored interviews. The firm had over 2,200 students complete our assessment, with a 98.5% completion rate.
Result
The firm is entering its third recruitment cycle using our assessment which has allowed it to create a more integrated hiring experience that relies on competencies, while also incorporating the results into broader conversations about professional development opportunities.