Law Firms Acting Too Hip to YouTube?
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Written By Miguel Cancino | September 28, 2007 | Share This
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The New York Times ran an piece today titled, “Law Firms Go a Bit Hollywood to Recruit the YouTube Generation.” According to the article, law firms are trying to attract top-notch summer associates through the use of the web’s most popular video-sharing site, YouTube. Recognizing the popularity of social media and YouTube in particular, recruiters are hopeful that they can appeal to college students through a medium that they are familiar with, while sending the message “We’re hip too”:
Several firms are trying to parlay [the discovery of YouTube] into a hiring tool, creating recruiting videos and Web sites with the look and feel of YouTube. The firms hope to persuade students that their lawyers, and by extension the firms, are young-thinking and hip.
While the attempt by these firms to embrace the social media movement is admirable, I question their use of YouTube to portray their firms as the “hip place to work.” Social media is founded on a philosophy of transparency and full disclosure. It’s a two-way conversation wherein users are able to question and challenge the marketer - or, in this case, the potential employer’s self-representation. After all, having recently spent a year with a the District Attorney’s Office, I can assure you that young associates and lawyers do not spend their days bouncing around on “hop balls” as one firm’s video depicts.
A more effective use of these firms’ time and money would be to embrace social media in a different fashion. Rather than trying to paint a rosy picture of a work environment that may or may not exist, law firms would be wise to create an honest dialogue between potential candidates and current summer associate (or new hires). For example, what if a firm sponsored a Q&A forum moderated by current summer associates? Could they create a Facebook/Myspace group created for the sole purpose of bringing together new and potential hires? Or, how about a “Day in the Life Of” blog written by a recent hire?
While potentially more “risky” to the firm’s reputation, I’m certain that quality firms would shine by embracing these forms of social media. The conversational nature of forums and blogs not only offers a less contrived representation of a firm’s culture, it gives applicants a point of contact (the author or moderator) to ask real questions about recruitment. This, more than videos of bouncing balls, will help weed the preliminary applicant pool in order to attract more quality applicants and lower attrition.
Topics: Social Media |