Hiring a Key MBD Role? Make That Second Interview Count.

Who's interviewing whom?

Many job seekers interview well. Yet providing excellent service to particular clients may require different skills from those that make for a good job interview.  

I've made my share of hiring mistakes. One big one is to let my needs influence my assessments. In other words, I saw in candidates what I wanted to see, not what I needed to.

After making this mistake a couple times, I got wise.

Lawyers are hard judges. Hiring managers should remember that lawyers need to like the person in a key marketing or business development role at least as much as we do. After all, MBD professionals are routinely expected to deliver what they hear lawyers asking for, only better. How can they succeed if lawyers don’t like and trust them?

Client Service is Different When Lawyers Are the Clients

Most lawyers mean well. Yet they are not marketers. We ask our MBD teammates to save lawyers from their first (or sometimes worst) instincts.

For example, a lawyer may say, “I need background on everyone attending the conference.” We expect our marketing manager to ask questions.

• MBD pros should learn why the lawyer is attending the conference, what they hope to achieve, and who they hope to meet—specifically or generally.

• Then, we want our marketing manager to deliver a list of the 10 to 12 attendees that will matter most to our lawyer—not a whopping pdf of LinkedIn profiles for all 841 attendees.

  
  

To figure out which 10-12 attendees matter most, and to satisfy the lawyer’s need to feel prepared, the marketing manager must demonstrate that they understand 1) the lawyer’s practice and 2) the lawyer’s intentions for the conference.

In addition to asking critical questions, we hope marketers will establish rapport. While the task at hand may not strictly require rapport, building rapport will go a long way. It’s much easier to please a lawyer who likes and trusts the marketer supporting them. That likability and trust matter tremendously when the marketer is not there to automatically say "yes" to lawyer requests.

Yes, it’s Cliched, but “Flip the Script.” Literally.

Back to the hiring interview. Once a candidate has passed an initial HR screening and first round interview, we typically invite them back to meet important lawyers they will serve, such as practice group managers, rainmakers, and perhaps even one or two problem children.  

I suggest you flip the script. Don’t invite your lawyers to ask your candidate questions. Instead, invite your candidate back to interview key lawyers.

Here’s the prompt I’ve used with great success: “Imagine you’ve been hired to support Lawyer X. This is your first meeting with them. Go.”

To be sure, we don’t spring this on our candidates. That would be cruel. Invite them to a second interview, and let them know what the assignment is and who they’ll meet. Encourage them to prepare.

Pro tip: For the interview, recruit lawyers who appreciate marketing but won't gush all over the interview. We want to see candidates tease information from lawyers. Coach your lawyers to be forthcoming without volunteering every last detail.

Look for Specific Skills

After that, your job as hiring manager is to observe. Forget what you saw and liked in Round 1. Everything starts now. Your evaluative questions as you watch might include:

• How is the candidate doing with the lawyer?

• Have they done their homework on the lawyer?

• How does the lawyer respond to the candidate?

• Does the candidate elicit appropriate information to make informed suggestions and deliver relevant services?

• Does the candidate connect topical dots?

• What is the candidate’s demeanor? Do they put the lawyer at ease?

• Will the lawyer be excited to meet with this candidate again?

  
  

When it’s all over, you’ll have a good sense of how the candidate did even before you debrief with the lawyers. I’ve seen this play out. I’ve declined to make offers to candidates I have liked after I saw them with lawyers. To be sure, Candidate A had great experience and had succeeded with me to earn the second interview. Yet as I watched them with the lawyers. I saw missed connections, lack of preparation, and squandered opportunities. We said thank you and parted ways.

Candidate B shone by comparison. They had comparable experience to Candidate A. They’d engaged with me just as well as Candidate A. With the lawyers, however, Candidate B clearly demonstrated skills critical to earning lawyers’ confidence. Candidate B was prepared; they’d studied the lawyers. They raised ideas the lawyers reacted to with curiosity. They got the lawyers laughing. Chemistry was obvious. Lawyers relaxed and became more giving in their answers. An energy of goodwill filled the room.

Best Part, the Clients Need No Convincing

After Candidate A, I had to call the lawyers to ask their impressions. After Candidate B, the lawyers called me.

They wanted. I didn’t have to recommend or persuade. With Candidate B, the lawyers felt engaged and well-served. They connected with Candidate B. They were rooting for Candidate B. They were, in a word, invested.

Two years later, I don’t know where Candidate A is. Candidate B, on the other hand, is right where they belong: doing excellent work and delivering what lawyers ask for—only better.