The world of law is highly competitive, and that starts with competing for the top graduates. How do you make a connection with your graduate hiring pool to make sure that you identify the best people to represent your business? White and Case developed their own recruitment podcast. We spoke to Juliette Fernandez (Legal Recruiting Coordinator) and Andrew Farmer (Senior Manager in Employer Brand Communications) to find out.
White & Case LLP is an international law firm based in the USA. The firm has been operating for more than a century and has 45 offices in 31 countries worldwide. White & Case is one of the top ten law firms worldwide in terms of revenue.
White & Case differentiates itself from other law firms by its culture. While the "big law" workflow may be similar across different businesses, White & Case are fully aware that it is their people that make the company, and they work hard to nurture them.
Traditionally, White & Case would conduct on-campus interviews with potential recruits. Juliette had noticed that many interviewees prepared last minute on their smartphones by browsing sites and reading promotional material of potential employers.
It had been in her mind that podcasting could offer an effective way to make use of interviewees’ desire for information and engagement, especially in that pre-interview moment of nerves that so many candidates experience. A recruitment podcast also offered an effective way to go to educate potential recruits about the realities of working for White & Case. After all, the recruitment process is about finding that ideal fit, which means that candidates should be well educated about what the role entails and what to expect from the interview process.
When the pandemic hit, White & Case needed to innovate to find an effective way to get in front of candidates. This was when the idea of making a personal connection with potential recruits via podcasts crystallized, and the firm invested in a recruitment podcast.
White and Case’s recruitment podcast, On The Record with White and Case, provides interview tips, as well as providing insights and understanding of the culture and values of the firm. The podcast guests tell personal stories to assist listeners and to make them more personable and accessible to their audience.
Listening to their audience's needs has been a huge part of ensuring that the podcast is engaging and meaningful. The team hears what graduates are asking and ensures that the content speaks to their needs.
The second component of White & Case's secret sauce is to keep it fresh. Juliette has an "off the record" moment at the end of her interviews. This allows a more informal and humorous connection between herself and the company representative she is talking to. Juliette firmly believes that this human connection is vital to their format.
Juliette and Andrew work together to brainstorm through the ideation process. They point out that it is vital that their content matches the peak recruiting flows, so the team works to ensure that content is ready in advance to securely match the timeline.
Also, the team works to ensure that the podcast communicates White & Case’s commitment to inclusivity. For example, some of the material past podcasts have covered includes a focus on the wide diversity of groups who are a valued part of White & Case’s human resources. For example White & Case highlights certain key events in the year, such as Pride Month or Asian Pacific Islanders’ Month, allowing the podcast team to spotlight how they get involved.
One of the key components that comes across when talking to Andrew and Juliette is that they are an effective team, able to complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
White and Case utilizes their in-house production team and editorial team to record the content and add the post-production touch-ups that each episode requires.
The creation team then releases, and the external marketing team promotes the material. Primarily traffic is driving from LinkedIn and Instagram.
Juliette explains that podcasting has been a natural and complementary tool to the other channels that recruitment already applies. The benefits have been clear, thanks to feedback from candidates that consumed the material pre-interview. The pre-interview preparation has spoken reliably and directly to the audience's needs.
Furthermore, the podcast has given a platform to community members who would otherwise not have a voice. For example, a summer intern who later became a recruit passed on meaningful advice – also giving prospective candidates a connection with someone they can relate to.
White & Case's Andrew and Juliette are very clear that podcasting has been an excellent medium to provide information in a format that is not too slick or too corporate, but is instead, accessible and personable.
One of the clear wins, as Juliette notes, is that she can leverage those members of her community who are excellent at connecting with others and who are not afraid to have conversations that open up different perspectives. The power of giving them a voice can't be overstated. The audience wants to hear from colleagues, Juliette tells us; they are, in fact, your #1 marketing material.
Andrew did not want to restrict himself to one piece of advice; so we are maxing up the take-homes here: