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Law firms embrace cloud computing

Edward Andrew is a former lawyer and head-hunter. He is also the CEO and Founder of twosteps, a web based job board, talent bank and recruitment management solution.

Change in the recruitment sector has been fast and furious in recent years. Advancements in telecommunications, IT and broadband mean that most people can access the internet at home, work and on the move which has led to better informed, connected and researched job seekers.

More lawyers and law firms online

Law firms, legal employers and legal recruiters have had to embrace the year on year increase of internet usage, and adapt to social networking and digital media. We have seen the introduction of individual recruiter websites, job boards and online recruitment services and simultaneously we have seen the growth of online social and professional networks which have encouraged more people online.

Law firms, such as Slaughter and May and Shearman & Sterling, are beginning to list their profiles on facebook to promote their business online, especially to the graduate marketplace. It is not just graduates using facebook though as the 30-35 year old group is one of the fastest growing demographics. Professional networking sites such as Linkedin are also gaining traction within the legal services sector.

Employers rather than recruiters

According to a Nielsen report Social Media Networks and Blogs consume nearly 25% of people’s time online. We are starting to see people taking their career management into their own hands by using all resources available to them. A recent survey by twosteps.com found that while a significant number still use recruiters, 81% also look to online job sites. 65% of survey respondents also said they would rather correspond directly with employers rather than recruiters.

We are now seeing a new breed of recruitment tool as cloud computing combines with talent banking and e-recruitment software. Cloud computing means ‘Internet-based computing’, whereby shared resources, e-mail, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices via the internet. Now the concept is more readily being adopted for recruitment.

Law firms are using cloud recruiting

The advantage of cloud computing is that data does not need to be held on a business’s own servers and is held effectively ‘in the cloud’ by a third party, not only saving on software and hardware expense but also on the human cost of managing that. It can be seen as another form of outsourcing.

Cloud recruiting is being embraced by law firms across the board from global law firm Allen & Overy to national firms such as Shoosmiths and ‘offshore’ firms such as Carey Olsen. We are seeing just as much demand from single office boutiques who want their recruitment systems managed entirely in the cloud. The concept being led by twosteps is also gaining momentum in Australia where employers are embracing the technology both in the corporate and professional services world with clients such as Mallesons, KPMG and Telstra.

Cloud recruiting reduces recruitment costs

Twosteps is a recruiter free site and using cloud recruitment reduces recruitment costs significantly, there are no fees and recruitment management can be done electronically with human interaction at the critical stages. The key is providing candidates who are relevant and suitable for employers, in a secure controlled environment where privacy and confidentiality are paramount. Cloud recruitment allows employers to talk to and nurture potential recruits a long time before a job becomes available, something that traditional recruiters cannot do.

There is still a place for recruiters as it is unlikely a law firm will recruit their next partner from a website or talent bank as these positions require a much personal touch but we will see a dramatic rise in the number of law firms getting directly involved in the recruitment of associates by using centralised cloud recruiting platforms.