How do you recruit lawyers of the Millennium (or Y) Generation and how do you retain them?
Those were the questions I was recently asked by a recruiting coordinator of a major law firm. I think it begins by understanding them and how they are different from lawyers in my generation.
When I was in charge of attorney development at my old law firm, I sought to better understand the Y Generation lawyers. Here is my list of Top 10 things that are important to this group:
- They want to work for firms whose leaders do not take themselves too seriously.
- They want to work in a comfortable atmosphere, one in which they can be themselves.
- They want to work for firms where they have an essential contribution to the success of their firm and their clients.
- They want to work for a firm that values – and practices – community service.
- They want to work on teams and to make friends at a firm.
- They want their work to be interesting, and will get easily bored if unchallenged.
- They want their firms to provide them with the most up-to-date technology to better perform their work.
- They want and will seek constant and continuous feedback from their supervising attorneys.
- They want to be treated fairly – as they define it – and will place a very high value on it.
- They want – demand – sincerity from firm leaders.