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Good News About the Future of Legal Recruiting

By William Vogeler, Esq. on April 10, 2019

Legal recruiting has a new game, and its name is Pymetrics.

If you don't know about the program, it'is a computer game that sorts out personality types. Big business has been using it for hiring, and now BigLaw is doing it, too.

O'Melveny & Myers says it will open the applicant pool to anybody, especially since the program is designed to weed out bias in employment. That, and it makes the interviewing process way more fun.

Personality Games

Pymetrics advertises itself as "Matching Talent to Opportunity, Bias-Free." Designed using neuroscience, it is way more than a game.

It is artificial intelligence at work in an environment created to measure behavior objectively. Every law firm could use some of that because bias is often implicit.

Nicholas Alexiou, associate director of career services at Vanderbilt University School of Law School, took the Pymetrics personality test. He wasn't looking for a job; he was just looking at O'Melveny's program. He said it took about 20 minutes to play 15 games. They were not competitive and had names like "Balloon" and "Easy or Hard." "Once I finished, Pymetrics generated a long 'trait report' containing my 'unique cognitive and emotional profile,'" he said. "Turns out I am trusting, fair-minded, and great at screening out distractions, though not as altruistic as I thought."

Interviews and Batteries Not Included

Darin Snyder, a litigation partner at the law firm, said Pymetrics is only part of the hiring process. O'Melveny will continue with traditional practices as well. However, Alexiou saw it is as a good sign for job applicants that artificial intelligence will be part of legal recruiting. Human intelligence, of course, will also be important. After all, getting rid of bias in hiring can only help. You don't need a computer to tell you that.

Some law firms may need Pymetrics more than others, and not just for hiring. It could be fun if all the lawyers played the game.

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