In an exclusive interview with Jaimee Slovak, Chief Recruiting and Integration Officer at Winstead PC, we discuss her experience transitioning to Flo Recruit Applicant Tracking (ATS) for both lateral associate and lateral partner recruiting. For more than 15 years, Jaimee used a legacy recruiting system, and she sheds light on how Flo Recruit transformed Winstead’s recruiting process with streamlined workflows, exceptional customer support, and live reports.
Jaimee: Our team knew we could do more with the technology we had in place. While we were using a legacy system, it wasn’t meeting our needs, and we were limited by the technology. Having prior experience with Flo Recruit and watching how much the platform has evolved over time, we knew it would be the right fit for us.
When we considered alternatives, Flo Recruit stood out as the logical choice. Their platform’s evolution and focus on the legal recruiting industry made the transition a no brainer. It wasn’t a decision we took lightly, but because we had trust in Flo Recruit and their ability to customize for our needs, we were confident it would be a seamless transition.
Q: What was the #1 key decision point that led you to say YES to Flo Recruit? And were there other important features that also contributed to your decision?
Jaimee: The ability to manage lateral hiring was a massive upgrade for us. Before Flo Recruit, we were managing laterals in spreadsheets, which was clearly inefficient.
With Flo, we found a system that’s highly customizable, user-friendly, and intuitive for both the recruiting team and our attorneys. From a technology standpoint, the ability to access everything from a phone or tablet has been a game-changer. And the embedded video chat for scheduling interviews is a huge timesaver. It’s not just about the recruiting team—our attorneys can also use Flo Recruit easily, making everything more efficient.
Q: For a firm of Winstead's size, who is involved in the decision-making process for selecting a new recruiting platform? How did you get buy-in from leadership for Flo Recruit?
Jaimee: The decision came down to myself and our Executive Director. The buy-in process from leadership was relatively smooth, mainly because of the clear time savings for the recruiting team and attorneys that Flo would bring to the firm. Our Executive Director could immediately see the amount of administrative and billable hour time we would save, not just for the recruiting team, but also for IT, data management, and attorneys at all levels.
The example we used to illustrate this kind of time saving was how our recruiting coordinator would manually schedule interviews with our legacy systems. With Flo Recruit, much of that process is automated, significantly lightening her workload. This kind of time savings can be seen throughout the recruiting team, and allows for everyone to focus on other work that really needs individual attention.
Q: What advice do you have for other law firm recruiting teams who are trying to get their stakeholders to say YES to Flo Recruit?
Jaimee: Focus on creating efficiencies and the bottom line. The key question you have to answer for leadership is, How is investing in this platform going to save the firm time and money? This is especially true for both attorneys and administrative staff.
For instance, before Flo, our recruiting team was spending hours on manual data entry and follow-up. With Flo, we’re now collecting meaningful data and reducing the need for additional recruiting staff to do low level admin tasks.
One of the most critical priorities was getting all our candidates into one unified system. Flo Recruit helped us achieve that with ease.
Q: How has the onboarding process with Flo Recruit been so far?
Jaimee: The onboarding process has been seamless. We’ve been working closely with the Flo Recruit team, and they have been incredibly responsive. I love that I receive immediate, personalized responses within a matter of minutes, and there’s a robust online library to help with any questions.
What I really appreciate is that Flo makes you feel like you’re their only customer. Their team is always available and willing to experiment with solutions if necessary. It’s not just a transactional experience—you feel like you’re part of a journey with them, contributing to the future of legal recruiting and working as a team to get the best outcome.
Q: Now that you have Flo Recruit, how do you see your recruiting strategy evolving?
Jaimee: The biggest change is the ability to use real-time data to make informed decisions. Attorneys are sending feedback more frequently, and we now have access to powerful analytics that were simply not available with our old system. For example, our Chairman of the Board and CEO loves data, and Flo has allowed us to generate reports on conversion rates and track metrics that help guide our recruitment strategy.
Going from spreadsheets to a platform that spits out real-time reports has been a game-changer. We now know where we stand in the process at all times, and we can show how our recruiting efforts are paying off in real terms.
Q: How are you leveraging Flo Recruit’s features to work for both partner and lateral associate hiring? How is this helping your team achieve more with less?
Jaimee: The data analytics and reporting features are invaluable for both partner and lateral associate hiring. We will be using conversion reporting, status reporting, and tracking “time-to-fill” to measure our success. All of this can be done in Flo Recruit. These reports will help us track the turnaround time for filling roles, which is essential, especially when hiring lateral associates to fill immediate needs.
Q: In closing, how has Flo Recruit changed the way your team operates day-to-day?
Jaimee: It’s allowed us to streamline so many of our processes, freeing up time to focus on the more strategic elements of recruiting. The transition from spreadsheets to an automated system with real-time insights has been one of the most impactful changes. The future of our recruiting at Winstead looks brighter with Flo Recruit on our side.
Conclusion:
Jaimee Slovak’s experience with Flo Recruit showcases how innovative legal recruiting technology can save time, improve efficiency, and create more meaningful data-driven strategies. One of the advantages is that many law students are already familiar with Flo, so it won’t feel foreign to them when they transition into lateral positions.
For firms like Winstead PC, leveraging platforms like Flo Recruit is more than a technological upgrade—it’s a strategic advantage that transforms how law firms attract and retain top talent.