LGBT OCI Forum

[Anonymous User]

Help? Hurt? Nada? Discuss.

[Anonymous User]

why should this be an issue at all? like how is this relevant to an employer or its clients?

[Grazzhoppa]

im a straight male but have never been asked about my sexuality in any interview.

how would they know? would you tell them? If you brought it up in an interview with me it would be like talking about your cat- dont care at all, but bringing it up sets off red flags. "by the way im lgbt." ???

[Anonymous User]

It may come across on a resume due to certain activities or clubs - not necessarily in an interview.

I think the general consensus is that it can help but not as much as other diversity factors do. There's also some consensus that it can hurt -based on who is reviewing your resume. Helps to also consider the firm/city. Are you applying to a firm that tends to be more conservative? May be best not to bring it up then.

You can also check a firm's website to see if it has a diversity position and if its diversity position includes LGBT persons. If so, it probably won't hurt.

[Anonymous User]

It can also help in the sense that you get more personally recruited by firms. At least at my school, most big firms had separate LGBT 1L receptions, which were typically dinners and provided much better networking opportunities than the massive free-for-all 1L receptions.

But yeah, not as exciting as other URM status, and potentially could rub someone the wrong way (even if they won't admit it). In most big cities, its a plus in the sense that if the GPA part of your transcript is acceptable to the firm and they already like you, it gives them another reason to want to hire you over another candidate.

[Anonymous User]

why should this be an issue at all? like how is this relevant to an employer or its clients?

How is it any less relevant than other diversity statuses? The idea is that diversity of perspectives and life experiences, things heavily informed by being a sexual minority, enriches the human capital of the firm (etc.)

But that's an argument better had for the URM forum.

As far as what influence it has with OCI, I agree with the person who said it depends on the firm and the city. I think the biggest bump is in terms of 1L LGBT receptions, where you get a chance to network with LGBT partners and associates at the firms, some of whom will be on the selection panels if the firm has a diversity component to its hiring process.

[chasgoose]

why should this be an issue at all? like how is this relevant to an employer or its clients?

It's relevant because law firms want to be able to say that they have a diverse range of employees. Diversity is something that is now demanded of large publicly traded companies and thus the law firms that want to get their business also have to be diverse. Also, you never know how it might help. Say the GC of a major company happens to be LGBT (or insert other diversity here), being able to say they can put an LGBT associate on the deal might be something a firm would want to be able to do.

Mostly, though, it's just another way for an applicant to stand out among hundreds of other similarly credentialed applicants. There are over 1000 people every year who can say that they are in the top 25% at a T-14 school, and its not like many of them have significant or meaningful legal experience.

[Anonymous User]

It's a category that's reported on NALP forms, so firms would prefer to be able to reflect some diversity in this category as well. Personally, as an LGBT student, I'm checking out the NALP forms to make sure I wouldn't be the only LGBT person at a huge office. It's nice to feel like you're not alone. I imagine members of other minority groups feel the same way.

[Anonymous User]

Will having your law school LGBT affinity group listed on your resume as an activity be enough to convey to employers that I am gay? I feel like mentioning the fact that I'm gay during a 20 minute interview would be tough unless they ask an extremely relevant question.

[de5igual]

Will having your law school LGBT affinity group listed on your resume as an activity be enough to convey to employers that I am gay? I feel like mentioning the fact that I'm gay during a 20 minute interview would be tough unless they ask an extremely relevant question.

That's all you do. Don't bring it up unless it's relevant. If the firm cares about LGBT recruitment, they'll know what "Outlaw" is.

[Anonymous User]

Will having your law school LGBT affinity group listed on your resume as an activity be enough to convey to employers that I am gay? I feel like mentioning the fact that I'm gay during a 20 minute interview would be tough unless they ask an extremely relevant question.

That's all you do. Don't bring it up unless it's relevant. If the firm cares about LGBT recruitment, they'll know what "Outlaw" is.

TITCR. Putting Outlaw or other LGBT groups on your resume is the way you signal your identity. It is unlikely that you will have any question that requires you to come out explicitly; anything along those lines would border on violating a firm's anti-discrimination policies. I don't plan to mention it explicitly, although I will enthusiastically discuss my leadership experiences with LGBT groups.

[volsi]

I had it listed on my resume and at times openly asked interviewers about diversity at their firms. The firm I ended up at invited me to an LGBT reception as part of recruiting and I have friends at other firms that were recruited more heavily because they are LGBT. This is NY only though, I imagine the same wouldn't be true for say, Texas firms.

[Anonymous User]

I had it listed on my resume and at times openly asked interviewers about diversity at their firms. The firm I ended up at invited me to an LGBT reception as part of recruiting and I have friends at other firms that were recruited more heavily because they are LGBT. This is NY only though, I imagine the same wouldn't be true for say, Texas firms.

Not entirely true. My recruiter drunkenly told me that my LGBT status helped me get the interview for my 1L summer gig. I got the job because I beat out the other interviewees, but I got the interview in the first place partially because the firm was trying to increase its LGBT numbers. Dallas biglaw. Also, as shitty as this is, it's the truth: I had a partner tell me that he was proud of me for being so out, and that he had some chats with other partners who liked the fact that I was a masculine gay guy because they felt like they actually had things in common with me. Protip: get people drunk.

I also had a phone chat with a bigtex firm diversity coordinator to answer questions I had about their stance on LGBT Recruitment. It is a great way to strike up a conversation with someone who's important for hiring. Basically, their position is that they've been pretty bad about it in the past, so they're trying to get better. Their efforts have drastically improved in the last decade.

I'm not saying things are great in TX, and they're certainly better in NY, but they're at least getting better. There's still much-needed progress regarding the masculinity issue and things of that nature, but being LGBT can actually be a slight advantage. That wasn't necessarily true even 10 years ago.

[Anonymous User]

It's a small advantage. If nothing else, firms will try to match you with LGBT interviewers, so there's always a topic to talk about. However, in my experience LGBT interviewers tend to prefer LGBT interviewees (unsurprisingly), so matching also plays to your advantage that way. In one interview I had, my grades were probably borderline, but I had a gay interviewer who spent the entire screener interview telling me about being out at Harvard in the 1970s (I barely had a chance to talk), and then he gave me a callback. Also, going to Lavender Law for table-talk interviews with firms is definitely credited, though it's coming very soon at this point (registration might be closed?). Multiple friends got their jobs there. (I didn't, but only because I had the offer I wanted before LavLaw last year.)

[Anonymous User]

It's a small advantage. If nothing else, firms will try to match you with LGBT interviewers, so there's always a topic to talk about. However, in my experience LGBT interviewers tend to prefer LGBT interviewees (unsurprisingly), so matching also plays to your advantage that way. In one interview I had, my grades were probably borderline, but I had a gay interviewer who spent the entire screener interview telling me about being out at Harvard in the 1970s (I barely had a chance to talk), and then he gave me a callback. Also, going to Lavender Law for table-talk interviews with firms is definitely credited, though it's coming very soon at this point (registration might be closed?). Multiple friends got their jobs there. (I didn't, but only because I had the offer I wanted before LavLaw last year.)

Thinking of doing LavLaw. The website seems to be down though (anyone else having difficulty?)

[Anonymous User]

How does Lav law table interviews work? Are there a lot of people trying to get the attention of one recruiter, or do you get one on one's?