Minority Job Fairs Worth It? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I have been getting a lot of e-mail reminding me of minority job fairs this summer. In general, are they worth it? Do grades matter less/about the same there? What if they are in a market where you are interested in but have absolutely 0 connection to?

Also, if you get a job through one of these fairs do offers for subsequent summers work the same in general, or is it understood you're only there for that one summer?

thanks guys.

[bk1]

Are they worth it? If you want a job with a big firm then the additional possible interviews are always work it. Grass tend to matter about the same, however job fairs trend to feel more competitive since at OCI there will be a proportional amount of people with each kind of class rank whereas at job fairs there is the distinct possibility that top grades are overrepresented. If it's in a market where you don't have ties it depends on how much that market cares about ties.

If you get a job through these then it will be your last summer (2L summer). Traditionally biglaw firms will give offers to return as full time associates for after graduation.

[DportIA]

Absolutely. I got my SA through one. I did the DC, Chicago, and Kansas City ones. PM me if you want any specific advice.

[encore1101]

Assuming its free, what do you have to lose? An afternoon?

[bk1]

Assuming its free, what do you have to lose? An afternoon?

Considering they take place all over the country, they aren't really free once you count hotel and airfare.

[encore1101]

Assuming its free, what do you have to lose? An afternoon?

Considering they take place all over the country, they aren't really free once you count hotel and airfare.

Fair enough, I'm in NYC, and they usually have a few in this area annually.

[Anonymous User]

I don't think DuPont is worth it if you have to spend money to get there. Many employers are there because they have to be there, not because they want to be there.

As for other fairs, I think they are worth doing. If you're a strong applicant and your school is a preselect school, be strategic about your bidding. Generally, OCI screeners are more galah ale than minority fair screeners. All else being equal, you should prefer interviewing with any particular firm at your OCI.

[Anonymous User]

I don't think DuPont is worth it if you have to spend money to get there. Many employers are there because they have to be there, not because they want to be there.

As for other fairs, I think they are worth doing. If you're a strong applicant and your school is a preselect school, be strategic about your bidding. Generally, OCI screeners are more galah ale than minority fair screeners. All else being equal, you should prefer interviewing with any particular firm at your OCI.

I'll second this. I went to DuPont and, though I got callbacks, I did get the sense that they did not care to be there. SEMJF was much better I think.

I think I will disagree with the second half of your post though. I googled the phrase "galah ale" and found nothing so I may be operating with less than full information here. I think it depends on WHY you are a strong candidate. If you go to a T14 but have OK grades I think minority fairs are where you want to be. Your median grades at Duke are gonna stand out more at SEMJF as opposed to at OCI. If you have good grades at a T14 then it probably matters less EXCEPT for the fact that the job fairs happen before OCI so if you are a legit candidate you can go into OCI with at least one offer in hand which totally changes the game for you. You are much more in control in that situation. Therefore, even if you are a strong candidate I think you should aim to hit up a minority fair if nothing else to get that first offer in hand

[Anonymous User]

I don't think DuPont is worth it if you have to spend money to get there. Many employers are there because they have to be there, not because they want to be there.

As for other fairs, I think they are worth doing. If you're a strong applicant and your school is a preselect school, be strategic about your bidding. Generally, OCI screeners are more galah ale than minority fair screeners. All else being equal, you should prefer interviewing with any particular firm at your OCI.

I'll second this. I went to DuPont and, though I got callbacks, I did get the sense that they did not care to be there. SEMJF was much better I think.

I think I will disagree with the second half of your post though. I googled the phrase "galah ale" and found nothing so I may be operating with less than full information here. I think it depends on WHY you are a strong candidate. If you go to a T14 but have OK grades I think minority fairs are where you want to be. Your median grades at Duke are gonna stand out more at SEMJF as opposed to at OCI. If you have good grades at a T14 then it probably matters less EXCEPT for the fact that the job fairs happen before OCI so if you are a legit candidate you can go into OCI with at least one offer in hand which totally changes the game for you. You are much more in control in that situation. Therefore, even if you are a strong candidate I think you should aim to hit up a minority fair if nothing else to get that first offer in hand

Sorry, galah ale was supposed to read "valuable" before my iPhone autocorrected.

Firm representatives at minority job fairs are less likely to be members of a firm's recruiting committee. One firm at the fair I attended sent two junior associates who weren't familiar with their firm's recruiting process (tbf, they were holding OCI interviews on campus the same day).

My school is 100% preselect and located in a major legal market that hosts a big minority fair. I was comfortably top 10% and was able to blanket the 50+ NALP employers in my market between the job fair and my 35 bids at OCI. I am an ethnic URM. For about 30 firms, I applied at both OCI and the fair. However, I was limited to just 10 screeners at the fair. I did not double up on screening interviews with a single firm, leading me to believe firms intentionally avoid doubling up on screening interviews. MY CALLBACK RATE FOR OCI screeners was around 80% and the job fair interviews was 30%.

My general impressions were that (a) interviewers at the fair were slightly less engaged and experienced in the interview process and (b) firms were more likely to send members of their diversity committee to the fair instead of members of their recruiting committee.

If I use vault rankings to identify top firms (humor me), I was more likely to convert on OCI screeners than at the fair. For strong candidates in a preselect system, I recommend exclusively bidding on top targets at OCI (the top 5 firms on an applicants wish list) simply because I think that's the best chance to convert a screener.

[bk1]

Sorry, galah ale was supposed to read "valuable" before my iPhone autocorrected.

Firm representatives at minority job fairs are less likely to be members of a firm's recruiting committee. One firm at the fair I attended sent two junior associates who weren't familiar with their firm's recruiting process (tbf, they were holding OCI interviews on campus the same day).

My school is 100% preselect and located in a major legal market that hosts a big minority fair. I was comfortably top 10% and was able to blanket the 50+ NALP employers in my market between the job fair and my 35 bids at OCI. I am an ethnic URM. For about 30 firms, I applied at both OCI and the fair. However, I was limited to just 10 screeners at the fair. I did not double up on screening interviews with a single firm, leading me to believe firms intentionally avoid doubling up on screening interviews. MY CALLBACK RATE FOR OCI screeners was around 80% and the job fair interviews was 30%.

My general impressions were that (a) interviewers at the fair were slightly less engaged and experienced in the interview process and (b) firms were more likely to send members of their diversity committee to the fair instead of members of their recruiting committee.

If I use vault rankings to identify top firms (humor me), I was more likely to convert on OCI screeners than at the fair. For strong candidates in a preselect system, I recommend exclusively bidding on top targets at OCI (the top 5 firms on an applicants wish list) simply because I think that's the best chance to convert a screener.

While I generally agree that if you can pick and choose where to interview with a firm, you should interview with a firm at OCI if you prefer that firm since I think that gives you a better shot at a callback (for several reasons).

That said, this advice is really only applicable to a very small portion of the applicant pool that is in a position where they can be choosy. The vast majority of applicants are just trying to get biglaw and thus are best served by maximizing overall number of interviews rather than trying to make sure they get firm X at OCI rather than at a job fair.

[MarkRenton]

I also have found that there's a huge benefit in just getting interview experience. It'll be a real advantage to be comfortable with the interviewing process before OCI begins, as opposed to figuring it all out half way through. And also, you may get a job through the job fair.

[Anonymous User]

Sorry, galah ale was supposed to read "valuable" before my iPhone autocorrected.

Firm representatives at minority job fairs are less likely to be members of a firm's recruiting committee. One firm at the fair I attended sent two junior associates who weren't familiar with their firm's recruiting process (tbf, they were holding OCI interviews on campus the same day).

My school is 100% preselect and located in a major legal market that hosts a big minority fair. I was comfortably top 10% and was able to blanket the 50+ NALP employers in my market between the job fair and my 35 bids at OCI. I am an ethnic URM. For about 30 firms, I applied at both OCI and the fair. However, I was limited to just 10 screeners at the fair. I did not double up on screening interviews with a single firm, leading me to believe firms intentionally avoid doubling up on screening interviews. MY CALLBACK RATE FOR OCI screeners was around 80% and the job fair interviews was 30%.

My general impressions were that (a) interviewers at the fair were slightly less engaged and experienced in the interview process and (b) firms were more likely to send members of their diversity committee to the fair instead of members of their recruiting committee.

If I use vault rankings to identify top firms (humor me), I was more likely to convert on OCI screeners than at the fair. For strong candidates in a preselect system, I recommend exclusively bidding on top targets at OCI (the top 5 firms on an applicants wish list) simply because I think that's the best chance to convert a screener.

While I generally agree that if you can pick and choose where to interview with a firm, you should interview with a firm at OCI if you prefer that firm since I think that gives you a better shot at a callback (for several reasons).

That said, this advice is really only applicable to a very small portion of the applicant pool that is in a position where they can be choosy. The vast majority of applicants are just trying to get biglaw and thus are best served by maximizing overall number of interviews rather than trying to make sure they get firm X at OCI rather than at a job fair.

Totally agree that my advice has limited applicability. It applies to URMs who grade onto law review in purely preselect OCI systems.

[tonidee]

OCI/Minority Job fairs-----GRADES ALWAYS MATTER

Go to the minority fair because firms are there specifically to recruit diverse candidate. With this market, you should explore all opportunities available to you. It doesn't hurt to have opens.

[Anonymous User]

How do LGBT people fare at minority job fairs generally speaking? Unfortunately Lavender Law conflicts with my school's OCI.

[Anonymous User]

How do LGBT people fare at minority job fairs generally speaking? Unfortunately Lavender Law conflicts with my school's OCI.

I can't answer this question because I am both URM and LGBT, so it's hard to say whether being LGBT worked in my favor independent of being URM (I did 3 minority fairs).

But, I do urge you to go to Lavender if you can. My school's OCI conflicted with Lavender too, but I went anyway. When we bid for my school's OCI, I could see which firms were interviewing on which days. I just didn't bid for any firms interviewing on the Thurs and Fri of Lavender, which amounted to only 2 firms (because at my OCI most interviews on that Thurs and Fri were from markets that I wasn't targeting). You only have to be at Lavender on Thurs for table talks/the career fair portion anyway, so if you can fly there for the day and back you won't even have to miss Friday OCI. For me, the upshot of giving up 2 potential screeners (which I may not have even gotten depending on how the lottery came out) is that I did mini-screeners with 30+ firms at Lavender. I know at least 5 others who got CBs and offers from Lavender, and I highly recommend it.

If you want to talk further about it, post non-anonymously and I'll PM you.

Since I'm here, I will also add to OP that you should definitely do as many minority fairs as you can. ITE, why wouldn't you take every advantage you can. I did 3 fairs plus my school's OCI (it was a very, very long couple months) and outperformed my numbers. I attribute that partly to decent interviewing skills, but mostly to the fact that I had multiple bites of the apple.

[Anonymous User]

I am a minority at a t30 school and am top 40% how will I fare? I know this year for 1L OCI I did not get any interviews.

Will being in top 40% get me anywhere at the minority job fairs?

[Anonymous User]

I'm solely LGBT so I may be of some assistance. I went to one general minority fair as well as Lavender Law and did pretty well at both. Lavender Law is a great chance to approach any firm you have an interest in. There's no pre-screening, you just walk up to a table and sit down. I strongly suggest going and being knowledgeable about the firms you want to talk to as many students are approaching any table with an empty seat. Some info about the firm will make you stand out. For the other minority fair, being LGBT seemed to be an asset. It was definitely a topic of conversation both at the screening interview stage as well as on the callbacks.

How do LGBT people fare at minority job fairs generally speaking? Unfortunately Lavender Law conflicts with my school's OCI.

I can't answer this question because I am both URM and LGBT, so it's hard to say whether being LGBT worked in my favor independent of being URM (I did 3 minority fairs).

But, I do urge you to go to Lavender if you can. My school's OCI conflicted with Lavender too, but I went anyway. When we bid for my school's OCI, I could see which firms were interviewing on which days. I just didn't bid for any firms interviewing on the Thurs and Fri of Lavender, which amounted to only 2 firms (because at my OCI most interviews on that Thurs and Fri were from markets that I wasn't targeting). You only have to be at Lavender on Thurs for table talks/the career fair portion anyway, so if you can fly there for the day and back you won't even have to miss Friday OCI. For me, the upshot of giving up 2 potential screeners (which I may not have even gotten depending on how the lottery came out) is that I did mini-screeners with 30+ firms at Lavender. I know at least 5 others who got CBs and offers from Lavender, and I highly recommend it.

If you want to talk further about it, post non-anonymously and I'll PM you.

Since I'm here, I will also add to OP that you should definitely do as many minority fairs as you can. ITE, why wouldn't you take every advantage you can. I did 3 fairs plus my school's OCI (it was a very, very long couple months) and outperformed my numbers. I attribute that partly to decent interviewing skills, but mostly to the fact that I had multiple bites of the apple.

[DportIA]

I am a minority at a t30 school and am top 40% how will I fare? I know this year for 1L OCI I did not get any interviews.

Will being in top 40% get me anywhere at the minority job fairs?

So you've gotten all your grades back already and you know your class rank after this semester too?

No. Stop putting the cart before the horse and get working on this semesters' finals. Sign-up for the fairs (all of them, you lose nothing by signing up and then deciding not to go later), and then back to the books.