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By Asia Ellis, Lewis Wagner LLP
Now that registration has opened for the 2022 Indianapolis Bar Association Diversity Job Fair, I thought it would be the perfect time to attest to the invaluable opportunity the Diversity Job Fair was for me and encourage other law students to attend this year.
I am a University of Kentucky College of Law graduate with very few ties to the Indianapolis area. I attended the IndyBar Diversity Job Fair in August 2019 after attending multiple legal job fairs in other regions. Because the Diversity Job Fair was my last job fair for that summer, I expected it to be the same as the others I had attended prior. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the Diversity Job Fair was much more than the typical interview sessions that the other events provided. From the initial student informational session, I knew that the IndyBar had taken the time and effort to make sure that this was an informative event for all law students that attended.
The Diversity Job Fair featured prominent law firms and legal employers from around the Indy area. These private and public legal employers were dedicated to promoting diversity within the Indy area. The interviewing employers understood that the current legal market not only needed successful law students but students that can bring diversity to their place of employment, as diversity helps cultivate different ideas and legal solutions.
The Diversity Job Fair showcased their desire to place diverse, successful and competent law students into the Indianapolis job market. Every public and private employer I had the pleasure of speaking with could articulate what diversity meant to their place of employment. Furthermore, they conveyed the importance and impact diverse students have on the Indy legal market.
Some of my favorite experiences from the Diversity Job Fair were the student informational session, the welcome reception and the keynote luncheon. These were my favorite events for several reasons. First, all three of these events allowed students to have informal conversations with potential interviewers. During these sessions, students got to have candid conversations and network with potential employers without the pressure of an interview. By the time I had my interviews, I had met several of the attorneys I would interview with, which made the experience less stressful. Additionally, students had the opportunity to ask for interview tips and other helpful questions from potential employers before their interviews. Due to these informative sessions, by the time I got to my interviews, I felt extremely prepared to articulate my accomplishments, goals, passions and how I would be an attribute to my future employer.
The last thing I would like to highlight about the IndyBar Diversity Job Fair is that the employers who participate in the event genuinely seek to recruit diverse students. I remember going to job fairs in the summer of 2019 thinking, “Do students really get job offers at these job fairs? Am I going to all these interviews for nothing?” If you have these same questions, I am here to tell you that students receive offers from employers at the Diversity Job Fair. I can attest to that fact as I received a job offer from my current employer at the Diversity Job Fair, and I know several individuals who also received job offers. I truly believe that if students attend the event and put their best foot forward and let their personality shine, they too can have a successful time at this event.
Student registration for this year’s event is now open! See details and sign up today at indybar.org/diversityjobfair.•
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