Attorney Advisor (Trademark Examining Attorney) for USPTO Forum

[Anonymous User]

For those of you who have to move to DC if selected for this job, is there a point at which you would decline an offer? In other words, if you were to get a call X days from the start date offering you the job, how small would X have to be for you to justify turning the job down?

I am facing the prospect of moving for this job, and while I don’t think mine would be a terribly complicated move, I’ve been wondering how long this process could go on before I didn’t feel like I could reasonably pull it off anymore. I’d have to give notice on my current apartment, arrange movers, find a new place, and do all of the admin stuff (reregister my car, forward my mail, arrange utilities, etc). That’s a lot to do in 4 weeks let alone 2 or 1.

Not to be negative but it is not looking like they are going to be calling very many people. Perhaps a few for those who back out. So I would not put too much thought into this.

But just in case. You can come for training for a week or two and still live wherever you are. YOu can fly into DCA and take the metro to a hotel near the trademark office. Then you can spend your night and lunch break finding a place to live. It'd be expensive but if you really wanted the job you could do it. Otherwise pulling off a move three weeks before would be a challenge. Mostly it could be difficult to find a good place and get a lease just three weeks out. You could probably find a crappy place that far out though. There are lots of apartments that have very good online presence but in reality are not good places to live, so in person would be best.

If you want to do all the moving stuff before you start I would say you need at least 3 weeks. If you want to try the challenge of moving while training (which would be pretty hard but doable) than whenever you get the call.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know if the Office will schedule appointments for a feedback session of the application/interview process to allow applicants not selected this go around a chance to refine their efforts and take steps to improve their candidacy for the next hiring cycle?

[Anonymous User]

This is a great question and I wish the USPTO had such a program to allow candidates know of their shortcomings. Never heard of any such thing though

But I just spoke with Ms. McGrath and she told me that the decision makers are still in the selection process.

[Anonymous User]

This is a great question and I wish the USPTO had such a program to allow candidates know of their shortcomings. Never heard of any such thing though

But I just spoke with Ms. McGrath and she told me that the decision makers are still in the selection process.

Thanks for the update. Still holding out hope for a call back even though chances are slim. I feel for those who receive a last minute offer and have to move so quickly.

[Anonymous User]

This is a great question and I wish the USPTO had such a program to allow candidates know of their shortcomings. Never heard of any such thing though

But I just spoke with Ms. McGrath and she told me that the decision makers are still in the selection process.

The "selection process" lasts until the actual start date. This is due to the need to contact substitutes as discussed previously and doesn't just cover the time it takes to select the first picks.

[Anonymous User]

I guess I get them saying that its still open up to the start date just in case, but man its so annoying. At the very least have just a small group of reserves and notify them and not leave everyone in limbo. The not knowing is killing me.

[S.P.F. 30]

Friday of Selection Week at 5:00 p.m. EST... Now comes the crummy part of hoping there are conflicts and people back out in short order. Normally, I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but the rest of us really want this job too!!

Congrats first string and good luck second string!!!

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know if the Office will schedule appointments for a feedback session of the application/interview process to allow applicants not selected this go around a chance to refine their efforts and take steps to improve their candidacy for the next hiring cycle?

From my experience def NOT. I interviewed the round before last and they never contact you to even tell you the positions have been filled so I really dont see them having a feed back session. would be nice tho! ive interviewed twice now and havent gotten it!

[Anonymous User]

Has anybody that’s received a reference check phone call heard anything from HR regarding a firm offer?

I emailed the managing attorney that called me to check if all of my references responded, and received a call from Anthony Henderson in HR about an hour later. He said that they do reference checks for more people than they actually hire, and they’re still in the process of making decisions. Based on everyone’s experiences, is there any accuracy to this? I was under the impression if you received a reference check call then you’ve made the cut. Thanks!

[nyattorneygc1234]

Has anybody that’s received a reference check phone call heard anything from HR regarding a firm offer?

I emailed the managing attorney that called me to check if all of my references responded, and received a call from Anthony Henderson in HR about an hour later. He said that they do reference checks for more people than they actually hire, and they’re still in the process of making decisions. Based on everyone’s experiences, is there any accuracy to this? I was under the impression if you received a reference check call then you’ve made the cut. Thanks!

I received a phone call from Anthony Henderson on Thursday, Feb. 7th extending a tentative offer. Afterwards, I received the tentative offer via email from him along with a couple of forms I needed to fill out for the background check. Won't get an actual firm offer until the background check has been completed.

[Anonymous User]

Has anybody that’s received a reference check phone call heard anything from HR regarding a firm offer?

I emailed the managing attorney that called me to check if all of my references responded, and received a call from Anthony Henderson in HR about an hour later. He said that they do reference checks for more people than they actually hire, and they’re still in the process of making decisions. Based on everyone’s experiences, is there any accuracy to this? I was under the impression if you received a reference check call then you’ve made the cut. Thanks!

I received a phone call from Anthony Henderson on Thursday, Feb. 7th extending a tentative offer. Afterwards, I received the tentative offer via email from him along with a couple of forms I needed to fill out for the background check. Won't get an actual firm offer until the background check has been completed.

"What unpaid parking tickets?" What class of forms did they send you, the sf55 and of306 or a different batch?

[Anonymous User]

Has anybody that’s received a reference check phone call heard anything from HR regarding a firm offer?

I emailed the managing attorney that called me to check if all of my references responded, and received a call from Anthony Henderson in HR about an hour later. He said that they do reference checks for more people than they actually hire, and they’re still in the process of making decisions. Based on everyone’s experiences, is there any accuracy to this? I was under the impression if you received a reference check call then you’ve made the cut. Thanks!

That's horrifying in concept, let's hope not. Just imagine being the person that gets their references called, doesn't get the job, and current boss fires them for looking elsewhere, scary. Are they doing these calls one at a time for all 50 spots?

[Adukefan008]

Has anybody that’s received a reference check phone call heard anything from HR regarding a firm offer?

I emailed the managing attorney that called me to check if all of my references responded, and received a call from Anthony Henderson in HR about an hour later. He said that they do reference checks for more people than they actually hire, and they’re still in the process of making decisions. Based on everyone’s experiences, is there any accuracy to this? I was under the impression if you received a reference check call then you’ve made the cut. Thanks!

I received a phone call from Anthony Henderson on Thursday, Feb. 7th extending a tentative offer. Afterwards, I received the tentative offer via email from him along with a couple of forms I needed to fill out for the background check. Won't get an actual firm offer until the background check has been completed.

Was your start date March 11 or March 18?

[Anonymous User]

This is a question for a current examiner: in the interview I was told that when you start working remotely you can work remotely from "the region". What is considered the region?

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone else feel like this process, especially now that people have been called, is going extra slowly? I have not been called and have pretty much moved on from this, but I’m still keeping an eye on this forum every once in a while just to make sure nothing crazy is happening. I fully recognize that not everyone is on here and that even the people who are don’t have to provide updates of everything that happens. I think I just expected there to be more activity than there is now.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone else feel like this process, especially now that people have been called, is going extra slowly? I have not been called and have pretty much moved on from this, but I’m still keeping an eye on this forum every once in a while just to make sure nothing crazy is happening. I fully recognize that not everyone is on here and that even the people who are don’t have to provide updates of everything that happens. I think I just expected there to be more activity than there is now.

Based on past cycles, updates are going to come in at a trickle at this point. Now that the initial calls have been made, HR will be spending its time trying to process the references and background checks as fast as possible to make sure there is still time to call the next people down the list should an issue appear or someone backs out. This is all done under the auspices of 'still in the process of making decisions' so getting status checks from the office itself won't be overly insightful.

So between now and March 11, its either stay flexible (and stressed out) hoping you get a call and can still be able to take the job with last-minute notice or regain peace of mind, settle on aiming for next cycle, and communicate that you are still interested in a position but cannot reasonably make the transition at this time should they call you too close to the start date.

[Anonymous User]

Unconfirmed rumor, but word on the street is Management cut the hiring class from 50-60 attorneys to 20-25. Might be due to a decrease in filings. Sucks for all the extra people that got interviewed.

[Anonymous User]

Unconfirmed rumor, but word on the street is Management cut the hiring class from 50-60 attorneys to 20-25. Might be due to a decrease in filings. Sucks for all the extra people that got interviewed.

Nah, they would have still likely interviewed somewhere close to that amount, so no loss there. who it does 'suck for' would be the other 25 people that got contacted for references, started taking next steps, and now have to wait and see if they make the cut whereas before the reference call was all but a sure thing.

[Anonymous User]

Unconfirmed rumor, but word on the street is Management cut the hiring class from 50-60 attorneys to 20-25. Might be due to a decrease in filings. Sucks for all the extra people that got interviewed.

Nah, they would have still likely interviewed somewhere close to that amount, so no loss there. who it does 'suck for' would be the other 25 people that got contacted for references, started taking next steps, and now have to wait and see if they make the cut whereas before the reference call was all but a sure thing.

Do you think they made this decision before or after they started contacting people for references?

[Anonymous User]

Unconfirmed rumor, but word on the street is Management cut the hiring class from 50-60 attorneys to 20-25. Might be due to a decrease in filings. Sucks for all the extra people that got interviewed.

Nah, they would have still likely interviewed somewhere close to that amount, so no loss there. who it does 'suck for' would be the other 25 people that got contacted for references, started taking next steps, and now have to wait and see if they make the cut whereas before the reference call was all but a sure thing.

Do you think they made this decision before or after they started contacting people for references?

No way to know, really. both on whether this 'unconfirmed rumor' is legit and if so, when that particular decision was actually made.

[Anonymous User]

Unconfirmed rumor, but word on the street is Management cut the hiring class from 50-60 attorneys to 20-25. Might be due to a decrease in filings. Sucks for all the extra people that got interviewed.

Nah, they would have still likely interviewed somewhere close to that amount, so no loss there. who it does 'suck for' would be the other 25 people that got contacted for references, started taking next steps, and now have to wait and see if they make the cut whereas before the reference call was all but a sure thing.

Do you think they made this decision before or after they started contacting people for references?

No way to know, really. both on whether this 'unconfirmed rumor' is legit and if so, when that particular decision was actually made.

Very true. This round of hiring does seem odd given this rumor, the reported change of the start date, etc. Has anybody reached out to HR to get a status update recently? Hard to tell where anybody stands with all of these moving parts.

[Anonymous User]

Unconfirmed rumor, but word on the street is Management cut the hiring class from 50-60 attorneys to 20-25. Might be due to a decrease in filings. Sucks for all the extra people that got interviewed.

Nah, they would have still likely interviewed somewhere close to that amount, so no loss there. who it does 'suck for' would be the other 25 people that got contacted for references, started taking next steps, and now have to wait and see if they make the cut whereas before the reference call was all but a sure thing.

Do you think they made this decision before or after they started contacting people for references?

No way to know, really. both on whether this 'unconfirmed rumor' is legit and if so, when that particular decision was actually made.

Very true. This round of hiring does seem odd given this rumor, the reported change of the start date, etc. Has anybody reached out to HR to get a status update recently? Hard to tell where anybody stands with all of these moving parts.

Tried to call HR for an update this morning but it went to voicemail. Didn't leave a message. Recording says that Henderson is out of the office until next Tuesday at the earliest.

[Anonymous User]

Unconfirmed rumor, but word on the street is Management cut the hiring class from 50-60 attorneys to 20-25. Might be due to a decrease in filings. Sucks for all the extra people that got interviewed.

Nah, they would have still likely interviewed somewhere close to that amount, so no loss there. who it does 'suck for' would be the other 25 people that got contacted for references, started taking next steps, and now have to wait and see if they make the cut whereas before the reference call was all but a sure thing.

Do you think they made this decision before or after they started contacting people for references?

No way to know, really. both on whether this 'unconfirmed rumor' is legit and if so, when that particular decision was actually made.

Very true. This round of hiring does seem odd given this rumor, the reported change of the start date, etc. Has anybody reached out to HR to get a status update recently? Hard to tell where anybody stands with all of these moving parts.

Tried to call HR for an update this morning but it went to voicemail. Didn't leave a message. Recording says that Henderson is out of the office until next Tuesday at the earliest.

Have you already received a reference check call? Just trying to see where they are in the process since we have reports of multiple reference calls but only one tentative offer from HR so far.

[Anonymous User]

Unconfirmed rumor, but word on the street is Management cut the hiring class from 50-60 attorneys to 20-25. Might be due to a decrease in filings. Sucks for all the extra people that got interviewed.

Nah, they would have still likely interviewed somewhere close to that amount, so no loss there. who it does 'suck for' would be the other 25 people that got contacted for references, started taking next steps, and now have to wait and see if they make the cut whereas before the reference call was all but a sure thing.

Do you think they made this decision before or after they started contacting people for references?

No way to know, really. both on whether this 'unconfirmed rumor' is legit and if so, when that particular decision was actually made.

Very true. This round of hiring does seem odd given this rumor, the reported change of the start date, etc. Has anybody reached out to HR to get a status update recently? Hard to tell where anybody stands with all of these moving parts.

Tried to call HR for an update this morning but it went to voicemail. Didn't leave a message. Recording says that Henderson is out of the office until next Tuesday at the earliest.

Have you already received a reference check call? Just trying to see where they are in the process since we have reports of multiple reference calls but only one tentative offer from HR so far.

Not yet. On top of trying to get an official statement to be able to clarify all of these rumors getting thrown around, I was trying to see how they got my contact info mixed up and haven't called me yet. Maybe they just want to make me sweat until next week.

[nyattorneygc1234]

Has anybody that’s received a reference check phone call heard anything from HR regarding a firm offer?

I emailed the managing attorney that called me to check if all of my references responded, and received a call from Anthony Henderson in HR about an hour later. He said that they do reference checks for more people than they actually hire, and they’re still in the process of making decisions. Based on everyone’s experiences, is there any accuracy to this? I was under the impression if you received a reference check call then you’ve made the cut. Thanks!

I received a phone call from Anthony Henderson on Thursday, Feb. 7th extending a tentative offer. Afterwards, I received the tentative offer via email from him along with a couple of forms I needed to fill out for the background check. Won't get an actual firm offer until the background check has been completed.

Was your start date March 11 or March 18?

March 18th