AUSA/USAO hiring Forum

[Anonymous User]

Agree, multiple people have told me (and my impression was as well), that poise and delivery is 80% of your job during the second interview/opening statement. Basically, they are testing to see if you have the presence to deliver a good opening under stress and time pressure. The remaining 20% is not committing reversible error during your opening (like accidentally shifting the burden onto the defendant) and whether you possess enough crim pro/evidence knowledge to answer their questions.

[Anonymous User]

For those who did multiple rounds in a day and were extended an offer, did you meet the USA at the end of the day? If I wasn't invited to speak with the USA at the conclusion of of my interviews, is that a soft rejection?

[Anonymous User]

For those who did multiple rounds in a day and were extended an offer, did you meet the USA at the end of the day? If I wasn't invited to speak with the USA at the conclusion of of my interviews, is that a soft rejection?

It could be, but it could also just be that they were out of the office.

[Anonymous User]

For those who did multiple rounds in a day and were extended an offer, did you meet the USA at the end of the day? If I wasn't invited to speak with the USA at the conclusion of of my interviews, is that a soft rejection?

It could be, but it could also just be that they were out of the office.

Obviously, I hope its the latter. I thought at least one of my interviews could have gone better but I felt pretty confident with how the others went. One interviewer even remarked she especially liked my answer about prosecutorial ethics. Ah well, c'est la vie.

[Anonymous User]

For those who did multiple rounds in a day and were extended an offer, did you meet the USA at the end of the day? If I wasn't invited to speak with the USA at the conclusion of of my interviews, is that a soft rejection?

It could be, but it could also just be that they were out of the office.

Obviously, I hope its the latter. I thought at least one of my interviews could have gone better but I felt pretty confident with how the others went. One interviewer even remarked she especially liked my answer about prosecutorial ethics. Ah well, c'est la vie.

Are you from outside of DC (as in you had to fly to do this interview)?

[Anonymous User]

For those who did multiple rounds in a day and were extended an offer, did you meet the USA at the end of the day? If I wasn't invited to speak with the USA at the conclusion of of my interviews, is that a soft rejection?

It could be, but it could also just be that they were out of the office.

Obviously, I hope its the latter. I thought at least one of my interviews could have gone better but I felt pretty confident with how the others went. One interviewer even remarked she especially liked my answer about prosecutorial ethics. Ah well, c'est la vie.

Are you from outside of DC (as in you had to fly to do this interview)?

Yup. Also FWIW, they told me that they're looking to hire several candidates and they still had a few more interviews to do until the end of June. From the numbers they gave me, it sounded like about 1/4 interviewees would be hired.

[Anonymous User]

I was offered an interview last week.

I interviewed last cycle, when there may have been fewer positions.

The USAJobs listing for this cycle mentioned that there were 10+ openings. Is that what the office told you too?

Regarding one of the earlier posts in this thread about Superior Court -- last time, I did the first and second round interviews on the same day. They accommodated me since I was flying in from the west coast. My understanding is that local applicants can only undergo one round per day, and then have to wait for a decision about advancement to the next round. Out of town applicants are allowed to do the first and second round on the same day.

[encore1101]

I was offered an interview last week.

I interviewed last cycle, when there may have been fewer positions.

The USAJobs listing for this cycle mentioned that there were 10+ openings. Is that what the office told you too?

Regarding one of the earlier posts in this thread about Superior Court -- last time, I did the first and second round interviews on the same day. They accommodated me since I was flying in from the west coast. My understanding is that local applicants can only undergo one round per day, and then have to wait for a decision about advancement to the next round. Out of town applicants are allowed to do the first and second round on the same day.

PM me.

[Anonymous User]

Will do. Thanks.

And one update, which I learned from speaking to the lady in charge of scheduling interviews.

Even though the office will combine multiple rounds on the same day for out of state applicants, it is dependent on passing each phase. For example, if you only get recommended by one of the three initial interviewers during the first round interviews, you won't have the second round panel interview, even though you would've in theory been able to do it the same day.

[Anonymous User]

They will also combine the first two rounds for local applicants, at least on occasion. That’s what they did for me (job offer received recently).

[Anonymous User]

Cool. And you had a third round interview on a separate day?

[Bob Souffle]

Cool. And you had a third round interview on a separate day?

That’s right.

[Anonymous User]

Weird question but I'll ask, I'm (male) starting as AUSA soon and expect to be on my feet a lot/walking etc. Can anyone recommend a good pair of shoes that's sufficiently formal for court use yet really comfortable and easy to walk in?

[andythefir]

Weird question but I'll ask, I'm (male) starting as AUSA soon and expect to be on my feet a lot/walking etc. Can anyone recommend a good pair of shoes that's sufficiently formal for court use yet really comfortable and easy to walk in?

https://wolfandshepherd.com/collections ... 2055887911

[Anonymous User]

To the poster who interviewed with S.D. Cal - did you hear anything yet?

[Anonymous User]

anyone who received an offer in the past couple of months heard anything by way of background check? i submitted all my materials about a month or so ago and haven't heard a peep. Don't know if this is normal.

[Anonymous User]

Current circuit clerk on one of 2/7/9. Have three years (civil) practice experience at a well-respected biglaw in my metro, fairly meaty stand-up/substantive stuff but no trials, with some pro bono criminal (on defense side). Did not intern with an AUSA or anything like that in LS. In part because of my experience working on criminal cases during the clerkship, am considering pursuing the AUSA thing when the clerkship ends next fall.

(a) Am I competitive as it stands, or better to go back and practice / clerk at the d.ct level / etc. for a year or two first?
(b) For those who came off clerkships, when did you start submitting apps? I've kept an eye on USAJobs for the last couple years in general but didn't get a great sense of how the timing actually works out in practice. Have read through the thread but seems to mostly be about hiring timing after interviews.

[Anonymous User]

From my experience in a couple of USAOs: I think it would make sense to start applying for after your current clerkship, but assume you won’t get anything yet so prepare to go back to practice (or clerk at a district court, though that will knock you out of applying for a bit just due to timing). That’s not a knock on your qualifications, it’s just hard to know how the timeline will go on these things. I don’t think there’s any real reason to delay applying, though - you might get hired now, you might get hired later, but applying definitely shows interest, which is good.

I know a ton of AUSAs with district court clerkships and a few with COA clerkships but very few with both. That could just be a function of where I’ve worked, though. Overall I think D Ct is more helpful than COA, but I don’t know that it’s so helpful to someone that you should put everything else off to get one.

My experience has been that when offices get authorization to hire they prefer to work relatively quickly and so interviewing would happen within a month or so of the application deadline. However then you’d need to pass the background check and that can take a while (at least a few months?). So it’s probably fair to start applying now (assuming your clerkship ends in the fall).

Also that may not apply to some of the bigger offices that post for rolling applications on their web pages. I have no idea what their timelines would be like. The offices where I’ve worked only accept applications when they have an opening to fill, and since that’s usually only when they need someone due to workload they like to fill them quickly.

[Anonymous User]

To the poster who interviewed with S.D. Cal - did you hear anything yet?

No, but I expect I'll hear soon. They said they were doing interviews until June 28, and so they expected to make some decisions in the first few weeks of July. Plus, I got another job offer which needs to know my decision by Monday, which I told SDCA about, so I expect I'll hear soon either way.

Do you know anything about it?

[houstonlaw468]

Any updates on SDTX Houston?

[Anonymous User]

Any updates on cdca or ndil? Both have had a few openings in the last 6-12 months, wondering if there’s been any movement or if perhaps vacancies have been filled internally.

[Anonymous User]

Current circuit clerk on one of 2/7/9. Have three years (civil) practice experience at a well-respected biglaw in my metro, fairly meaty stand-up/substantive stuff but no trials, with some pro bono criminal (on defense side). Did not intern with an AUSA or anything like that in LS. In part because of my experience working on criminal cases during the clerkship, am considering pursuing the AUSA thing when the clerkship ends next fall.

(a) Am I competitive as it stands, or better to go back and practice / clerk at the d.ct level / etc. for a year or two first?
(b) For those who came off clerkships, when did you start submitting apps? I've kept an eye on USAJobs for the last couple years in general but didn't get a great sense of how the timing actually works out in practice. Have read through the thread but seems to mostly be about hiring timing after interviews.

I get your desire to try to "plan" out your timing when it comes to applying. But, AUSA positions are a bit like unicorns. The right advice always has been: whenever a position opens up, apply. The one exception to this is, of course, if the job posting has a minimum experience requirement, which you don't appear to have an issue with. Aside from that, apply as soon as a job opens up. If you don't, you never know when another position will open up again. Even if you apply and don't get it based on experience, the fact that you will have already applied once before when you reapply will show commitment and be a positive factor.

[Anonymous User]

<accidental double post>

[Anonymous User]

anyone who received an offer in the past couple of months heard anything by way of background check? i submitted all my materials about a month or so ago and haven't heard a peep. Don't know if this is normal.

I got an offer at a major coastal USAO a few months ago and moved very quickly on getting my background check materials in order (submitted basically within a week and a half of the offer). My preliminary clearance came through shockingly fast -- just four weeks after submission. Two incoming colleagues who I happen to know from the clerkship / law firm world had similar experiences. No idea if that timeline is office-dependent, though I have to assume part of it is driven by how quickly the HR people within the specific office gets their paperwork in order for the folks in DC.

[Anonymous User]

To the poster who interviewed with S.D. Cal - did you hear anything yet?

No, but I expect I'll hear soon. They said they were doing interviews until June 28, and so they expected to make some decisions in the first few weeks of July. Plus, I got another job offer which needs to know my decision by Monday, which I told SDCA about, so I expect I'll hear soon either way.

Do you know anything about it?

Same boat re: SDCA. Interviewed several weeks ago but have not heard anything yet. Good luck!