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DOJ jus posted the participating components. Slim pickings.

The components are up. Smaller number than last year, and several are "informal participants," but better than I expected considering the political climate.

Jinx! I merged the threads.

Does anyone know what the process is re: informally participating components?

Wow that is slim. Antitrust hired over 20 last year, and this year its two, and informal only.

I'm an honors hire last year. Staying anon, but you can refer to me as Bob and I'll know you're asking me a Q. Happy to answer whatever I can.

Anonymous User wrote:Does anyone know what the process is re: informally participating components?

You apply as usual but you can't list informally participating components as one of the three components you're choosing to send the application to, and it's up to them to decide what apps to look at and when if at all to interview and hire. So don't call them, they'll call you. I don't actually know of anyone getting hired through an informal component, but it might be different this round in that there are so many informal participants who normally hire through honors (like ATR and crim), they're probably hedging their bets due to budget issues and probably leadership replacements not having happened yet. So I think there will have to be some waiting-and-seeing.

(Actually I think there might be somewhere in the app to list which of the informal components you'd like to be considered by. But it's separate from your usual 3 selections and it doesn't guarantee anything - it still totally depends on what the component decides to do, and when.)

I'd bet that if they can ATR and crim will try to follow the usual schedule because they normally participate, but I'm just making that up. I would imagine a lot depends on where the budget and leadership are by the fall.

I did a quick comparison of this year's program with last year's. Please forgive any errors. The numbers in parentheses represent the number of positions available last year. Asterisks next to the informal components indicate that the component was a formal participant last year.

2017-18 Formal Participants

Civil Division - 10 (17)
-Federal Programs Branch - 3 (8)
-Office of Immigration Litigation - 7 (9)

Civil Rights Division - 2 (12)

Drug Enforcement Administration - 3 (3)

Environment & Natural Resources Division - 4­-8 (12)

Executive Office for Immigration Review - 103 (108)
-Office of the Chief Immigration Judge - 97 (100)
-Office of General Counsel - 1 (1)
-Board of Immigration Appeals - 4 (4)
-Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer - 1 (1)

Federal Bureau of Investigation - 1-3 (2)

The Gaye L. Tenoso Indian Country Fellowship - 2 (1)

National Security Divsion - 2 (4)

United States Attorney's Offices - 3 (3)
-District of Arizona - 2 (2)
-District of Oregon - 1 (0)

2017-18 Informal Participants

Antitrust Division*** - 2 (22)

Civil Division*** - 12 (18)
-Appellate Staff - 3 (4)
-Commercial Litigation Branch - 3 (6)
-Consumer Protection Branch - 2 (2)
-Torts Branch - 4 (6)

Criminal Division*** - 9 (12)
-Regular Trial Attorney - 5 (9)
-Asset Forfeiture Fellowship Program - 4 (3)

Office of Information Policy - 1 (1)

Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties - 1 (0)

Tax Division*** - 3-6 (12)

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California - 1 (1)
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York - 1-2 (2)
U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia - 1 or more (1)

Last year, in the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Office of Legal Access Programs and the Office of Communication and Legislative Affairs were both formal participants and each had a single position available, with none this year. The Federal Bureau of Prisons was a formal participant at 4 positions, with none this year. The U.S. Trustee Program was a formal participant at 6 positions, with none this year. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio was a formal participant at 1 position, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas was an informal participant at 1-2 positions (although obviously USAO's vary each year).

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(Tagging non-anon for ease of future reference)

Anonymous User wrote:I'd bet that if they can ATR and crim will try to follow the usual schedule because they normally participate, but I'm just making that up. I would imagine a lot depends on where the budget and leadership are by the fall.

I'm an incoming honors hire, and I think this is probably the case. From my interactions with my component, it does seem that there's a lot of uncertainty regarding FY 18 & 19. The components are likely hedging their bets. If budgets are at or near current levels, then I would expect those components to do what they can to follow their normal hiring schedule.

Nosso wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I'd bet that if they can ATR and crim will try to follow the usual schedule because they normally participate, but I'm just making that up. I would imagine a lot depends on where the budget and leadership are by the fall.

I'm an incoming honors hire, and I think this is probably the case. From my interactions with my component, it does seem that there's a lot of uncertainty regarding FY 18 & 19. The components are likely hedging their bets. If budgets are at or near current levels, then I would expect those components to do what they can to follow their normal hiring schedule.

Yeah, they can only do normal hiring on Trump's budget, but we all know that is DOA in congress.

Does DOJ reimburse moving expenses for these positions? I can't find relevant info online. I'd be moving from a few thousand miles away from DC.

Nope.

Anonymous User wrote:Nope.

As a rising 3L likely to have a firm offer in hand going into the fall, is it out of bounds to accept the offer and still apply to DOJ honors? We will have to make a decision to accept or reject the firm offer before getting through the whole DOJ process.

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Gray wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Nope.

As a rising 3L likely to have a firm offer in hand going into the fall, is it out of bounds to accept the offer and still apply to DOJ honors? We will have to make a decision to accept or reject the firm offer before getting through the whole DOJ process.

Don't NALP rules require the firm to hold the offer open for a while if you are applying to government?

Yea, Part V.B.2: "Candidates may request that an employer extend the deadline to accept the employer’s offer until as late as April 1 if the candidate is actively pursuing positions with public interest or government organizations. Candidates may hold open only one offer in such circumstances. Employers are encouraged to grant such requests."

http://www.nalp.org/fulltextofnalpprinc ... Candidates

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What are the prompts for the essays usually like? There's no info on the Arizona handbook.

Anonymous User wrote:What are the prompts for the essays usually like? There's no info on the Arizona handbook.

When I applied for SLIP, they were something like "why do you want to work for DOJ?" and "why are you interested in your top-choice component?"

Anonymous User wrote:What are the prompts for the essays usually like? There's no info on the Arizona handbook.

Last year, they were:

If you could tell the selecting official one thing about yourself, what would it be? (2000 characters maximum)

Why do you want to work for the Department of Justice and what attracts you to the components you selected? (2000 characters maximum)

Describe the experiences or special skills you possess which you believe qualify you for a position as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and tell us why you want to be an Assistant U.S. Attorney. (2000 characters maximum) [required only if you applied to a USAO]

What role can an Assistant U.S. Attorney play in making our society a better place? (2000 characters maximum) [required only if you applied to a USAO]

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I don't think the questions change; those are the same ones I had 4 years ago.

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When I applied last year, I talked a lot with an alumnus who currently works at DOJ and used to be on the hiring committee for his office. He repeatedly stressed how important the essays are, since you don't submit a writing sample. Take them seriously and a spend a lot of time on them.

The one that asks you why you like your selected components is particularly tricky. You need to somehow talk meaningfully about each component you like, but, on the other hand, you can't seem too excited about one particular office because that will turn the other offices off. They will think they are just a fall-back. If you talk too broadly about the offices, you may not catch anyone's attention. It's a delicate balancing game.

For what it's worth, my approach was more all-or-nothing. I wrote almost exclusively about the one branch I wanted, and then included a quick blurb about how these other five offices also seemed cool. I ended up with an interview for my top choice and one of the "quick blurb" offices.