Fed Gov Jobs - Least Competitive Forum

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Fed Gov Jobs - Least Competitive

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:12 pm

Are there certain agencies and/or certain locales that are less competitive? I didn’t clerk and I don’t have a specialty. I did graduate from HYS and I’m at an amlaw100 firm but I’m not a special snowflake by any stretch. Where would I have the best shot at getting a Fed Gov position? Oh and I’m a mid-level.

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Re: Fed Gov Jobs - Least Competitive

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:04 pm

Great question. I'm curious too.

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Re: Fed Gov Jobs - Least Competitive

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:05 pm

U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Anyone with a pulse can get a job there. Check out USAJobs - there are a million postings there. That usually means high turnover. My friend worked there. Very low morale.

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anon sequitur

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Re: Fed Gov Jobs - Least Competitive

Post by anon sequitur » Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:54 am

Pretty sure CBP is up there, don't forget the VA and the SSA. SSA frequently hires in batches of like 40. They have a lot of attorney jobs that are capped at gs-12, doesn't seem like a good place to work. I've even seen attorney jobs advertised at gs-9, which is ridiculous. One thing I have noticed about CPB jobs is that they require a cover letter, which makes me think that they have problems with people applying who aren't seriously considering the job.

I'd also consider staff attorney jobs in the judiciary, either with the district courts or COA (which are harder to get, but still not super hard).

In general, look for attorney postings on USAJOBS that are capped at gs-12. Those tend to be the easier to get

lapolicia

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Re: Fed Gov Jobs - Least Competitive

Post by lapolicia » Wed Aug 15, 2018 1:13 am

anon sequitur wrote:Pretty sure CBP is up there, don't forget the VA and the SSA. SSA frequently hires in batches of like 40. They have a lot of attorney jobs that are capped at gs-12, doesn't seem like a good place to work. I've even seen attorney jobs advertised at gs-9, which is ridiculous. One thing I have noticed about CPB jobs is that they require a cover letter, which makes me think that they have problems with people applying who aren't seriously considering the job.

I'd also consider staff attorney jobs in the judiciary, either with the district courts or COA (which are harder to get, but still not super hard).

In general, look for attorney postings on USAJOBS that are capped at gs-12. Those tend to be the easier to get
All of this, plus civilian jobs in the military branches (Army, Navy, Air Force--not DoD itself though) tend to be among the easier ones to get (often in remote locations though) while generally being a lot more interesting than working at the SSA and topping out at 14/15 rather than 12. Also, in most agencies attorney positions that deal with internal agency issues like employment and labor law tend to be easier to get than programatic legal positions.

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Re: Fed Gov Jobs - Least Competitive

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:01 pm

CBP. Anyone have experience there? I want an in to gov.

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Re: Fed Gov Jobs - Least Competitive

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:37 pm

anon sequitur wrote:Pretty sure CBP is up there, don't forget the VA and the SSA. SSA frequently hires in batches of like 40. They have a lot of attorney jobs that are capped at gs-12, doesn't seem like a good place to work. I've even seen attorney jobs advertised at gs-9, which is ridiculous. One thing I have noticed about CPB jobs is that they require a cover letter, which makes me think that they have problems with people applying who aren't seriously considering the job.

I'd also consider staff attorney jobs in the judiciary, either with the district courts or COA (which are harder to get, but still not super hard).

In general, look for attorney postings on USAJOBS that are capped at gs-12. Those tend to be the easier to get
All the jobs I've looked at require a cover letter. Is that atypical?

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Re: Fed Gov Jobs - Least Competitive

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:38 pm

Wouldn't CPB open doors to biglaw down the road? Aren't you handling international contracts and whatnot?

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Re: Fed Gov Jobs - Least Competitive

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:46 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Wouldn't CPB open doors to biglaw down the road? Aren't you handling international contracts and whatnot?
Customs and Border Protection? You handle the ports - enforcing customs and trade regulations and immigration stuff. If you work for OGC you may do a lot of in-house type of employment-related work involving federal employees, but I don’t see any real biglaw-adjacent work.

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