USACE 2018-19 (Non-DOJ) Forum

[atlhomie16]

Hey guys! After poking around for a while, I figured I'd kickstart this thread. Has anyone that applied for the US Army Corps of Engineers Civilian Honors Program heard back about the second round of interviews at/with the DC headquarters? I was told that February would be when they start rolling out interview offers, but I still haven't heard anything. My initial OCI was back in October.

[other guy]

If/When I hear something, I'l let you know. I applied also

[atlhomie16]

If/When I hear something, I'l let you know. I applied also

Thanks. Still nothing, but I'll also update if I hear anything.

[other guy]

Still nothing from here. I emailed them. Hopefully, that doesn't come back to bite me. Who knows?

[Anonymous User]

Recent USACE Honors hire here. Don't know about the current status of things for this year, but for me I was qualified in December and did not get any callback interviews until May. I had interviews with several districts in May/June and received offers in June.

That said, USACE is an awesome place to work! Loving the job so far. The work is challenging, but not so crazy that it is stressful.

[other guy]

Recent USACE Honors hire here. Don't know about the current status of things for this year, but for me I was qualified in December and did not get any callback interviews until May. I had interviews with several districts in May/June and received offers in June.

That said, USACE is an awesome place to work! Loving the job so far. The work is challenging, but not so crazy that it is stressful.

May I ask what "qualified" means? I did an interview in october. I was told at the interview to expect a follow up. I haven't heard anything. Not even if they are or are not interested. I was really looking forward to the follow up because it sounded like an exceptional job opportunity.

[LivJoan523]

Hi! I applied for the 2018-19 program and had my second interview (DC) in mid December and heard back that I was “qualified” shortly thereafter.

I believe that qualified just means that the Chief Counsel has approved you for hire and your application materials are sent to regional offices. I had an interview with a regional office but haven’t heard anything yet.

[LivJoan523]

Still nothing from here. I emailed them. Hopefully, that doesn't come back to bite me. Who knows?

I received your PM but the site will not let me reply to you. We can discuss via email if you'd like - just PM me an address. Sorry!

[Arj16b]

I had my USACE qualifying interview with HQ in the beginning of January and just heard back yesterday that I am "qualified" to be hired.

[Iceman22]

USACE is not something that is mentioned a whole lot in the legal job seeking community. I can find all kinds of information about what it's like working for other government agencies, but scarce information on the USACE. Can anyone share what they know about being an attorney at USACE? Good? Bad? Is this a hidden fed gem?

[Iceman22]

No answer, but I guess I'll find out the hard way because I got the job. If anyone finds this post in the future and wants to ask me anything, feel free to pm.

[Anonymous User]

USACE is not something that is mentioned a whole lot in the legal job seeking community. I can find all kinds of information about what it's like working for other government agencies, but scarce information on the USACE. Can anyone share what they know about being an attorney at USACE? Good? Bad? Is this a hidden fed gem?

I'm a current USACE attorney who joined through the Civilian Honors Program. I can completely relate to feeling like USACE is a bit of a black box in terms of what the agency does and what a USACE attorney does!

To understand what a USACE attorney does, it's important to understand what USACE as a whole does, since it is a pretty unique agency. USACE has a several missions: military construction (building infrastructure for the military), civil works (building flood control & navigation projects for local sponsors), regulatory (primarily administering permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act), recreation (most USACE districts have recreational lakes, campsites, etc.), hydropower (USACE is the largest provider of hydropower in the US, i.e. builds and operates dams), real estate (purchasing flowage easements, acquiring property to build projects on, etc.), and water supply (because we operate dams, we have large reservoirs of water and localities use our reservoirs to meet their water demands).

With all that being said, you will be assigned to support one or more of these missions. In Counsel, our "practice areas" are divided into (1) contracting (helping to award and administer construction contracts for MilCon, Civil Works, and Hydropower projects); (2) civil works (reviewing agreements and generally making sure our projects comply with all laws & regs); (3) real estate (reviewing easements, licenses, etc., completing takings analyses, acquisitions, etc.); (4) regulatory (supporting permit programs, NEPA/ESA/NHPA practice); (5) labor and employment (dealing with all in-house L&E issues); and (6) fiscal/ethics (how/when we can spend money, attend conferences, etc.). You'll be assigned to one or more of these practice areas and will have opportunities to gain experience in several different areas of law.

I didn't know that much about USACE going in and I tend to think its a hidden gem within the Honors Programs. I've only been with USACE for a few years and already have experience in contracting, civil works, regulatory, real estate, and labor & employment. So, if I decide to move to another agency or into the private sector, I'm not worried that my experience is too niche or non-transferable. A huge perk of working for USACE is that you will have opportunities to temporarily move to other offices around the country/world and complete a temporary "detail" to another office for anywhere from 2-6 months, if you want to try living somewhere else or expanding your legal practice.

Happy to answer any other questions you might have!

[EvanWilliams2]

USACE is not something that is mentioned a whole lot in the legal job seeking community. I can find all kinds of information about what it's like working for other government agencies, but scarce information on the USACE. Can anyone share what they know about being an attorney at USACE? Good? Bad? Is this a hidden fed gem?

I'm a current USACE attorney who joined through the Civilian Honors Program. I can completely relate to feeling like USACE is a bit of a black box in terms of what the agency does and what a USACE attorney does!

To understand what a USACE attorney does, it's important to understand what USACE as a whole does, since it is a pretty unique agency. USACE has a several missions: military construction (building infrastructure for the military), civil works (building flood control & navigation projects for local sponsors), regulatory (primarily administering permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act), recreation (most USACE districts have recreational lakes, campsites, etc.), hydropower (USACE is the largest provider of hydropower in the US, i.e. builds and operates dams), real estate (purchasing flowage easements, acquiring property to build projects on, etc.), and water supply (because we operate dams, we have large reservoirs of water and localities use our reservoirs to meet their water demands).

With all that being said, you will be assigned to support one or more of these missions. In Counsel, our "practice areas" are divided into (1) contracting (helping to award and administer construction contracts for MilCon, Civil Works, and Hydropower projects); (2) civil works (reviewing agreements and generally making sure our projects comply with all laws & regs); (3) real estate (reviewing easements, licenses, etc., completing takings analyses, acquisitions, etc.); (4) regulatory (supporting permit programs, NEPA/ESA/NHPA practice); (5) labor and employment (dealing with all in-house L&E issues); and (6) fiscal/ethics (how/when we can spend money, attend conferences, etc.). You'll be assigned to one or more of these practice areas and will have opportunities to gain experience in several different areas of law.

I didn't know that much about USACE going in and I tend to think its a hidden gem within the Honors Programs. I've only been with USACE for a few years and already have experience in contracting, civil works, regulatory, real estate, and labor & employment. So, if I decide to move to another agency or into the private sector, I'm not worried that my experience is too niche or non-transferable. A huge perk of working for USACE is that you will have opportunities to temporarily move to other offices around the country/world and complete a temporary "detail" to another office for anywhere from 2-6 months, if you want to try living somewhere else or expanding your legal practice.

Happy to answer any other questions you might have!

Thanks for taking questions. What kind of credentials (e.g. school rank, grades, internships, softs, etc.) does the Program look for when hiring? How many attorneys are typically hired each year through the Program?

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for taking questions. What kind of credentials (e.g. school rank, grades, internships, softs, etc.) does the Program look for when hiring? How many attorneys are typically hired each year through the Program?

The Honors Program tends to hire from Top 20 law schools, but I have seen attorneys from lower-ranked schools hired where there is a clear geographical tie to a certain area, particularly those where it might be hard to attract people (i.e., Omaha, Huntington, Rock Island). I think the program guidelines state that attorneys should be in the top third of their class, but I don't think this is a hard and fast rule. A fair number of hires did judicial clerkships, but I didn't and I know of several others who did not. Like all other Honors Programs, they look at your commitment to public service/government employment, so any summer internships at a federal or state agency would be a plus. The number of attorneys hired through the program varies from year to year, but I'd expect anywhere from 8 to 15 in a given year. I'd err on the higher side of that range for this cycle. Hope this helps!

[Lindell185]

USACE is not something that is mentioned a whole lot in the legal job seeking community. I can find all kinds of information about what it's like working for other government agencies, but scarce information on the USACE. Can anyone share what they know about being an attorney at USACE? Good? Bad? Is this a hidden fed gem?

I'm a current USACE attorney who joined through the Civilian Honors Program. I can completely relate to feeling like USACE is a bit of a black box in terms of what the agency does and what a USACE attorney does!

To understand what a USACE attorney does, it's important to understand what USACE as a whole does, since it is a pretty unique agency. USACE has a several missions: military construction (building infrastructure for the military), civil works (building flood control & navigation projects for local sponsors), regulatory (primarily administering permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act), recreation (most USACE districts have recreational lakes, campsites, etc.), hydropower (USACE is the largest provider of hydropower in the US, i.e. builds and operates dams), real estate (purchasing flowage easements, acquiring property to build projects on, etc.), and water supply (because we operate dams, we have large reservoirs of water and localities use our reservoirs to meet their water demands).

With all that being said, you will be assigned to support one or more of these missions. In Counsel, our "practice areas" are divided into (1) contracting (helping to award and administer construction contracts for MilCon, Civil Works, and Hydropower projects); (2) civil works (reviewing agreements and generally making sure our projects comply with all laws & regs); (3) real estate (reviewing easements, licenses, etc., completing takings analyses, acquisitions, etc.); (4) regulatory (supporting permit programs, NEPA/ESA/NHPA practice); (5) labor and employment (dealing with all in-house L&E issues); and (6) fiscal/ethics (how/when we can spend money, attend conferences, etc.). You'll be assigned to one or more of these practice areas and will have opportunities to gain experience in several different areas of law.

I didn't know that much about USACE going in and I tend to think its a hidden gem within the Honors Programs. I've only been with USACE for a few years and already have experience in contracting, civil works, regulatory, real estate, and labor & employment. So, if I decide to move to another agency or into the private sector, I'm not worried that my experience is too niche or non-transferable. A huge perk of working for USACE is that you will have opportunities to temporarily move to other offices around the country/world and complete a temporary "detail" to another office for anywhere from 2-6 months, if you want to try living somewhere else or expanding your legal practice.

Happy to answer any other questions you might have!

I'm an attorney currently working for another federal agency and have been offered a labor attorney position with the USACE. I was wondering if you could tell me a little about the environment for an attorney there. Is telework available? Is anybody on an alternative work schedule (5/4/9 or 4/10)? Just trying to see what it would actually be like to work there. Thank you!

[Anonymous User]

USACE is not something that is mentioned a whole lot in the legal job seeking community. I can find all kinds of information about what it's like working for other government agencies, but scarce information on the USACE. Can anyone share what they know about being an attorney at USACE? Good? Bad? Is this a hidden fed gem?

I'm a current USACE attorney who joined through the Civilian Honors Program. I can completely relate to feeling like USACE is a bit of a black box in terms of what the agency does and what a USACE attorney does!

To understand what a USACE attorney does, it's important to understand what USACE as a whole does, since it is a pretty unique agency. USACE has a several missions: military construction (building infrastructure for the military), civil works (building flood control & navigation projects for local sponsors), regulatory (primarily administering permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act), recreation (most USACE districts have recreational lakes, campsites, etc.), hydropower (USACE is the largest provider of hydropower in the US, i.e. builds and operates dams), real estate (purchasing flowage easements, acquiring property to build projects on, etc.), and water supply (because we operate dams, we have large reservoirs of water and localities use our reservoirs to meet their water demands).

With all that being said, you will be assigned to support one or more of these missions. In Counsel, our "practice areas" are divided into (1) contracting (helping to award and administer construction contracts for MilCon, Civil Works, and Hydropower projects); (2) civil works (reviewing agreements and generally making sure our projects comply with all laws & regs); (3) real estate (reviewing easements, licenses, etc., completing takings analyses, acquisitions, etc.); (4) regulatory (supporting permit programs, NEPA/ESA/NHPA practice); (5) labor and employment (dealing with all in-house L&E issues); and (6) fiscal/ethics (how/when we can spend money, attend conferences, etc.). You'll be assigned to one or more of these practice areas and will have opportunities to gain experience in several different areas of law.

I didn't know that much about USACE going in and I tend to think its a hidden gem within the Honors Programs. I've only been with USACE for a few years and already have experience in contracting, civil works, regulatory, real estate, and labor & employment. So, if I decide to move to another agency or into the private sector, I'm not worried that my experience is too niche or non-transferable. A huge perk of working for USACE is that you will have opportunities to temporarily move to other offices around the country/world and complete a temporary "detail" to another office for anywhere from 2-6 months, if you want to try living somewhere else or expanding your legal practice.

Happy to answer any other questions you might have!

I'm an attorney currently working for another federal agency and have been offered a labor attorney position with the USACE. I was wondering if you could tell me a little about the environment for an attorney there. Is telework available? Is anybody on an alternative work schedule (5/4/9 or 4/10)? Just trying to see what it would actually be like to work there. Thank you!

It varies by district, so you should ask the District/Division Counsel what their policy is. I know telework and alternative work schedule is possible. Otherwise everyone works an 8-hour day and is provided flexibility on when they want to come in in the morning.

Environment wise: low stress, but enough work to keep busy. No L&E litigation at the district level, but opportunities for ADR. Lots of opportunities for professional development and moving around if you want.