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Anonymous User wrote:Anyone apply to the recent NDGA (Atlanta) criminal AUSA postings?

I applied to the civil and criminal openings and very recently got invited to interview for the civil opening.

So, on that front, the office asked me to provide a list of references and specifically asked for my last three supervisors. Does the office contact supervisors before making offers? I’m at a large law firm and obvs would prefer that my firm not know I applied unless I was in the final stages.

Anyone familiar with DOJ Main's hiring timeline? How long from first interview to second to offer?

Got an invite to a final round interview with an east coast office on the larger side (NYC, DC, Baltimore, Chicago, etc).

They have yet to ask or mention references. I'd like to include a judge who I've done some trials in front of - but I still regularly appear in front of him/her.

If you were in my shoes would you wait for the office to request references before approaching the judge?

Also - any thoughts on why haven't they asked for references?

bump

Any news anywhere? I received an offer at a mid sized USAO recently.

I interviewed/have an interview scheduled with NDCA USAO.

Previous Anon, have you already had your first round interview and have your second round scheduled for NDCA? Anyone heard of any second round interviews at NDCA?

Previous anon here. Did my 1st round interview, no 2nd round interview scheduled as of yet. I have not received an invite for a 2nd round interview or a rejection, but I think they're still interviewing people.

Anonymous User wrote:bump

Any news anywhere? I received an offer at a mid sized USAO recently.

For anyone who has accepted, any info on how long background check will take or has taken? I’m about 3 months in with no real update in sight.

Anonymous User wrote:Got an invite to a final round interview with an east coast office on the larger side (NYC, DC, Baltimore, Chicago, etc).

They have yet to ask or mention references. I'd like to include a judge who I've done some trials in front of - but I still regularly appear in front of him/her.

If you were in my shoes would you wait for the office to request references before approaching the judge?

Also - any thoughts on why haven't they asked for references?

In your shoes, I would wait to approach the judge unless I was going to ask him generally to be a reference for me. My understanding is that references are typically only needed/checked for the selected candidate before the offer is actually extended. Sort of a final due diligence before extending the offer I guess.

My office (west coast, mid-size) had two rounds of reference checking. The first was about a week or so after my final round interview, division chief emailed me asking for contact info. My tentative offer came about a week after that. The second was after the tentative offer and completion of my background check materials, they needed to speak with my previous 3 supervisors for "vouchering" before they could submit my packet for review. Fortunately they were able to give me a heads-up, so I could finally let my current employer know that I was leaving. I would have preferred to tell them once I had my firm start date, but oh well, they were still happy for me.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Got an invite to a final round interview with an east coast office on the larger side (NYC, DC, Baltimore, Chicago, etc).

They have yet to ask or mention references. I'd like to include a judge who I've done some trials in front of - but I still regularly appear in front of him/her.

If you were in my shoes would you wait for the office to request references before approaching the judge?

Also - any thoughts on why haven't they asked for references?

In your shoes, I would wait to approach the judge unless I was going to ask him generally to be a reference for me. My understanding is that references are typically only needed/checked for the selected candidate before the offer is actually extended. Sort of a final due diligence before extending the offer I guess.

My office (west coast, mid-size) had two rounds of reference checking. The first was about a week or so after my final round interview, division chief emailed me asking for contact info. My tentative offer came about a week after that. The second was after the tentative offer and completion of my background check materials, they needed to speak with my previous 3 supervisors for "vouchering" before they could submit my packet for review. Fortunately they were able to give me a heads-up, so I could finally let my current employer know that I was leaving. I would have preferred to tell them once I had my firm start date, but oh well, they were still happy for me.

Already tried to post this but sounds like we may be in same office or similar offices. Same question as directly above (re: background check). I seem pretty in the dark and am in different state so makes it tough.

Same anon as below. Received a 2nd/Final round interview request today for NDCA.

Anonymous User wrote:Previous anon here. Did my 1st round interview, no 2nd round interview scheduled as of yet. I have not received an invite for a 2nd round interview or a rejection, but I think they're still interviewing people.

Anyone know if interview calls have started from the recent Southern District of Illinois postings?

Anyone get an offer from the WD of Michigan yet? Thanks. (Criminal)

RE: WDMI CRIMINAL:

Have not heard. Interviewed in late July. Went to a T10 school, so-so grades, public interest and trial exp. Be curious to see if anyone has received an offer yet.

Any offers made out for the DC Office? Had a final interview already, curious what timeline is like after that.

FYI: the new postings with imminent deadlines appear to have a much quicker turn around on interview timing than otherwise reported here, including for bigger districts. I had a turn around of six business days from receipt of my application to the interview offer and then an interview scheduled for the following week.

Agreed. It took me 50 days to go from submitting an application to getting a tentative offer.

Anonymous User wrote:Agreed. It took me 50 days to go from submitting an application to getting a tentative offer.

What was the spacing between interviews?

Anonymous User wrote:Agreed. It took me 50 days to go from submitting an application to getting a tentative offer.

Wow. Congrats. Idea of background check timeline or time to start date? I'm in the dark on mine and it's been a while.

Dinged after a perfunctory first-round interview by the USAO in the District where I clerked, via a "Dear Sir/Madam" email.

I just don't know what these people want.

Anonymous User wrote:Dinged after a perfunctory first-round interview by the USAO in the District where I clerked, via a "Dear Sir/Madam" email.

I just don't know what these people want.

I don’t get your last statement. Every office gets a zillion applications, many from super-qualified people, so while it sucks to get dinged, it’s not a personal insult and lots of great candidates are going to get rejected - that’s just how the numbers work.

(Which isn’t meant to sound so harsh - it sucks to get dinged, so sorry about that.)

Anonymous User wrote: I don’t get your last statement. Every office gets a zillion applications, many from super-qualified people, so while it sucks to get dinged, it’s not a personal insult and lots of great candidates are going to get rejected - that’s just how the numbers work.

(Which isn’t meant to sound so harsh - it sucks to get dinged, so sorry about that.)

Of course. I think it's a combination of the hiring attitude--"wow, it's a great experience, apply, you'll never get better training!"--contrasted with the utterly opaque and depressing application process. I interned in two different USAOs, clerked in the district, and did my best to communicate that I wanted this job more than anything else on the planet...and to get a "Dear Sir/Madam" email in response?

Truth be told, it also might be the fact that my pals who made it into various USAOs seem to have done so with minimal effort, via the Biglaw-->apply three or four years in--->zing! track. I'm not a Biglaw gal, and despite being told repeatedly that this wouldn't hurt me, it seems like it has.

Meh.

I’m sorry, it is depressing. If it’s any consolation, I think your friends are outliers. And unfortunately there are a lot of offices that favor biglaw over any other path. Not all, but many. Paths I see are via biglaw, or via local prosecution (or JAG). Frankly, offices tend to prefer one of these paths or the other.

Also FWIW, you wanting the job more than anything is probably less important to communicate than what you can actually offer an office. You have the clerkship, so that’s great, but you also need to be able to offer things like writing skills and trial experience, and you need to be able to sell those qualifications.

I’ve also seen a lot of offices, especially smaller ones that don’t want to train as much, move to hiring AUSAs who want to move from their current location. Which sucks also for people who want to get into the system, I know.

Anonymous User wrote:I’m sorry, it is depressing. If it’s any consolation, I think your friends are outliers. And unfortunately there are a lot of offices that favor biglaw over any other path. Not all, but many. Paths I see are via biglaw, or via local prosecution (or JAG). Frankly, offices tend to prefer one of these paths or the other.

Also FWIW, you wanting the job more than anything is probably less important to communicate than what you can actually offer an office. You have the clerkship, so that’s great, but you also need to be able to offer things like writing skills and trial experience, and you need to be able to sell those qualifications.

I’ve also seen a lot of offices, especially smaller ones that don’t want to train as much, move to hiring AUSAs who want to move from their current location. Which sucks also for people who want to get into the system, I know.

I'd steer clear of downplaying the wanting the job part though. Some of the biggest offices may not care, others definitely will, but procured interviews with at least 9 offices at least partially due to my ability to communicate that desire. I've got competitive credentials otherwise but didn't have many connections and know for a fact it was helpful in getting interviews.

Yeah, that makes sense. It’s valuable but it’s not sufficient. And I don’t mean you should downplay it, just that it’s not the make or break unless/until you have the other things to offer.