DoL (Labor) 2013 Honors Attorney Program Forum

[84weeks]

Haven't heard anything yet here. Of all the Honors programs, this is my best shot.

[Anonymous User]

Bump.

Has anyone heard anything yet?

[Anonymous User]

They're still doing interviews next week, at least Monday and Tuesday. (Sandy threw things off schedule.)

[Anonymous User]

They're still doing interviews next week, at least Monday and Tuesday. (Sandy threw things off schedule.)

DOL is going to be a long wait.

I'm still floored that they only do one round of interviews. November is a pretty busy month, so waiting for December shouldn't be too hard. DOL is honestly my best shot (such as it is) for government work.

[Anonymous User]

They're still doing interviews next week, at least Monday and Tuesday. (Sandy threw things off schedule.)

DOL is going to be a long wait.

I'm still floored that they only do one round of interviews. November is a pretty busy month, so waiting for December shouldn't be too hard. DOL is honestly my best shot (such as it is) for government work.

The one round of interviews floors me, too. I wish I really had any idea what they're looking for - the Google stalking I've managed has just convinced me everyone ever hired for this program has way better stats and WE than I do, so I wish I knew what made them decide to interview me, so I could play that up. I don't really think I have much of a shot at all, but gotta give the interview my best shot regardless.

[Anonymous User]

Are there any recent DOL interviewees that were told what the approximate timeline is for a decision?

[Anonymous User]

Are there any recent DOL interviewees that were told what the approximate timeline is for a decision?

Yes. I interviewed with them on Monday. The woman who interviewed me said that there are 15 pairs of attorneys interviewing people from the mail-in submissions, and they and the people who did OCI (at 30 schools) (who I think were different people from the mail-in interviewers, but I might have that wrong) will next make their recommendations to the hiring committee (I think soon - this week? next week? I had the impression my interview was at the tail end of the process - they'd had to reschedule because of Sandy). Then the hiring committee does whatever they do. The goal is to get offers out by the end of November/beginning of December, but given the way everything works, she wouldn't be surprised if they didn't go out until early January. If I needed to know where I stood in the process before then (i.e. if I had another offer, I guess) I could get in touch with either one of the interviewers.

[Anonymous User]

How many people do you guys think gets to the hiring committee?

[Anonymous User]

No. fricking. clue. The webpage says they're planning to hire "up to ten," right? I can't imagine the hiring committee would want to wade through more than 30-40 for that? But I have no idea how many people get interviews. Someone suggested earlier that everyone who signed up for an OCI screener at their school got an interview, and they interviewed at 30 schools... even if they only interviewed 10 per school, that's 300 people. Then phone interviews - how many, I don't know - selected from 700+ other applicants? If there were 15 pairs doing phone interviews, say they were each interviewing at least 10 people each - that's another 150? Maybe the top 10% of all those interviewed will go to the hiring committee, which would be 45?

I mean, I have absolutely no idea. The above is rampant speculation, made up of whole cloth. So feel free to ignore.

[Anonymous User]

This week is probably the earliest we'll hear anything. If you get an offer or get dinged, please post! (And please post how you received the news.)

[Anonymous User]

I feel like I should just post info for a ding now and get it over with...

[Anonymous User]

This week is probably the earliest we'll hear anything.

How do you know? Did one of the interviewers tell you that?

[Anonymous User]

This week is probably the earliest we'll hear anything.

How do you know? Did one of the interviewers tell you that?

The interviewers said (as I reported in an earlier post) that their goal was to get offers out at the end of November/beginning of December. It's now the last week in November. However, I was also told that the process may well drag on until early January.

[Anonymous User]

My understanding is that they never meet their goal timeline and every year it takes longer than November.

[Anonymous User]

I'm shocked, SHOCKED that the federal government might take longer than predicted.

[Anonymous User]

Any news from anyone? Any understanding of how it works if you had a phone interview vs. interviewed in person?

[Anonymous User]

Any news from anyone? Any understanding of how it works if you had a phone interview vs. interviewed in person?

No news here. I don't think there's any difference in how it works to have a phone interview v. interviewing in person - everyone's in the same pool, now waiting for them to make a decision.

[Anonymous User]

Any news from anyone? Any understanding of how it works if you had a phone interview vs. interviewed in person?

No news here. I don't think there's any difference in how it works to have a phone interview v. interviewing in person - everyone's in the same pool, now waiting for them to make a decision.

That's my understanding as well. In my case, I'm a much better interviewer in person than over the phone, so I feel fortunate they came to my school. I might shoot my interviewer an email soon for an update. I'll let ya'll know if I learn anything.

[Anonymous User]

Nothing new on my end.

Anyone else know what's going on?

[Anonymous User]

for most government hiring, I think it's safe to assume no news until after the fiscal cliff has been resolved. but hey, feel free to prove me wrong DOL.

[Anonymous User]

No news here either. They did say it might be January before we heard anything.

[Anonymous User]

Sigh...Jan... really? My interviewer said December.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah, they said the goal was December but not to be surprised if it took till January.

[Anonymous User]

Just curious, did everyone submit a cover letter? I applied an interviewed through OCI and there was no mention of a cover letter. I just looked at the DOL website and noticed that they mentioned submitting a cover letter. Is that only for non-OCI applicants?

I'm assuming that they have all the relevant information in any case. I remember my interviewer taking a good page of notes on his legal pad. I just thought it was strange that they'd have different application requirements depending on how you applied for the honors program. In fact, the whole DOL application process is strange. (e.g., one round of interviews).

[Anonymous User]

Just curious, did everyone submit a cover letter? I applied an interviewed through OCI and there was no mention of a cover letter. I just looked at the DOL website and noticed that they mentioned submitting a cover letter. Is that only for non-OCI applicants?

I'm assuming that they have all the relevant information in any case. I remember my interviewer taking a good page of notes on his legal pad. I just thought it was strange that they'd have different application requirements depending on how you applied for the honors program. In fact, the whole DOL application process is strange. (e.g., one round of interviews).

I submitted a cover letter and I interviewed through OCI. I was surprised that they had read it pretty carefully too and referred to parts of it during the interview.