Public Interest 2014: Thoughts, Anxieties, Experiences... Forum

[worldtraveler]

I think it's more important at this point to determine what kind of work you want to do. Not only what issues you want to work on, but the type of work. Are you a policy person or direct services? Do you prefer working in a small environment or a huge organization?

1L summer is the time to figure that out. It's way too early to think about next summer already. Just determine what you like and don't like, and once you know research places that will match up with your interests, and look if they have a good rep with EJW.

[sublime]

..

[BlueLotus]

Is it typical to get weekend assignments in PI/Gov't internships? Just curious, as it seems like quite a few of the folks in our sister thread have work to do over the weekends. I'm absolutely willing to hustle, if that's the case doe.

[Ded Precedent]

Is it typical to get weekend assignments in PI/Gov't internships? Just curious, as it seems like quite a few of the folks in our sister thread have work to do over the weekends. I'm absolutely willing to hustle, if that's the case doe.

I've never been emailed or contacted over the weekend to do something but it's typical to be handed a workload on Thursday or Friday that needs to be completed by Monday IME.

[sd5289]

Is it typical to get weekend assignments in PI/Gov't internships? Just curious, as it seems like quite a few of the folks in our sister thread have work to do over the weekends. I'm absolutely willing to hustle, if that's the case doe.

Yes.

If I recall correctly you're in the crim world? I was also nailed with late night and early morning stuff. It's all part of the job bro. Do it. Love it. Get hired for it.

[BlueLotus]

Is it typical to get weekend assignments in PI/Gov't internships? Just curious, as it seems like quite a few of the folks in our sister thread have work to do over the weekends. I'm absolutely willing to hustle, if that's the case doe.

Yes.

If I recall correctly you're in the crim world? I was also nailed with late night and early morning stuff. It's all part of the job bro. Do it. Love it. Get hired for it.

Nope, civil Legal Aid this summer. Excited to start the GRIND, nonetheless. This sitting around and doing nothing thing is getting rather old.

[worldtraveler]

I rarely did weekend work or worked after 7 or 8 as an intern but sometimes emergencies happen.

But your job also shouldn't be exploiting you. They're not paying and you and if they're expecting you to exhaust yourself over just a summer, that's not cool. It's not unreasonable to say that you have too much to do already or that you need to focus on assignments you already have. This isn't big law-you can do that, as long as you actually already have enough to do.

[sd5289]

I rarely did weekend work or worked after 7 or 8 as an intern but sometimes emergencies happen.

But your job also shouldn't be exploiting you. They're not paying and you and if they're expecting you to exhaust yourself over just a summer, that's not cool. It's not unreasonable to say that you have too much to do already or that you need to focus on assignments you already have. This isn't big law-you can do that, as long as you actually already have enough to do.

Normally I agree with wt, but i'm not not sure this is true. The fact that I stayed past 2am for arraignments has been a big selling point for me as I get ready to apply with the office this fall. Regular PI, perhaps this makes sense, but with DA/PD stuff, court is going well into 2 or 3 in the morning. I wouldn't suggest always staying until that late, but the fact that I stayed on that one day when no one else was around made me famous in the office.

[Ded Precedent]

Yeah I'm p terrified I won't leave a lasting impression if I don't go the extra mile.

[BlueLotus]

Yeah I'm p terrified I won't leave a lasting impression if I don't go the extra mile.

That's what I'm worried about too.

Nice hustle, sd!

[worldtraveler]

I rarely did weekend work or worked after 7 or 8 as an intern but sometimes emergencies happen.

But your job also shouldn't be exploiting you. They're not paying and you and if they're expecting you to exhaust yourself over just a summer, that's not cool. It's not unreasonable to say that you have too much to do already or that you need to focus on assignments you already have. This isn't big law-you can do that, as long as you actually already have enough to do.

Normally I agree with wt, but i'm not not sure this is true. The fact that I stayed past 2am for arraignments has been a big selling point for me as I get ready to apply with the office this fall. Regular PI, perhaps this makes sense, but with DA/PD stuff, court is going well into 2 or 3 in the morning. I wouldn't suggest always staying until that late, but the fact that I stayed on that one day when no one else was around made me famous in the office.

I mean more if they're requiring that of you all the time. Sometimes that's just going to happen.

And it's also going to depend on whether this is a place that gives offers or if you just need a reference. If it's just a reference, don't kill yourself. I know a couple of DA's offices with a reputation for exploiting interns when they have no intention of giving offers, even though they hint you might get one if you work hard enough.

[sd5289]

Ah, that I agree with. This office gives guaranteed first rounds to summer interns, so it just makes sense to hustle there.

[BlueLotus]

Ah, that I agree with. This office gives guaranteed first rounds to summer interns, so it just makes sense to hustle there.

Agreed. The place I'm working at doesn't regularly hire a a new "batch" each year a la large PD/DA offices. Aside from fellowships, there will only be an opening in the unlikely event that someone leaves.

[sd5289]

Ah, that I agree with. This office gives guaranteed first rounds to summer interns, so it just makes sense to hustle there.

Agreed. The place I'm working at doesn't regularly hire a a new "batch" each year a la large PD/DA offices. Aside from fellowships, there will only be an opening in the unlikely event that someone leaves.

Yeah, my PD friends were having a rough go of it hiring wise. At least here the question isn't "if" the DA's offices are hiring; it's more of a "how many" are they hiring this year.

[sd5289]

I love my job.

That is all.

[crumpetsandtea]

I love my job.

That is all.

Oh god, me too. I don't think I've ever had a job where I feel such a perfect balance of "hard at work" and "not stressed/frazzled the fuck out of my mind". Plus all the attorneys have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome and appreciated. I would LOVE to work here permanently.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

ETA: the Gaaahhh is because the attorney running the intern program in my office stopped by at the end of the day and informed me + the other intern that it would be "beneficial" to get a clerkship because the majority of people being hired by our department seem to have had clerkship experience after graduation. OH NO BIG DEAL BRO, LET ME JUST SNAG ONE OF THE PLENTIFUL FEDERAL CLERKSHIPS OUT THERE... ):

(Also, this attorney was an intern in the same office I am interning in, and DID NOT get a government honors position with the dep't...he ended up getting hired after working in-house for 2 years because one of the counsel in our office LOVED him when he interned and a bunch of people happened to retire. which does not help my nerves about applying for honors programs.)

[lawman4]

Checking in.

So far through 2 weeks and everything is great. I have been working on multiple assignments and the associates I work for keep pulling me from my desk and taking me to depo's with witnesses and on day drives to meet with clients. I have a memo do pretty soon but I am on top of it.

The way the associates conduct their deposition of witnesses is like a movie almost. "Excuse me Mr. blank, you are not aloud to ask me questions, only I ask the questions during this deposition."

[samcro_op]

Y'all get me so excited to start my internship, thanks for posting

[linkx13]

I love my job.

That is all.

Oh god, me too. I don't think I've ever had a job where I feel such a perfect balance of "hard at work" and "not stressed/frazzled the fuck out of my mind". Plus all the attorneys have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome and appreciated. I would LOVE to work here permanently.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

ETA: the Gaaahhh is because the attorney running the intern program in my office stopped by at the end of the day and informed me + the other intern that it would be "beneficial" to get a clerkship because the majority of people being hired by our department seem to have had clerkship experience after graduation. OH NO BIG DEAL BRO, LET ME JUST SNAG ONE OF THE PLENTIFUL FEDERAL CLERKSHIPS OUT THERE... ):

(Also, this attorney was an intern in the same office I am interning in, and DID NOT get a government honors position with the dep't...he ended up getting hired after working in-house for 2 years because one of the counsel in our office LOVED him when he interned and a bunch of people happened to retire. which does not help my nerves about applying for honors programs.)

Can you say where you work?

[Nebby]

A week and a half in and loving it! My favorite perk thus far is the option to do a condensed schedule. Instead of 8 hours a day, you work 9 hours a day and have every other Friday off. Zero weekend assignments. My specific office delves into every aspect of federal environmental law, rather than others that focus on one statute or even just one part of one statute. As a rising 2L that hasn't taken Admin law or Environmental law yet, I feel like I've had a crash course in both and feel well equipped come fall when I actually take those courses.

Glad to hear everyone else is enjoying their time!

[jdmonkey]

Is it typical to get weekend assignments in PI/Gov't internships? Just curious, as it seems like quite a few of the folks in our sister thread have work to do over the weekends. I'm absolutely willing to hustle, if that's the case doe.

Just make sure you don't exceed 40 hours on your time sheet even if you do more than 40 hours! HR will be pissed if they see you put anything more than 40 hours, cause there are usually state/fed labor laws that limit to 40 the number of hours you can work unpaid for gov't organizations. I've seen somebody not get an offer cause he put 50 hours on the time sheet and HR flipped out, and was saying the PD could get sued for this.

Remember they have enough staff to get the job done without interns. They do 100% of their work without interns most of the year. An internship is just an extended job interview, so don't feel the need to be super man.

[crumpetsandtea]

I love my job.

That is all.

Oh god, me too. I don't think I've ever had a job where I feel such a perfect balance of "hard at work" and "not stressed/frazzled the fuck out of my mind". Plus all the attorneys have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome and appreciated. I would LOVE to work here permanently.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

ETA: the Gaaahhh is because the attorney running the intern program in my office stopped by at the end of the day and informed me + the other intern that it would be "beneficial" to get a clerkship because the majority of people being hired by our department seem to have had clerkship experience after graduation. OH NO BIG DEAL BRO, LET ME JUST SNAG ONE OF THE PLENTIFUL FEDERAL CLERKSHIPS OUT THERE... ):

(Also, this attorney was an intern in the same office I am interning in, and DID NOT get a government honors position with the dep't...he ended up getting hired after working in-house for 2 years because one of the counsel in our office LOVED him when he interned and a bunch of people happened to retire. which does not help my nerves about applying for honors programs.)

Can you say where you work?

I work for a federal agency (hence the reference to the government honors program). Beyond that I don't really want to say.

[sd5289]

Remember they have enough staff to get the job done without interns. They do 100% of their work without interns most of the year. An internship is just an extended job interview, so don't feel the need to be super man.

I agree with this in the sense of just sticking to 40 hours on your time sheet. There will be weeks where you spend more than that at the office on something if you're lucky enough to be assigned to a trial. I was sent home "early" today (around 5:20) because I will be on a trial (which I'm stoked about) and I will definitely not be going home at that time during the trial. You don't need to document that you're gunning for a job; they already know by the effort you're putting in, the work product you're putting out, and whether or not you do a competent job on everything that you're assigned. Just put 9:00 - 5:00 or 9:30 - 5:30 on your time sheet and go by what your supervising attorney(s) are assigning you and/or expect of you.

ETA: also crumpets, have you thought about State clerkships? Where I am, federal clerkships are ridiculously competitive (and I haven't made up my mind about whether I'm actually going to pursue clerkships), so I'm thinking of trying for the highest State court clerkships as well. They haven't opened here yet, but I'm finding that a little more attractive because at least I get to stay here. The other part of me just wants to jump right into the practice I came to law school for, but clerkships are apparently a necessary advancement tool if I ever decide to go federal.

[crumpetsandtea]

ETA: also crumpets, have you thought about State clerkships? Where I am, federal clerkships are ridiculously competitive (and I haven't made up my mind about whether I'm actually going to pursue clerkships), so I'm thinking of trying for the highest State court clerkships as well. They haven't opened here yet, but I'm finding that a little more attractive because at least I get to stay here. The other part of me just wants to jump right into the practice I came to law school for, but clerkships are apparently a necessary advancement tool if I ever decide to go federal.

I've been talking to my career advisers and they've brought that up. The problem is I really have to decide how to allocate my time for the job hunt this summer, and if (IF) I decide to try and apply to firms eventually, a state clerkship isn't going to be very helpful. I think I'm going to target magistrate judges + ALJs before state clerkships.

[rpcb]

Hey everyone! Rising 2L here. Just started my PD summer gig at the beginning of the week. So far it has been a great experience and the it looks like I will get a lot of practical experience. The state where I am working has a really backwards legal system, so I am glad that I will get to help out.