Public Interest to Fed Gov Forum
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Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
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Anonymous User
- Posts: 428535
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Public Interest to Fed Gov
I'm a 2015 grad in the Vale. Now that I've passed the bar and been sworn in, I am thinking of applying to some fed gov jobs. Problem is, I don't really have any directly relevant experience. All of my experience has been in criminal law up until now. I'm trying to think of ways to parlay the skills I got doing that work into an agency job. Thoughts on how to go about doing this? Is it even possible to get fed gov without directly relevant experience? Looking at entry level, Grade 11 positions. Thanks!
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zot1
- Posts: 4476
- Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 12:53 am
Re: Public Interest to Fed Gov
If you can, get a volunteer job right now in civil work. If more specialized in one area, that would be better.
Make sure to tone down your resume. Instead of saying, "assisted with a double-homicide trial," just say you assisted with trial.
If you did anything non-criminal in law school like clinics or pro bono, use that.
If you took a series of classes that can help (like enviro), mention that in cover letter.
Also in cover letter, make sure to emphasize the practical experience you got not substantive. You'd be surprised how much your litigation experience is valued by agencies that want you to start working right away.
Also, DOJ has criminal jobs.
And if it helps, I got my job (fed agency doing civil work) with a criminal-heavy resume.
Make sure to tone down your resume. Instead of saying, "assisted with a double-homicide trial," just say you assisted with trial.
If you did anything non-criminal in law school like clinics or pro bono, use that.
If you took a series of classes that can help (like enviro), mention that in cover letter.
Also in cover letter, make sure to emphasize the practical experience you got not substantive. You'd be surprised how much your litigation experience is valued by agencies that want you to start working right away.
Also, DOJ has criminal jobs.
And if it helps, I got my job (fed agency doing civil work) with a criminal-heavy resume.
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Anonymous User
- Posts: 428535
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Public Interest to Fed Gov
Thanks - this was great advice! I appreciate it.zot1 wrote:If you can, get a volunteer job right now in civil work. If more specialized in one area, that would be better.
Make sure to tone down your resume. Instead of saying, "assisted with a double-homicide trial," just say you assisted with trial.
If you did anything non-criminal in law school like clinics or pro bono, use that.
If you took a series of classes that can help (like enviro), mention that in cover letter.
Also in cover letter, make sure to emphasize the practical experience you got not substantive. You'd be surprised how much your litigation experience is valued by agencies that want you to start working right away.
Also, DOJ has criminal jobs.
And if it helps, I got my job (fed agency doing civil work) with a criminal-heavy resume.
