AUSA/USAO hiring Forum

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Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 04, 2019 1:21 pm

Current border AUSA here. I’m curious to know what you miss about your border district. I have friends who just started in larger cities, and while their location is good, I’m working on higher level stuff already. It seems a function of being in an office that lets us get our hand in complex matters sooner.
Is that the kind of thing you meant that you miss?

Also, when you applied to the two other districts, did you go through USAJOBS/DOJ’s site, or through another way?

Thanks!

Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 04, 2019 1:44 pm

Former border AUSA here - I do think there’s some more willingness to let people try stuff out in the border districts because there are so many cases, why not give someone a shot. I do a wider variety of cases here, but not especially complex stuff. I think mostly I miss being in a bigger office with a higher volume of cases. I went to a smaller office and it feels a bit like there’s more individual scrutiny here and more formality.

Also it was just a really good office with a good mix of people and some really great senior AUSAs who were good mentors and role models. Not that there aren’t good people in my newer office, it’s just a different culture. Not sure whether that’s at all from where it is or just the luck of the draw.

I applied through USAjobs. I think everyone I know who’s got a job in another office applied to a posted opening.

Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 04, 2019 2:12 pm

Thanks for your reply. I feel muah as you did, because my colleagues here are fantastic. If I left this office, they’re what I’d miss the most.

That said, my family might like to return to a larger city someday.

Did you find the interviews far different as an AUSA looking to lateral, vice someone on the outside looking in?

Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 04, 2019 2:45 pm

Yeah, I feel like it’s much easier to interview as a current AUSA because you just have so much pertinent knowledge about how the federal criminal system works. I didn’t get both the jobs I interviewed for as an AUSA so it’s not a guarantee (that said, I know the person who got the job I didn’t, and he was also coming from another district). But it’s much easier to show you know what the job entails.

andythefir

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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by andythefir » Mon Mar 04, 2019 3:00 pm

My question is specifically for this wave of border hires. I’m curious because 1 the wave appears to have been so huge, 2 the wave appears to have snapped up former clerks as opposed to local DAs. I’m specifically curious about someone who went to, say Del Rio who wanted to be in Chicago or Seattle. It’s my understanding border>main office within a District is doable (Del Rio>San Antonio), but random border>random other office is much less so. Also, I bet it’s a major buyer’s market for burned out border AUSAs because they hired so many people who are likely now realizing the job isn’t what they wanted and they’re not getting traction where they want to be.

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Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 04, 2019 4:05 pm

Former border AUSA from above: none of the AUSAs I know went from border —> main in the same district. We all went from border —> random other offices. Frequently we had some kind of tie to the random other office, but not invariably. Obviously I can’t comment on the most recent big wave of hiring, but IMHO those people haven’t been in the job long enough to be in a position to change offices yet (or to be burned out).

In my old district, a lot of the people who got hired in the recent wave of border hirings were local prosecutors (or former JAG or prosecutors from other states). And I don’t think the border districts have to burn you out any more than any other district. My workload here certainly isn’t any less than in the border district, it’s just different kinds of cases.

I guess I don’t share your negative view of the position those recent hires are in, but it probably varies by person and district.

Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 04, 2019 4:50 pm

Anybody here interview(ing) with District of Nevada this week? Looks like a slew of interviews going on this week.

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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 04, 2019 10:03 pm

I interviewed for Brownsville, Laredo, Corpus, and McAllen all in one sitting as they are all in SDTX. I am not from the border and have no ties there. Ended up in appellate division elsewhere but I really wanted the border for exactly the reasons others have described. Get to do a lot of work soon. There’s a “front line” sort of camaraderie it sounds like. Seemed like a great place to practice and not just a stop over on the way to bigger and better things as above seems to suggest. I think there are a very few people who can be so picky. I applied all over. I would have been happy with any where. Alas, Guam never responded.

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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Mar 05, 2019 4:06 pm

Has anyone here interviewed with CDCA recently? If so, do you care to share your experience or results? Also wondering if anyone has heard back since the most recent Honolulu hiring.

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andythefir

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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by andythefir » Tue Mar 05, 2019 9:17 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Former border AUSA from above: none of the AUSAs I know went from border —> main in the same district. We all went from border —> random other offices. Frequently we had some kind of tie to the random other office, but not invariably. Obviously I can’t comment on the most recent big wave of hiring, but IMHO those people haven’t been in the job long enough to be in a position to change offices yet (or to be burned out).

In my old district, a lot of the people who got hired in the recent wave of border hirings were local prosecutors (or former JAG or prosecutors from other states). And I don’t think the border districts have to burn you out any more than any other district. My workload here certainly isn’t any less than in the border district, it’s just different kinds of cases.

I guess I don’t share your negative view of the position those recent hires are in, but it probably varies by person and district.
I don't mean to imply a negative view of border prosecutors. I'm sure they do a ton of good work and get great experience. It's just been my experience that 1 there have been so many hires that all the first round picks of the crop have to have been picked up by now, 2 millenials/Gen Z are all about enormous towns on the coasts, so I'm curious how they'll do in Brownsville/Yuma (again, I'm sure some folks would love to be there, but there have been SO MANY HIRES that they must have picked up some folks who aren't that way), and 3 whether there will be a glut of people trying to get out, thereby creating a buyers market for former AUSAs.

Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Mar 05, 2019 10:15 pm

I think that's a little exaggerated. "So many hires" is in comparison to the previous hiring rates, but it's really not some deep pull into the legal profession. Like there are tons more SAs --> associates hired every year than the USAOs have hired since Trump came into office, and no one says the first round picks of the crop for biglaw have all been hired by now. When offices get multiple hundreds of applicants (and they do), there's a plenty deep pool to draw from.

I agree that there are going to be some people who don't intend to stay in a border district - my experience was that the office was probably 50-50 between locals/people committed to the area and people who wanted the experience but will look to move to another location. But I'd guess that's always been the case with the border districts. I also agree that some people may have unrealistic expectations about the nature of the work and their exit options, but I don't think that's new either. But I think "buyer's market for former AUSAs" is parsing the legal market and how exit options work a little too finely - "former AUSA" isn't a monolithic category but a whole ton of different people with different backgrounds and experiences that will affect how they do if they want to move to a different job. And I think you're painting Gen Z/millenials with a really broad brush.

(FWIW, Yuma has maybe 4 prosecutors and basically hires only locals with experience. There are only about 70 attorneys in all four of the SDTX branch offices, and info from about 2013 suggests there were 6 AUSAs total in Brownsville. I'm sure that's increased given the hiring waves, but my point is that you don't actually have tons of people getting somehow stuck in locations they're totally unsuited for.)

Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:25 am

Anonymous User wrote:Bumping for any DC offers.
Bump.

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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:50 pm

Bump. Anyone with any news from CDCA? Or anywhere else?

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Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:27 pm

Thoughts on sending a follow-up e-mail if you haven't heard back in about a month?

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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Mar 17, 2019 9:50 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Thoughts on sending a follow-up e-mail if you haven't heard back in about a month?
I was "referred" about a month ago. I'm about to send a follow-up email.

Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 18, 2019 1:08 pm

For those who go through initial round interview(s) and get dinged, how are you typically notified, if at all? Mail? Email?

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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 18, 2019 1:14 pm

Email for me.

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mhylden

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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by mhylden » Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:35 pm

Anonymous User wrote:For those who go through initial round interview(s) and get dinged, how are you typically notified, if at all? Mail? Email?
Got first interview in EDTX in July. Got a generic email last week I was not selected. I had my suspicions.

Anonymous86

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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous86 » Mon Mar 18, 2019 8:07 pm

Anyone hear from EDVA civil? I interviewed back in November, radio silence since then. I assumed a ding, but seeing some other long term delays with the shutdown on here, thought I’d ask.

pba2009

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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by pba2009 » Fri Mar 22, 2019 2:07 pm

I had three rounds of interviews, including with the USA, at a fairly large, major USAO (not SDNY or EDVA). Interviews were all a few weeks apart, the longest it took to hear back after an interview was about a week. It’s now been three weeks since my last interview. Should I give up at this point? Would a follow-up email hurt? Who would I even send it to, the admin coordinating?

I’m pretty disappointed, the process was moving fast and it gave me hope.

elbg

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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by elbg » Sat Mar 23, 2019 8:39 am

Any recs about what to include in the cover letter?

Also, any insight on SD Fla? They have Civil Division and Appellate division posts open now.

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Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 25, 2019 11:58 am

Anyone have experience interviewing with the same office during different cycles--i.e. getting dinged after the first round one year and applying for a position the next? Does interviewing in the past help show a demonstrated interest, or is getting dinged before some kind of "red mark"? Any insight or experience on this is much appreciated!

Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:05 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Anyone have experience interviewing with the same office during different cycles--i.e. getting dinged after the first round one year and applying for a position the next? Does interviewing in the past help show a demonstrated interest, or is getting dinged before some kind of "red mark"? Any insight or experience on this is much appreciated!
My impression is that it will depend on why you were dinged. Often they may want to see more experience and so applying again later is productive, and definitely shows your interest. If there’s some kind of other affirmative red flag that you haven’t wiped away since your previous app then you might not have any luck, but since you can’t know that, it’s worth applying again.

Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 29, 2019 11:07 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Anyone have experience interviewing with the same office during different cycles--i.e. getting dinged after the first round one year and applying for a position the next? Does interviewing in the past help show a demonstrated interest, or is getting dinged before some kind of "red mark"? Any insight or experience on this is much appreciated!
My impression is that it will depend on why you were dinged. Often they may want to see more experience and so applying again later is productive, and definitely shows your interest. If there’s some kind of other affirmative red flag that you haven’t wiped away since your previous app then you might not have any luck, but since you can’t know that, it’s worth applying again.
Would it be odd to contact one of my interviewers to see if they might have any constructive feedback?

Anonymous User
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Re: AUSA/USAO hiring

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 29, 2019 5:31 pm

Current AUSA here. I understand your desire to reach out and ask what you could have done better, or if. The application process and looking from the outside in is one of the most frustrating feelings in the world. I absolutely empathize with you.

There are multiple top-notch AUSAs in my office who applied here more than once (3-4 times in some cases) before being hired.

I think you should absolutely apply again. If you don’t even make it to the first round interview, then you know that it was less about experience and more about something you may have said or done.

If you reach out and ask someone you don’t know well, you may put them in a very uncomfortable position and that’s not going to help. When I got a ding from an office, I reached out to say know that I appreciated their time and hoped to work with them sometime in the Department.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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