DOJ Honors 2014 Forum

[Anonymous User]

Sigh. As of today, I'm now a former EOIR attorney advisor. It's the best job in the world, guys. Good luck!

Are those the 2-year stints? I have a friend who's starting that this fall.

[Anonymous User]

Yep.

[crysmissmichelle]

Sigh. As of today, I'm now a former EOIR attorney advisor. It's the best job in the world, guys. Good luck!

Any advice? What type of position will you move to?

[Anonymous User]

Of my class, one or two are staying at DOJ (BIA). I don't think there's anyone else who's staying in federal government that isn't going to USCIS, split between asylum officers, refugee officers, and chief counsel's office around the country. The rest are going to private firms, although a couple are going to state/local government.

CIS has money, since they're funded by fees, not Congress. Otherwise, there isn't a lot of hiring going on, as I'm sure you noticed.

Not very many people don't have something lined up, which is awesome.

[crysmissmichelle]

Of my class, one or two are staying at DOJ (BIA). I don't think there's anyone else who's staying in federal government that isn't going to USCIS, split between asylum officers, refugee officers, and chief counsel's office around the country. The rest are going to private firms, although a couple are going to state/local government.

CIS has money, since they're funded by fees, not Congress. Otherwise, there isn't a lot of hiring going on, as I'm sure you noticed.

Not very many people don't have something lined up, which is awesome.

That's great! Congratulations.

Can you share any insight into the hiring process?

What did you like most about the position?

[Anonymous User]

Not a whole lot, I'm afraid, because they've changed quite a lot about the process since my class was hired. We were the last year that everyone came to DC to interview - now people go to regional centers to interview with the ACIJs. And, HQ does all the hiring of JLCs - we have no idea who's getting hired until the hiring is final and we get a list. No one knows how they match JLCs with Courts, either. I suspect that they rank the list of potential JLCs and then start working down their list of preferences, so the higher you're rated as a candidate, the more likely you are to get some place high up on your location preference list. My Court was my third preference, but I know that at least a few other JLCs ranked it first - go figure?

It's hard to pinpoint just one thing that I loved about being a JLC/AA. My Court was wonderful, I loved my judges - they were the most outstanding mentors and I was able to work so closely with them (that varies by Court - I get the feeling that the JLCs at the big courts have far less interaction with their judges). I've grown tremendously as a writer and they took a brand new law school grad and turned me into a lawyer. It's been such an interesting time in immigration, obviously, that it's been fun to watch things evolve from behind the scenes. I loved that I got to work on and learn something new every day. Immigration law is constantly changing and it was exciting to be on the front lines of that. When the Supreme Court handed down Descamps and Moncrieffe, I literally had to draft decisions that SAME day incorporating them. I mean, when else are you going to get to do something that cutting edge? I learned a lot about myself, too, which helped me make decisions about where I'd like to head, career-wise.

I don't know if it's as exciting to people who aren't actually into immigration (but I think the DOJ tries hard not to hire them anyway), but I absolutely loved it. You sound like immigration is your plan in life, too, so I can only say that it is the best way in the world to start out your career.

[crysmissmichelle]

It sounds like it was a great experience! I came to law school specifically with immigration law in mind. It is such a complex body of law that I feel like a person could study it for years (not even counting the constant changes) and never know it all. . .This position is something I think that I would really enjoy. . .unfortunately, I'm not from a T-14 school; but maybe they'll look past that, who knows?

Thank you so much for these wonderful descriptions. They help to understand the process a little better and make me want the position all the more! I know I'd love to hear anything about the position you'd like to share, so feel free to share away

[Anonymous User]

Not a whole lot, I'm afraid, because they've changed quite a lot about the process since my class was hired. We were the last year that everyone came to DC to interview - now people go to regional centers to interview with the ACIJs. And, HQ does all the hiring of JLCs - we have no idea who's getting hired until the hiring is final and we get a list. No one knows how they match JLCs with Courts, either. I suspect that they rank the list of potential JLCs and then start working down their list of preferences, so the higher you're rated as a candidate, the more likely you are to get some place high up on your location preference list. My Court was my third preference, but I know that at least a few other JLCs ranked it first - go figure?

Thanks for the useful info. EOIR is by far my top choice. I'm currently interning at a USCIS field office...with this experience, immigration clinic work, great (and rare) foreign language skills, and lots of relevant non-legal academic experience, could I be competitive? Top 30 school here, top 25% of class.

[Anonymous User]

Does this program draw interns from a wide range of schools?

[A. Nony Mouse]

Does this program draw interns from a wide range of schools?

I'm pretty sure this thread is devoted to the Honors Program for hiring 3Ls into permanent post-grad positions, not the SLIP program for interns. DOJ provides a list of schools from which it hired for both the Honors Program and SLIP last year here: http://www.justice.gov/careers/legal/lawschools.html

[Anonymous User]

Does this program draw interns from a wide range of schools?

For interns, yeah. I know tons of people that interned with the DOJ (slip included) from TTTs.

[Anonymous User]

Does this program draw interns from a wide range of schools?

For interns, yeah. I know tons of people that interned with the DOJ (slip included) from TTTs.

Interesting. Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

Does this program draw interns from a wide range of schools?

For interns, yeah. I know tons of people that interned with the DOJ (slip included) from TTTs.

Interesting. Thanks.

....and so tactfully put...just plain graceful....

[Anonymous User]

Updates?

[Anonymous User]

All quiet on the western front.

[Anonymous User]

Some of the ALJs have started calling people.

[Anonymous User]

Some of the ALJs have started calling people.

What? So the next round of updates isn't an interviewing showing up online?

[Anonymous User]

Last year, some people who had already interned for EOIR reported that their supervisors had been called as informal references fairly early in the process. I don't think it indicates any official movement.

[Anonymous User]

Some of the ALJs have started calling people.

Calling people for interviews or calling references? Were you called for an interview or just heard about someone?

[Anonymous User]

Any other movement out there besides the smattering of phone interviews?

Does anyone have the link to last year's DOJ HP thread - I searched but didn't find it. Much appreciate the look up!

[crysmissmichelle]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=193525

[Anonymous User]

Some of the ALJs have started calling people.

Calling people for interviews or calling references? Were you called for an interview or just heard about someone?

It shouldn't be for interviews because they're all scheduled centrally, for all components at once, through the attorney recruitment branch of DOJ. Unless they changed the system this year, of course.

[Anonymous User]

After reviewing last year's thread, here are some key dates. The deadline last year was 9/4 and the emails about interviews came 9/25 and 9/26, when people's status updates on Avue changed. Then Avue was updated the following day with a message saying, in sum, if you didn't get an email yet it's highly unlikely you will. As people washed out and passed for other offers, a small group of people got interviews later. But they were very few.

Seems this week should be the week, because this time frame has been the same over the last couple years.

[Anonymous User]

For what it's worth, this is on the DOJ Honors Program Key Dates webpage (http://www.justice.gov/careers/legal/en ... dates.html):

July 31, 2013 Applications available
TUESDAY AFTER LABOR DAY ABSOLUTE DEADLINE DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS IS 11:59 P.M. EASTERN TIME
September 30th DOJ notifies candidates selected for interviews by e-mail; selected candidates begin submitting travel surveys
Mid-October DOJ notifies applicants not selected for interviews by e-mail
October 21 through November 8, 2013 DOJ conducts Honors Program interviews
November 22, 2013 through January 2014 DOJ extends most offers
Mid-December DOJ notifies candidates not selected as finalists
January/February 2014 DOJ completes hiring selections

Based on this, interview e-mails go out on Sept. 30.

[Anonymous User]

Ok, so I need everyone else to be in a panic with me. . . . have you guys looked at the website this morning?? It is all f-ed up! The top line has two "Application Status" bars, but both lead to the same "Application Window Not Open" message. The status window is gone, the Community responses are gone. . . .

I'm hoping that this is not just a sign of crappy government web engineering, maybe someone is doing something? Maybe some movement soon?

It makes me unreasonably uncomfortable not being able to see my application status.