Entry-level federal government Forum

[anonymcoffee]

@to the Anonymous Poster who had "excellent grades, experience, references, and overall credentials," what do you think made you not get through the selection process? Do you think it was something on your resume or is it something you said, maybe explain what you mean when you said you were accurate?

[leobowski]

Any success stories from anyone who struck out at honors hiring, but got a second bite at the apple via a clerkship?

[Anonymous User]

3rd tier school. Top 28%. No Journal / Law Review. No Moot Court. No student activities. Just got a summer associate position with a well-respected federal congressional agency in DC for summer after 2L, which essentially turns into a real job post-graduation.

APPLY APPLY APPLY. Send your resume everywhere. Do every interview you can get. Do it until you can't do it anymore. You will get a job.

[Anonymous User]

Is anyone able to speak to whether doing private sector 2L summer effectively boxes you out of federal positions for a few years? The posters who spoke about what's needed for entry-level positions mentioned the pristine public interest record they'd accrued, so that's obviously a worry; at the same time, big law associates after a few years do seem able to lateral over. Am I right in understanding that this implies a no-chance period in the middle, where you're locked into big law for a time once you commit? Could an Article III clerkship post-3L change the equation?

[anon168]

Is anyone able to speak to whether doing private sector 2L summer effectively boxes you out of federal positions for a few years? The posters who spoke about what's needed for entry-level positions mentioned the pristine public interest record they'd accrued, so that's obviously a worry; at the same time, big law associates after a few years do seem able to lateral over. Am I right in understanding that this implies a no-chance period in the middle, where you're locked into big law for a time once you commit? Could an Article III clerkship post-3L change the equation?

No, it does not.

[WhiteyCakes]

Does a federal clerkship after graduation help land a good fed job or is it completely useless in that respect?

[anon168]

Does a federal clerkship after graduation help land a good fed job or is it completely useless in that respect?

Depends on what you mean by "good fed job".

AUSA? It helps.
DOJ? Sure.
SEC? Not so much.
GSA? Um, no.
FBI? Nope.

You get the picture. It just depends.

Litigating components will value a clerkship more so than regulatory ones.

[WhiteyCakes]

Does a federal clerkship after graduation help land a good fed job or is it completely useless in that respect?

Depends on what you mean by "good fed job".

AUSA? It helps.
DOJ? Sure.
SEC? Not so much.
GSA? Um, no.
FBI? Nope.

You get the picture. It just depends.

Litigating components will value a clerkship more so than regulatory ones.

Probably the most helpful and least douchey response I have ever received on TLS. Thanks

[anon168]

Does a federal clerkship after graduation help land a good fed job or is it completely useless in that respect?

Depends on what you mean by "good fed job".

AUSA? It helps.
DOJ? Sure.
SEC? Not so much.
GSA? Um, no.
FBI? Nope.

You get the picture. It just depends.

Litigating components will value a clerkship more so than regulatory ones.

Probably the most helpful and least douchey response I have ever received on TLS. Thanks

You're welcome. Please feel free to let me know if you have other questions, esp. about fed jobs.