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Got notification that I have been nominated by my school and for the online assessment. Anyone else?

Yep, I just got that email yesterday. Do you know anything about the online assessment? The guide they provide doesn't seem to tell us much.

Apparently this online assessment is a new thing. My school person is trying to find out more about it.

Does anyone know, if you have a clerkship lined up for post-grad, can you still participate in PMF by getting a one year deferment? I was nominated but don't want to take the test, etc, if I can't participate due to my clerkship.

Anonymous User wrote:Does anyone know, if you have a clerkship lined up for post-grad, can you still participate in PMF by getting a one year deferment? I was nominated but don't want to take the test, etc, if I can't participate due to my clerkship.

pretty sure you can't. but you're eligible if you clerk but you'd have to apply again next year - when the whole processing is changing to god knows what. you should check with your career development office.

I am holding off on the PMF assessment to see if I get a first round offer form DOJ honors

(posting anonymously since I am a nominee)

Incidentally, you can review the nominee list for 2011 at the PMF website.

Frankly I am shocked at the multitude of Harvard Law 3Ls who are (presumably) jobless and going for PMF.

Anonymous User wrote:(posting anonymously since I am a nominee)

Incidentally, you can review the nominee list for 2011 at the PMF website.

Frankly I am shocked at the multitude of Harvard Law 3Ls who are (presumably) jobless and going for PMF.

I have no idea what PMF is, but I wish a few 0Ls would take a gander at this. Scary.

I have no idea what PMF is, but I wish a few 0Ls would take a gander at this. Scary.

PMF=Presidential Management Fellowship. It's a program for entry-level government hiring, it applies exclusively for graduating Graduate level students. The process includes a written assessment, and an oral assessment. The goal is that you get a 2-year rotation period through several federal government agencies. You are not guaranteed a federal job but it gives you a leg-up and you are paid at the GS level during your two-year internship. I've read various statistics but I believe you have something around a 3/4 chance of getting a permanent job in the federal government.

So all in all it's a fantastic program, but it must be stressed that the jobs are almost exclusively NOT law jobs, they are the usual jobs you could get with a bachelor's. The selection rate is brutally low, like everything else.

FYI I count 40 Harvard Law School nominees. What is Harvard's class size?

where can I see the list of nominees?

the list: https://www.pmf.opm.gov/Documents/Nominees2011.pdf

"The following list identifies all applicants who have been selected as nominees to the PMF Class of 2011, for a total of 7,482."

Does anyone know how this compares to years past?

I was a PMF Finalist selected in the Class of 2009 on the basis of MBA. Is this a good soft for LS?

Anyway, PM me if you want to know more. Not sure what all the anonymity is because if you pass the exam in January and end up selected as a "Finalist" your name will get posted to the website where everyone can see you, your school, the agency that picked you up (if you get hired), and your status (active, withdrawn, resigned, etc).

The class of 2009 had about 750+ selectees. Half of these (375) were JD backgrounds, with MBAs (37) making up a distant 2nd, along with the MPAs, Education, etc.

The test is not that bad. Like any Government job, Veterans Preference is a plus. But the Job Fair you will attend in March if you are a finalist is a a zoo. The best advice I can give is don't wait to the job fair to line your interviews up. Seek out the employers and jobs beforehand. I was lucky because at the time, I wanted to stay in my lane of Business/Finance, so I avoided most of the fierce JD competition who were fighting mostly for the DoS jobs.

FWIW, I secured a position, but resigned/withdrew after just a few weeks. I had family health issues and personal situations in FL that I did not take into account when I decided to stay in the Washington, DC area. To this day, my reservist subordinates in the military who also happen to be Gov Employees, still get on me about the fact how I would have been a GS-13 had I just held on for the two years since I started at an 11. In the end, I don't know. I think it worked out cause I was able to settle my issues at home and return to the service for awhile.

I was a PMF Finalist selected in the Class of 2009 on the basis of MBA. Is this a good soft for LS?

I read your post about your personal situation and I completely respect that you dropped out of the program for personal reasons.

But is there no way to get back into the PMF program? If so, why in god's name are you considering law school?

DrackedaryMaster wrote:I was a PMF Finalist selected in the Class of 2009 on the basis of MBA. Is this a good soft for LS?

Why are you going to law school if you can see the MOUNTAIN of law school graduates who are clamoring for PMF jobs... and you already had one?

SteelReserve wrote:

I was a PMF Finalist selected in the Class of 2009 on the basis of MBA. Is this a good soft for LS?

I read your post about your personal situation and I completely respect that you dropped out of the program for personal reasons.

But is there no way to get back into the PMF program? If so, why in god's name are you considering law school?

Unfortunately no. Although Finalists are free to quit a job to take another, the rule states that you must have a position secured within one year of your selection as a finalist. As one of the posters above said, a position is not guaranteed, it is only an opportuntity to interview with the hiring agencies.

When I left my position, I went ahead and withdrew from the program. My main reasoning (and this may be another downside to some) is that 90-95% of the advertised jobs will be in DC and the surrounding area and I wanted to go home (FL).

Technically, there is a way to possibly get back into the program. The rules state that you can only be nominated once per graduate degree. That means if I were to go to law school, I could apply as a 3L under a JD, or if I just went back to Grad School to earn another grad degree, could potentially qualify off of that new graduate degree. However, I won't be doing that.

Anonymous User wrote:

DrackedaryMaster wrote:I was a PMF Finalist selected in the Class of 2009 on the basis of MBA. Is this a good soft for LS?

Why are you going to law school if you can see the MOUNTAIN of law school graduates who are clamoring for PMF jobs... and you already had one?

I wouldn't call it a mountain, but there was one thing I didn't realize until after the fact. Whereas most 3L's are coming straight out of 7+ years of total college, they are just trying to get their foot in the door on Gov't jobs. Hence the GS-9 looks enticing. For me, I already had 10+ years on the military side, good appraisals, proper clearances, etc that qualified me for an 11/12 at the start anyway. I thought at the time that the PMF program was well regarded as one of the Federal Government's elite management intern programs, and its true, those who graduate from it tend to get to the higher grades faster. But for myself and my own goals, I really didn't need it. For an 11/12 job I want in FL, I could apply to it and have a pretty good shot at getting it with my prior experience and Vets Preference. In fact, last July, a Government contractor made a six-figure offer to me for essentially the same job I was doing as an E-6 when I was still on active duty! Unfortunately, I was mobilized at the time and they needed to fill the position quickly so I lost out on it, but its not the only one out there.

Law School has always been the goal for me, its just the LSAT would never cooperate. And with my Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, I'm able to have a plan in place to essentially go to a decent school for free without having to worry about massive debt.

DrackedaryMaster wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

DrackedaryMaster wrote:I was a PMF Finalist selected in the Class of 2009 on the basis of MBA. Is this a good soft for LS?

Law School has always been the goal for me, its just the LSAT would never cooperate. And with my Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, I'm able to have a plan in place to essentially go to a decent school for free without having to worry about massive debt.

I REALLY still don't understand why law school is a goal for you when you have such other great opportunities? Law school is really soul sucking (and not in the "cool-I-want-to-be-academically-pushed" way). I didn't hear anything in your response about why you think you should go to law school?

So we've hit the semi-finalist stage. Anyone else still alive?

Anonymous User wrote:So we've hit the semi-finalist stage. Anyone else still alive?

I got DOJ honors so I dropped my application, which I just got an email about.

Anonymous User wrote:(posting anonymously since I am a nominee)

Incidentally, you can review the nominee list for 2011 at the PMF website.

Frankly I am shocked at the multitude of Harvard Law 3Ls who are (presumably) jobless and going for PMF.

Don't wet yourself too much about it. There are several people on that list who are exclusively interested in government or public interest careers. One of them was just recently awarded a Skadden Fellowship (so, I'm pretty sure he won't be doing PMF).

Apparently notification emails are still going out, but the list of semi-finalists is available here:

http://www.pmf.gov/media/33028/2011_pmf ... -21-10.pdf

Anonymous User wrote:Apparently notification emails are still going out, but the list of semi-finalists is available here:

http://www.pmf.gov/media/33028/2011_pmf ... -21-10.pdf

argh sad - A friend of mine who really wanted it didn't make it

Wow a lot of the HLS applicants were eliminated.

Anonymous User wrote:Wow a lot of the HLS applicants were eliminated.

eh, a decent amount of hiring has happened since the October 15th deadline for the initial PMF application. That was over 2 months ago. I'm sure a lot of people withdrew due to other job opportunities. Then of course some were eliminated with the initial stage of the process.

Anyone here waiting to hear about finalist status? I've been going crazy with the wait, as I interviewed in mid-January.

Finalists announced today. 850 finalists, 300 or so law students by the looks of it (including me, yay!) Anyone else out there?!

https://www.pmf.opm.gov/FinalistSortBySchool.aspx