0L with dreams of DOJ Honors (civil rights division) Forum

[oyezoyez2015]

I would love to know what you guys think makes an individual competitive in getting a DOJ Honors spot, specifically Civil Rights Division. After looking on the DOJ site, it seems that they take individuals from a wide variety of schools, though I'm assuming regardless of school you have to be in the top 10% (just guessing). But do they weigh previous WE heavily, previous SLIP experience, Clinical experience, LR etc...

Thanks in advance.

[vamedic03]

I would love to know what you guys think makes an individual competitive in getting a DOJ Honors spot, specifically Civil Rights Division. After looking on the DOJ site, it seems that they take individuals from a wide variety of schools, though I'm assuming regardless of school you have to be in the top 10% (just guessing). But do they weigh previous WE heavily, previous SLIP experience, Clinical experience, LR etc...

Thanks in advance.

Let me say at the outset that I don't intend to sound harsh. As a 0L, the only thing you can control with regards to hiring is choosing the best possible school to attend. DOJ, and big gov in general, cares about prestige. After that, it's not too helpful to have this conversation until you have at least 1-2 semesters of grades.

Like any other employer, they want:

(1) Grades
(2) Law Review
(3) Work experience
(4) all the random stuff,

plus, because it's public service:

(5) dedication and a demonstrable interest in what they do.

And, because they are DOJ civil rights, they'll have applicants with ALL of these factors.

[oyezoyez2015]

I would love to know what you guys think makes an individual competitive in getting a DOJ Honors spot, specifically Civil Rights Division. After looking on the DOJ site, it seems that they take individuals from a wide variety of schools, though I'm assuming regardless of school you have to be in the top 10% (just guessing). But do they weigh previous WE heavily, previous SLIP experience, Clinical experience, LR etc...

Thanks in advance.

Let me say at the outset that I don't intend to sound harsh. As a 0L, the only thing you can control with regards to hiring is choosing the best possible school to attend. DOJ, and big gov in general, cares about prestige. After that, it's not too helpful to have this conversation until you have at least 1-2 semesters of grades.

Like any other employer, they want:

(1) Grades
(2) Law Review
(3) Work experience
(4) all the random stuff,

plus, because it's public service:

(5) dedication and a demonstrable interest in what they do.

And, because they are DOJ civil rights, they'll have applicants with ALL of these factors.

Thanks for the info. I understand that as a 0L I really have no other relevant info to move the convo forward, but just looking to get a sense of understanding the whole DOJ hiring process. Good to know if there were any nuances to the hiring process that anyone on TLS may have experienced. Thanks for your help.