DoL (Labor) 2013 Honors Attorney Program Forum

[Coolgrnmen]

Does anyone know what their hiring schedule is? I know they closed their applications on Oct. 12, but I don't know when they will extend offers to interview further.

[Anonymous User]

They only do one round of interviews so there is no cb process.

[Anonymous User]

They only do one round of interviews so there is no cb process.

Ah, so when do they make decisions?

[Anonymous User]

They only do one round of interviews so there is no cb process.

Ah, so when do they make decisions?

Supposedly December but as with almost every government agency it can take longer. I heard a year or two back, because of budget problems, they basically had no answer until after graduation and then had to rush through the hiring process before they lost funding. Who knows.

[Anonymous User]

Just piling on with the same information. They did OCI at my school. The interviewer said that they would have decisions finished by the beginning of December. He seemed confident that they'd be looking to hire 8-10 at the GC's Office in DC and there would be some hiring at regional offices too. He also said that there would be no further interviews.

But like others have said, depending on what happens with the budget, it could be up the air. I have my fingers crossed on this one. The interviewer said at the end that I was a "very strong" candidate. And for what it's worth, I seemed to have won him over explaining my public interest background. But then again, I'm sure there's a plethora of very qualified candidates in the mix, given the economy.

[Anonymous User]

Also piling on: I was told decisions might be made as early as late November. But, the interviewers strongly suggested we probably won't hear anything until January.

[Anonymous User]

Also piling on: I was told decisions might be made as early as late November. But, the interviewers strongly suggested we probably won't hear anything until January.

So, those are final decisions on hiring? Has anyone who's not at a school where they do screeners heard anything yet?

[Anonymous User]

Also piling on: I was told decisions might be made as early as late November. But, the interviewers strongly suggested we probably won't hear anything until January.

So, those are final decisions on hiring? Has anyone who's not at a school where they do screeners heard anything yet?

Yes, final decisions.

[Pete Venkman]

I'm interested in this kind of work...would anyone be kind enough to share how they have positioned themselves for this kind of employment? Internships with DoL or the NLRB perhaps?

[Anonymous User]

I'm interested in this kind of work...would anyone be kind enough to share how they have positioned themselves for this kind of employment? Internships with DoL or the NLRB perhaps?

litigation experience for field offices; internships at DOL and/or NLRB and/or NLRA and/or employment law boutiques (I did several); coursework in labor and employment and employee benefits. but who knows; they take so few people each year that I can't imagine there is some formula.

[Anonymous User]

I'm interested in this kind of work...would anyone be kind enough to share how they have positioned themselves for this kind of employment? Internships with DoL or the NLRB perhaps?

litigation experience for field offices; internships at DOL and/or NLRB and/or NLRA and/or employment law boutiques (I did several); coursework in labor and employment and employee benefits. but who knows; they take so few people each year that I can't imagine there is some formula.

The process strikes me as a huge black box. For me, it's a background including summer work at a plaintiff's employment boutique, significant coursework, and volunteer work for a public interest labor and employment group.

My interviewer was telling me that the GC's office in Washington generally looks for more "egg-heady" type candidates, because the work they do is a little more high-end / policy focused. Field offices are generally harder to predict, but generally look for more litigation experience and are slightly less grade / academic focused.

Honestly, though, who knows in the end.

[Anonymous User]

I'm interested in this kind of work...would anyone be kind enough to share how they have positioned themselves for this kind of employment? Internships with DoL or the NLRB perhaps?

litigation experience for field offices; internships at DOL and/or NLRB and/or NLRA and/or employment law boutiques (I did several); coursework in labor and employment and employee benefits. but who knows; they take so few people each year that I can't imagine there is some formula.

The process strikes me as a huge black box. For me, it's a background including summer work at a plaintiff's employment boutique, significant coursework, and volunteer work for a public interest labor and employment group.

My interviewer was telling me that the GC's office in Washington generally looks for more "egg-heady" type candidates, because the work they do is a little more high-end / policy focused. Field offices are generally harder to predict, but generally look for more litigation experience and are slightly less grade / academic focused.

Honestly, though, who knows in the end.

I've angled for this type of work as follows: Courses in Employment Law, Employment Discrimination, Labor Law, Pretrial Civil Practice, and Civil Trial Practice. I've also completed two internships where I have worked on employment discrimination and wage and hour cases. I'll let you know in January if this is the kind of resume they look for, haha.

But, what I can say is that the interviewers seemed impressed that I had done things that the job entails. If you can tell someone interviewing you for a litigation-oriented position that you have conducted a trial, taken a deposition, drafted pleadings and motions, etc., you probably stand a better chance of getting the job. As such, you should look to acquire the practical skills and substantive knowledge required for any job you want.

Of course, this is just me hoping they're looking for what I'm offering. LOL. What do any of us actually know?

[Anonymous User]

So the only interviews were conducted at OCI?

[Anonymous User]

I was contacted about scheduling an interview. Anyone else? I wonder how many people get interviews.

[Anonymous User]

So far, not me! (Wish I knew how many, too, though.)

[Anonymous User]

So far, not me! (Wish I knew how many, too, though.)

Okay, I get to take this back! I have an interview too. Got a phone call. Interview will be next week.

[Anonymous User]

To the people saying they just got interviews, did you have a screener at OCI and this is a callback, or did you send stuff in and this is your screener? I had an OCI screener and am eager to hear about the next step. Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

To the people saying they just got interviews, did you have a screener at OCI and this is a callback, or did you send stuff in and this is your screener? I had an OCI screener and am eager to hear about the next step. Thanks.

I didn't have a screener (am not in law school anymore, but even if I were, I don't think they come to my school) - just sent in stuff. If you had an OCI screener, it sounds like that's it and you wait for the final decision.

[Anonymous User]

I was contacted about scheduling an interview. Anyone else? I wonder how many people get interviews.

My understanding is that if you weren't interviewed at your school's OCI, they'll contact you individually for phone interviews. So, to answer your question, everyone gets interviews. There is only one stage of interviewing, as mentioned above.

[Anonymous User]

I'm interested in this kind of work...would anyone be kind enough to share how they have positioned themselves for this kind of employment? Internships with DoL or the NLRB perhaps?

litigation experience for field offices; internships at DOL and/or NLRB and/or NLRA and/or employment law boutiques (I did several); coursework in labor and employment and employee benefits. but who knows; they take so few people each year that I can't imagine there is some formula.

The process strikes me as a huge black box. For me, it's a background including summer work at a plaintiff's employment boutique, significant coursework, and volunteer work for a public interest labor and employment group.

My interviewer was telling me that the GC's office in Washington generally looks for more "egg-heady" type candidates, because the work they do is a little more high-end / policy focused. Field offices are generally harder to predict, but generally look for more litigation experience and are slightly less grade / academic focused.

Honestly, though, who knows in the end.

I've angled for this type of work as follows: Courses in Employment Law, Employment Discrimination, Labor Law, Pretrial Civil Practice, and Civil Trial Practice. I've also completed two internships where I have worked on employment discrimination and wage and hour cases. I'll let you know in January if this is the kind of resume they look for, haha.

But, what I can say is that the interviewers seemed impressed that I had done things that the job entails. If you can tell someone interviewing you for a litigation-oriented position that you have conducted a trial, taken a deposition, drafted pleadings and motions, etc., you probably stand a better chance of getting the job. As such, you should look to acquire the practical skills and substantive knowledge required for any job you want.

Of course, this is just me hoping they're looking for what I'm offering. LOL. What do any of us actually know?

Exactly. I think if you can show that you've done the kind of work that they do, you're putting yourself in a good position. For me, it allowed me to really discuss, substantively, what I like about employment and labor law. And it allowed me to discuss some of the discrimination and wage and hour work I had done over the summer (trials, appellate brief work, etc.). If you can talk about this stuff, it'll go better. My interviewer loves L&E, and we ended up going for about 50 minutes (30 minutes allotted for the interview).

I'd say try to get the experience at a plaintiff's firm or government organization, however. It's a little more difficult to translate defense work. Not impossible, but you will face a little more skepticism.

[Anonymous User]

I was contacted about scheduling an interview. Anyone else? I wonder how many people get interviews.

My understanding is that if you weren't interviewed at your school's OCI, they'll contact you individually for phone interviews. So, to answer your question, everyone gets interviews. There is only one stage of interviewing, as mentioned above.

Everyone? As in, they're interviewing everyone who applies? Maybe they don't get as many applications as the other Honors programs, but that seems awfully inefficient.

[Anonymous User]

No, I think that they interview promising candidates either through on-campus interview or if DOL doesn't do OCI at your school, then if you're a promising candidate, they'll contact you to have a telephone interview. Not everyone who applies will get an interview.

[Anonymous User]

No, I think that they interview promising candidates either through on-campus interview or if DOL doesn't do OCI at your school, then if you're a promising candidate, they'll contact you to have a telephone interview. Not everyone who applies will get an interview.

Just checking. Still would like to know how many people they interview - would be nice to know the odds!

[Anonymous User]

No, I think that they interview promising candidates either through on-campus interview or if DOL doesn't do OCI at your school, then if you're a promising candidate, they'll contact you to have a telephone interview. Not everyone who applies will get an interview.

Dunno about the promising candidate part ... there were empty interview slots at my school's OCI. And we weren't pre screened. Maybe some self selection though.

That might be true for mail in applicants, but it seems to me most people get screeners.

[Anonymous User]

No, I think that they interview promising candidates either through on-campus interview or if DOL doesn't do OCI at your school, then if you're a promising candidate, they'll contact you to have a telephone interview. Not everyone who applies will get an interview.

Dunno about the promising candidate part ... there were empty interview slots at my school's OCI. And we weren't pre screened. Maybe some self selection though.

That might be true for mail in applicants, but it seems to me most people get screeners.

Which may well be true - especially depending on the schools where they do screeners - but they had over 1000 applicants last year, so I can't imagine they actually interview everyone (especially since the screener is it - there isn't a callback round, just one round of interviews).