Entry-Level (Non Honors Attorney) Federal Government Jobs Forum

[Anonymous User]

Do these exist? If so, how difficult would it to land an entry-level attorney job in Washington, D.C. with the federal government?

[Anonymous User]

I am a 3L at a Tier 1 school closer to the west coast than the east coast. I am middle of the back to top third in the class. I have been looking around and talking to people about jobs working for agencies in the federal government. How difficult would it be for me to land an entry-level attorney job in Washington, D.C. with the federal government?

Are there any entry-level attorney jobs in D.C.? I've been getting daily updates from USAJobs, and everything seems to want at least 2 but usually 3 or more years of experience. (This isn't meant as a snarky answer - I'm genuinely interested if there are better places to be looking for said entry-level jobs.)

[Anonymous User]

I am a 3L at a Tier 1 school closer to the west coast than the east coast. I am middle of the back to top third in the class. I have been looking around and talking to people about jobs working for agencies in the federal government. How difficult would it be for me to land an entry-level attorney job in Washington, D.C. with the federal government?

Are there any entry-level attorney jobs in D.C.? I've been getting daily updates from USAJobs, and everything seems to want at least 2 but usually 3 or more years of experience. (This isn't meant as a snarky answer - I'm genuinely interested if there are better places to be looking for said entry-level jobs.)

I am a '12 graduate who is pretty far along interviewing for an entry level non-honor's attorney position. So the exist. They are rare. The application process takes a very long time. It helped that I interned at the organization during law school and a colleague tipped me off when the organization posted the job. I don't think I would have made it through the process if I was just a random USAjobs applicant though.

[unc0mm0n1]

Do these exist? If so, how difficult would it to land an entry-level attorney job in Washington, D.C. with the federal government?

Have you looked into the PMF program? Not entry level but if you're about to graduate you come in as an exempted Gs-9, 11, or 12 and no matter where you start you'll at least be a gs-11 at the end of 2 years. To me that's a lot better than trying to live in DC as a GS-5.

[augusta1985]

Do these exist? If so, how difficult would it to land an entry-level attorney job in Washington, D.C. with the federal government?

Have you looked into the PMF program? Not entry level but if you're about to graduate you come in as an exempted Gs-9, 11, or 12 and no matter where you start you'll at least be a gs-11 at the end of 2 years. To me that's a lot better than trying to live in DC as a GS-5.

The only problem with PMF is that there are very, very few attorney jobs. The program isn't really designed to place "attorneys", and most of the law grads that become PMF finalists end up in public policy positions. No harm in trying though.

[Anonymous User]

Definitely possible. I know of at least one at my OGC who was hired out of law school a few years ago. Most of our recent hires have between 2-4 years of experience though.