Federal Government Honors Program Interviews Forum

[Anonymous User]

I will be interviewing for an honors attorney position with a federal agency next week. Does anyone know how these interviews are structured (length of interview, types of questions asked, etc.)?

[Anonymous User]

I interviewed for the 2L FTC summer honors program. It was my least casual interview. They asked me specific question about why antitrust, etc. Also asked very specific questions about my resume and cover letter.

[Anonymous User]

Depends on the agency, but they tend to be more substantive and in-depth than a typical firm interview. Definitely know every little thing on your resume and the work of the agency, as well as very specific reasons for why you want to be there.

[Anonymous User]

I just had one today and it was very different than a firm. They asked why I wanted to work for them?; did I want their regional office or national office?; what drew me to the field?; why I am more qualified than the 1000+ other applicants they hire?; What would I like to do in their offices and why? And then a Q&A session, and they asked if their new website was easy to use. Then we just talked about law school and where we all grew up for like 10 minutes. They were exceptionally friendly and down to earth.

[Anonymous User]

I've exclusively interviewed with fed govt. Went 3 rounds with DoD, but no offer. All my attorney interviews have been fairly relaxed. I did get asked about writing sample on one, which I wasn't completely expecting, but I still handled it well.

Generally, govt agencies want to see why you're interested in their agency, and sometimes the location, depending. They want to see people who are committed to govt service. The 2nd and 3rd rounds were more like, "do we want to work with this person everyday" type thing. I talked about my hobbies and how I would cope with the relocation and isolation of the town. They were going to offer me the job because their first two choices had already found jobs. Then they asked for my class rank and I got dinged. The govt can be weird about that sometimes.

On the other hand, I had a couple govt agency interviews recently and it was super informal. No talk about the law at all, just why I want to be there in that office. Granted, I am an internal candidate at this agency as I work in a policy role there now, but it was them explaining more about what they do and me talking about why i want to be there - super chill. No word on an offer yet.

Even though govt attorneys are "excepted service" which means they don't have to advertise the positions and they can skip all the bureacratic red tape in hiring, they still move fairly slowly. Two to three months is the minimum though. But another lawyer who was last hired in my Division, the hiring manager called her two days after her final interview with an offer. So it can vary.