DA's office hiring Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hello all.

So I just finished an internship at a district attorneys office in large metropolitan area consisting of 4-5 counties. I am a rising 2L. Upon leaving the office, I got pretty good feedback on my performance this summer and got an invite to return which I plan on doing at some point next year. I have been hearing from multiple attorneys around the office that as long as I come back and do my clinical work there, I shouldn't have a problem getting hired. I've also noticed that hiring is beginning to pick up at the office as well. However, when I spoke to one of the attorneys on the hiring board (the only one I spoke to on the board) and asked if there's a good chance that the office will be hiring in 2017 when I graduate, he said "I really don't know" and suggested that I shouldn't "put all my eggs in one basket. Apply to the prosecutor offices in the surrounding 3-4 counties as well". Should I be concerned about what he said? I know I don't want to put all of my hopes and dreams in one place but this is the DAs office I want to work for because I grew up in the community. Is it possible that he is telling me not to think that i can get a job at that office? Am I just over reacting to what he said?

[swampman]

That's how government hiring works. Some years they get a budget and can only hire 10 or 5 or even 0 people, and there may be 30 qualified people that they really want to hire. They can't predict what the budget and need will be in two years. So don't put all your eggs in one basket.

[zot1]

Hello all.

So I just finished an internship at a district attorneys office in large metropolitan area consisting of 4-5 counties. I am a rising 2L. Upon leaving the office, I got pretty good feedback on my performance this summer and got an invite to return which I plan on doing at some point next year. I have been hearing from multiple attorneys around the office that as long as I come back and do my clinical work there, I shouldn't have a problem getting hired. I've also noticed that hiring is beginning to pick up at the office as well. However, when I spoke to one of the attorneys on the hiring board (the only one I spoke to on the board) and asked if there's a good chance that the office will be hiring in 2017 when I graduate, he said "I really don't know" and suggested that I shouldn't "put all my eggs in one basket. Apply to the prosecutor offices in the surrounding 3-4 counties as well". Should I be concerned about what he said? I know I don't want to put all of my hopes and dreams in one place but this is the DAs office I want to work for because I grew up in the community. Is it possible that he is telling me not to think that i can get a job at that office? Am I just over reacting to what he said?

So there's a combination of things going on here. First, as previous poster mentioned, budget changes year by year and that affects hiring a great deal. In addition to that, even if you commit fully to this DA office, you could still end up out in the cold when the hiring comes around. I know people who have spent more than three semesters (including summers) with a DAs office who still didn't get hired during post-grad hiring. It burned even more when people who had never set foot in a DAs office got hired. I'm not sure about your particular state/office, but this is something that definitely happens.

It's an awful situation to be in. In order to get a job with a DAs office, you want to show commitment. But if you don't get a job, you end up with a prosecution heavy resume which makes it getting hired somewhere else difficult (though not impossible).

Good luck!

[Anonymous User]

OP here.

So what should I be doing to keep my options open? I thought of maybe working at a firm as a law clerk at some point during 2L and keeping that job through next summer and just not putting it on my resume when applying to DA offices. I also thought of interning for a judge next summer in an effort to keep my resume public service oriented. I pretty much came to law school to work at this DAs office as I interned there in college as well. Now that I'm hearing about all this instability, I feel like I should really reassess what I want to do

[swampman]

If you're doing good work no need to branch out to non-prosecution stuff. Wouldn't hurt to work at a different DAs office for a semester or two. Mostly, just accept that you may have to apply to a bunch of DAs offices, and may not get a job in the office (or city) you want right away.

[rinkrat19]

OP here.

So what should I be doing to keep my options open? I thought of maybe working at a firm as a law clerk at some point during 2L and keeping that job through next summer and just not putting it on my resume when applying to DA offices. I also thought of interning for a judge next summer in an effort to keep my resume public service oriented. I pretty much came to law school to work at this DAs office as I interned there in college as well. Now that I'm hearing about all this instability, I feel like I should really reassess what I want to do

You absolutely should not be putting all your eggs in a 1L summer employer's basket. Even if you'd been doing a 3L externship with the DA's office and prosecuting cases on your own, I would warn against betting on getting a permanent job there. (I certainly know people who didn't get hired at their 3L externship offices, including DAs and state's attorney's offices.) You might have been doing great work as a 1L, but in reality there's only so much you CAN do at that point.

[encore1101]

has the office gone through years without hiring? i think he was just giving you common sense advice of not counting on something that may or may not materialize.

[rinkrat19]

has the office gone through years without hiring? i think he was just giving you common sense advice of not counting on something that may or may not materialize.

OP was a 1L summer. There's no way they were saying he had a job without going through the regular hiring procedures when the time comes.

[encore1101]

has the office gone through years without hiring? i think he was just giving you common sense advice of not counting on something that may or may not materialize.

OP was a 1L summer. There's no way they were saying he had a job without going through the regular hiring procedures when the time comes.

Right. I was saying that OP should not be overly concerned, on a personal level, with what the board member said. It sounds like he was just giving him neutral advice of not foregoing other opportunities in hopes of getting this particular office.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I guess I'll just have to go through the next two years with an open mind and embrace the very real possibility that I may not work in that specific office. I will apply to 2-3 other offices upon graduation and look at what civil areas may interest me. Thanks for the responses. If any current or former local prosecutors come across this thread, I'd like to hear your take on the subject

[A. Nony Mouse]

To be honest, I would apply to a lot more than 2-3 other offices, unless there's a really good specific reason you can't move and those are the only local options. Also keep in mind that there are DA's offices that hire during 3L, too. (I agree that the person you spoke with was just warning you about how hiring works generally and not commenting on you specifically, though.) If you want to get back to that office I would try to stick to criminal options.

[rinkrat19]

OP here. I guess I'll just have to go through the next two years with an open mind and embrace the very real possibility that I may not work in that specific office. I will apply to 2-3 other offices upon graduation and look at what civil areas may interest me. Thanks for the responses. If any current or former local prosecutors come across this thread, I'd like to hear your take on the subject

Applying to 2-3 offices is a FANTASTIC way to end up unemployed. Unless you are attending Yale or at the top of your class, odds are excellent that you won't get your first choice job, or even your second choice. (Actually, I'm sure even a few people at Yale don't get their top choice.) Law students have no leverage. There are way more grads than jobs, and employers have many more applicants than openings to choose their new employees from. Plenty of DA's offices outside the biggest cities don't even hire fresh grads until after they've passed the bar. Some don't hire entry-level at all. You need to get a lot less picky in your job search plan. Apply everywhere for everything you could even remotely tolerate for a few years. If you do get your top choice, great, lucky for you. But if you don't get it, you hopefully will have another option or two.

Go read the Vale of Tears thread for a while to see how fully qualified law grads have ended up unemployed, even after applying for literally HUNDREDS of jobs over a year or more. And then consider whether applying to 2-3 offices still seems like a good plan.

[Anonymous User]

It's OP.

Well I am kind of limited to this area as my S.O. has a very well paying job here and my family lives around the area so I'm really trying to stay local. I don't know if I would give up trying to pursue a career as an ADA in order to stay local so that's something I'm really going to have to think about. I also go to a TTT (though I'm on scholarship) that has a near 60% employment score on LST so my employment options are basically limited to local gov work or small firm stuff like family law, personal injury, wills & trusts, etc. And I am ranked above median but below top third.

[zot1]

OP here. I guess I'll just have to go through the next two years with an open mind and embrace the very real possibility that I may not work in that specific office. I will apply to 2-3 other offices upon graduation and look at what civil areas may interest me. Thanks for the responses. If any current or former local prosecutors come across this thread, I'd like to hear your take on the subject

Applying to 2-3 offices is a FANTASTIC way to end up unemployed. Unless you are attending Yale or at the top of your class, odds are excellent that you won't get your first choice job, or even your second choice. (Actually, I'm sure even a few people at Yale don't get their top choice.) Law students have no leverage. There are way more grads than jobs, and employers have many more applicants than openings to choose their new employees from. Plenty of DA's offices outside the biggest cities don't even hire fresh grads until after they've passed the bar. Some don't hire entry-level at all. You need to get a lot less picky in your job search plan. Apply everywhere for everything you could even remotely tolerate for a few years. If you do get your top choice, great, lucky for you. But if you don't get it, you hopefully will have another option or two.

Go read the Vale of Tears thread for a while to see how fully qualified law grads have ended up unemployed, even after applying for literally HUNDREDS of jobs over a year or more. And then consider whether applying to 2-3 offices still seems like a good plan.

I have to agree here with Rink here. I applied to over 100 jobs before I even got a COUPLE of interviews. The good news is that the market is supposed to be picking up for future classes, so who knows, maybe you'll get lucky.

[Anonymous User]

OP here.

After speaking to a few mentors over the weekend about my concerns, I have come up with a plan. My primary goal is still to be an ADA in my area. If I don't get a chance to do that, I plan to work at a small firm and get accustomed to how it's run and eventually go on my own and hang a shingle if I still can't find an ADA job by then. Lucky the job that my S.O. works offers a great health insurance plan so I can just jump on that as I build my practice.

This article is a little dated and the economy has bounced back a little bit but I still found it interesting:

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43442917/ns/b ... loving-it/