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Hello all,
I will be starting at the DOJ soon in a city I have never lived in. I am slightly concerned that I will not like living in that particular city and I was wondering if anyone on TLS has any experience with transferring to a different office within the DOJ. I may end up loving the city, but I wanted to get the lay of the land on this topic just in case. Any insight into the transfer process, particularly how difficult it is to do so, would be greatly appreciated.

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OP here, no the position is with a civil litigation component within the DOJ.

Do a good job and be reasonably patient, and opportunities will open up. You'll need to apply for them just like anyone, but the reality is that once inside the Department you're on the inside track.

Remember that they'll ask your current office about you. I'd give it at least a 2-3 years, and focus on my reputation and work product.

JackofLit wrote:Do a good job and be reasonably patient, and opportunities will open up. You'll need to apply for them just like anyone, but the reality is that once inside the Department you're on the inside track.

Remember that they'll ask your current office about you. I'd give it at least a 2-3 years, and focus on my reputation and work product.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice.

I've got similar feelings. Starting in a doj lit component soon that is not my preferred are of law, but I'm keeping an open mind. I'm assuming something will open up down the road, and, who knows, I may end up loving what I'm going to be doing. I'm just grateful for the opportunity tbh. I'd take the above advice: do good work and try to put it at least a couple of years. People jump around in DOJ all the time.

My general advice for new cities is to give it a solid year. It can be hard to get a social circle going and whatnot within a few months. Give yourself time to settle in and enjoy a new city. Good luck!

It is technically possible to transfer between offices of the same agency/component (so for DOJ this would be between offices of, say, tax, not between tax and antitrust), at least in some agencies; the mechanism exists. But both offices have to agree and some offices won't take transfers without 1) having an existing opening and 2) vetting the person as they'd vet a new hire. So in practice you are probably going to have to apply to openings like everyone else. I agree that once you're in you're an attractive candidate for other DOJ jobs, but it's not easy to just transfer locations as you please.

(The benefit to transferring even if you just get the job by applying is that you don't have a break in service and you keep your seniority/leave ppp/etc.)

When there is a hiring freeze in place, intra-agency transfers don't count, so one way an office can replace someone who leaves is by taking a transfer from another office. But that's a fairly specific set of circumstances.