Best “why ausa” answer/s during Ausa interviews? Forum

[objctnyrhnr]

From 1. Background in biglaw, then 2. Background in state prosecution.

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[Anonymous User]

I mean, why do you want to be an ausa?

[objctnyrhnr]

I mean, why do you want to be an ausa?

Pursuit of justice at the highest level, increased involvement in criminal investigations, complexity of cases/investigations, emphasis on research/writing as an important component of criminal trial prosecution, intellectual rigor, challenge

Howd I do?

[poorlilrich]

Yes

[objctnyrhnr]

Yes

Throw $ in there (state prosecutor background, not in CA), or no?

“I love being a prosecutor, would love to continue, becoming tough to afford at ada/asa/Aag salary,” or no?

Anything else you’d add?

[Anonymous User]

Yeah, I nearly answered "as long as you don't talk about the money." People know that (except maybe in CA) state/local prosecutors are paid crap; you don't need to say it and saying it looks bad. (To get ridiculously in the weeds: if, say, you're meeting one-on-one with a line AUSA who's more of a peer and supposed to tell you about the job, and money/salaries happen to come up, there's likely no harm in tacitly acknowledging that the state/local salary is crap; you don't have to pretend you're thrilled about working for $40k or whatever it is or that COL isn't a factor. But don't ever bring it up yourself.)

Otherwise I think the above answer is good, although it makes more sense as "why federal not state prosecution" rather than "why prosecution," so it might be worth addressing why you want to be (or continue to be) a prosecutor at all as well as why a prosecutor for the feds specifically. But that would probably arise pretty organically out of the conversation.

[objctnyrhnr]

Yeah, I nearly answered "as long as you don't talk about the money." People know that (except maybe in CA) state/local prosecutors are paid crap; you don't need to say it and saying it looks bad. (To get ridiculously in the weeds: if, say, you're meeting one-on-one with a line AUSA who's more of a peer and supposed to tell you about the job, and money/salaries happen to come up, there's likely no harm in tacitly acknowledging that the state/local salary is crap; you don't have to pretend you're thrilled about working for $40k or whatever it is or that COL isn't a factor. But don't ever bring it up yourself.)

Otherwise I think the above answer is good, although it makes more sense as "why federal not state prosecution" rather than "why prosecution," so it might be worth addressing why you want to be (or continue to be) a prosecutor at all as well as why a prosecutor for the feds specifically. But that would probably arise pretty organically out of the conversation.

Super helpful I appreciate it