Getting a job at SEC? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi all - during one of my late nights at the office, I looked up the pay grades for SEC positions...and was shocked? I had always assumed they were comparable to AUSA but they seem much higher. Which, naturally, made me wonder if it was something I should pursue (every day, another passion emerges and dissipates). Anyone know what the path would be to work at someplace like the Enforcement Division?

[Anonymous User]

Since other people are also interested in that pay scale, it's pretty competitive. While they have not hired many people directly out of school recently, I think they are planning to do some Honors Program hiring this year. If you aren't going straight from school/clerkship, usually it's big law for 5-8 years and then you apply. Seems to be a lot of people who knew the right person, were veterans, or were really impressive.

Although I will say they aren't *particularly* picky about where you went to law school.

I don't have much more info than that. My source is that I was there last summer and also interviewed with a regional office, and have mostly given up hopes of applying for a long-term position.

[Anonymous User]

Since other people are also interested in that pay scale, it's pretty competitive. While they have not hired many people directly out of school recently, I think they are planning to do some Honors Program hiring this year. If you aren't going straight from school/clerkship, usually it's big law for 5-8 years and then you apply. Seems to be a lot of people who knew the right person, were veterans, or were really impressive.

Although I will say they aren't *particularly* picky about where you went to law school.

I don't have much more info than that. My source is that I was there last summer and also interviewed with a regional office, and have mostly given up hopes of applying for a long-term position.

No Honors Program hiring or outside hiring at all actually...hiring freeze.

[Anonymous User]

Since other people are also interested in that pay scale, it's pretty competitive. While they have not hired many people directly out of school recently, I think they are planning to do some Honors Program hiring this year. If you aren't going straight from school/clerkship, usually it's big law for 5-8 years and then you apply. Seems to be a lot of people who knew the right person, were veterans, or were really impressive.

Although I will say they aren't *particularly* picky about where you went to law school.

I don't have much more info than that. My source is that I was there last summer and also interviewed with a regional office, and have mostly given up hopes of applying for a long-term position.

This is actually...not true at all. They are extremely selective with regards to school and previous work experience. If you don't have heavy securities experience, they won't interview you unless you worked at a V20-30.

Also, they are not hiring right now. In fact, they are trying to buy people out by offering early retirement.

Source: I worked there.

[LBJ's Hair]

Since other people are also interested in that pay scale, it's pretty competitive. While they have not hired many people directly out of school recently, I think they are planning to do some Honors Program hiring this year. If you aren't going straight from school/clerkship, usually it's big law for 5-8 years and then you apply. Seems to be a lot of people who knew the right person, were veterans, or were really impressive.

Although I will say they aren't *particularly* picky about where you went to law school.

I don't have much more info than that. My source is that I was there last summer and also interviewed with a regional office, and have mostly given up hopes of applying for a long-term position.

This is actually...not true at all. They are extremely selective with regards to school and previous work experience. If you don't have heavy securities experience, they won't interview you unless you worked at a V20-30.

Also, they are not hiring right now. In fact, they are trying to buy people out by offering early retirement.

Source: I worked there.

Mind elaborating on hiring a little more? Curious how their hiring has worked historically - is clerking expected, when do people usually apply, etc? Also kinda interested in the relationship with SDNY, heh.

[Anonymous User]

I work at the SEC. The compensation here is probably the best in the federal government in terms of both salary and benefits. Maybe as a result, hiring here is very competitive (probably second most selective in the government after DOJ) and there are usually hundreds of applicants for each position. However, your school is not the only important component. If you went to a lower tier school but have biglaw or in-house securities experience, that will be much more important than where you went to school. Most of the attorneys do not have clerkship experience (including in Enforcement), but a growing number do. There is currently a hiring freeze, although there is talk that it may be lifted next year. Still, I wouldn't bank on the honors program hiring anyone, and even in good years only around 8 people have been hired through the program. The best way to get a job here is to go to a big law securities practice (regulatory, enforcement defense) or related litigation practice (white collar, internal investigations) and get to know people in the regional office you are interested in or the home office in DC. Then, apply when there is an opening once you have at least 4 years of experience in big law.

There is also a lot of variety within the SEC. The biggest program is Enforcement (investigates potential securities law violations and litigates cases), but the policy divisions in DC (IM, TM, parts of Corp Fin) also hire many lawyers that work on rulemakings, no action letters, and other policy issues. OCIE employs a few attorneys, but most of the staff there are accountants. And there are a variety of smaller offices like the one that regulates credit rating agencies. Getting relevant experience for the division or office you are interested in is critical. Finally, there is disclosure operations within Corp Fin which has a much worse reputation as a place to work than the rest of the agency, and consequently I think hiring there is less selective. However, I haven't really had any experience with them so my knowledge about that is really third hand.