SEC Enforcement Division Forum

[Anonymous User]

Can anyone give some insight on the hiring process for the SEC’s Enforcement Division, particularly whether I even have the credentials that make it worth pursuing? I am very interested in working there and it's in line with my current work experience, but I just got a notification from USAJobs that my first application wasn’t even referred to the hiring manager, despite my initial eligibility for the position. Are the USAJobs notifications at all reliable?

I’m disappointed and a little surprised because I thought I was well qualified for the position and would at least get a first round interview. For context, I have been working as a litigator (in the financial services area, but not securities litigation/class actions) for over 4 years at a regional firm with over 300 attorneys. It’s not a Vault-ranked firm, but it’s well respected and very well known for the area of law I practice. I think I have a decent amount of first-chair litigation experience for a 5th year attorney, including arguing motions, direct/cross examination of witnesses, etc. No jury trials, but how many people have those these days?

If it matters, I graduated Top 25%, law review, from a law school within the Top 30.

I know hundreds of people apply for these positions, so I’m not complaining I didn’t get the first position I applied for, I just have very little idea of whether I’m someone that will ever be considered or if I completely lack the appropriate pedigree and/or litigation experience. Based on my own research of the current attorneys in the Enforcement Division, it looks like many came from pretty top tier firms. Am I completely out of luck based on my current firm?

Any input would be appreciated!


-Posting anonymously because my username identifies me, even if the post doesn’t.

[Anonymous User]

I work at the Commission and have been on the hiring panel for ENF staff attorney openings at my regional office. I want to caveat this by saying that the applicant pool is going to be very different depending on which office you apply to. However, at my regional office, we had so many qualified applicants that applied in the last round that anyone who didn't have specific securities litigation or white collar investigations experience was not even considered for an interview. While many ENF attorneys come from top tier firms, this is not a requirement. We selected several for interviews from regional firms who had securities litigation or investigations experience and did not select many people from top firms who lacked this experience. Some of this is just luck of the draw though. In previous hiring rounds, we had fewer applicants and hired people with just general litigation experience. The key is to keep applying and try to get securities or investigations experience on your resume--few people get the job on their first try.

And yes, if USAJobs said you were not referred, this is accurate. However, note that because attorneys are "excepted service" positions, there is no requirement for the SEC to post openings on USAJobs. In fact, my office tends to post them to LinkedIn more often than to USAJobs, so be sure to check there for openings.

[Anonymous User]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I appreciate it. That makes a lot of sense.

[Anonymous User]

I just got a notification from USAJobs that my first application wasn’t even referred to the hiring manager, despite my initial eligibility for the position. Are the USAJobs notifications at all reliabl

I'm not in the government, but as I understand, "not referred" means someone in HR--not an attorney--determined that you don't meet the minimum qualifications for the job and did not pass your resume on to the attorneys. For excepted service positions, your resume will generally be seen by an attorney as long as you follow all of the application instructions, include all of the required documents, etc. But if you mess up you risk not making it past the initial HR screen no matter how strong your resume is.

[Anonymous User]

I work at the Commission and have been on the hiring panel for ENF staff attorney openings at my regional office. I want to caveat this by saying that the applicant pool is going to be very different depending on which office you apply to. However, at my regional office, we had so many qualified applicants that applied in the last round that anyone who didn't have specific securities litigation or white collar investigations experience was not even considered for an interview. While many ENF attorneys come from top tier firms, this is not a requirement. We selected several for interviews from regional firms who had securities litigation or investigations experience and did not select many people from top firms who lacked this experience. Some of this is just luck of the draw though. In previous hiring rounds, we had fewer applicants and hired people with just general litigation experience. The key is to keep applying and try to get securities or investigations experience on your resume--few people get the job on their first try.

And yes, if USAJobs said you were not referred, this is accurate. However, note that because attorneys are "excepted service" positions, there is no requirement for the SEC to post openings on USAJobs. In fact, my office tends to post them to LinkedIn more often than to USAJobs, so be sure to check there for openings.

Does the Commission look at in-house counsel for a bank with experience in regulatory enforcement/internal investigations as a positive? Most hires seem to be associates from law firms, and haven't seen much in-house attorneys going to the SEC.

[basketofbread]

I work at the Commission and have been on the hiring panel for ENF staff attorney openings at my regional office. I want to caveat this by saying that the applicant pool is going to be very different depending on which office you apply to. However, at my regional office, we had so many qualified applicants that applied in the last round that anyone who didn't have specific securities litigation or white collar investigations experience was not even considered for an interview. While many ENF attorneys come from top tier firms, this is not a requirement. We selected several for interviews from regional firms who had securities litigation or investigations experience and did not select many people from top firms who lacked this experience. Some of this is just luck of the draw though. In previous hiring rounds, we had fewer applicants and hired people with just general litigation experience. The key is to keep applying and try to get securities or investigations experience on your resume--few people get the job on their first try.

And yes, if USAJobs said you were not referred, this is accurate. However, note that because attorneys are "excepted service" positions, there is no requirement for the SEC to post openings on USAJobs. In fact, my office tends to post them to LinkedIn more often than to USAJobs, so be sure to check there for openings.

How many years of securities litigation experience is the division looking for, generally?

[Anonymous User]

I work at the Commission and have been on the hiring panel for ENF staff attorney openings at my regional office. I want to caveat this by saying that the applicant pool is going to be very different depending on which office you apply to. However, at my regional office, we had so many qualified applicants that applied in the last round that anyone who didn't have specific securities litigation or white collar investigations experience was not even considered for an interview. While many ENF attorneys come from top tier firms, this is not a requirement. We selected several for interviews from regional firms who had securities litigation or investigations experience and did not select many people from top firms who lacked this experience. Some of this is just luck of the draw though. In previous hiring rounds, we had fewer applicants and hired people with just general litigation experience. The key is to keep applying and try to get securities or investigations experience on your resume--few people get the job on their first try.

And yes, if USAJobs said you were not referred, this is accurate. However, note that because attorneys are "excepted service" positions, there is no requirement for the SEC to post openings on USAJobs. In fact, my office tends to post them to LinkedIn more often than to USAJobs, so be sure to check there for openings.

How many years of securities litigation experience is the division looking for, generally?

bump

[Anonymous User]

I work at the Commission and have been on the hiring panel for ENF staff attorney openings at my regional office. I want to caveat this by saying that the applicant pool is going to be very different depending on which office you apply to. However, at my regional office, we had so many qualified applicants that applied in the last round that anyone who didn't have specific securities litigation or white collar investigations experience was not even considered for an interview. While many ENF attorneys come from top tier firms, this is not a requirement. We selected several for interviews from regional firms who had securities litigation or investigations experience and did not select many people from top firms who lacked this experience. Some of this is just luck of the draw though. In previous hiring rounds, we had fewer applicants and hired people with just general litigation experience. The key is to keep applying and try to get securities or investigations experience on your resume--few people get the job on their first try.

And yes, if USAJobs said you were not referred, this is accurate. However, note that because attorneys are "excepted service" positions, there is no requirement for the SEC to post openings on USAJobs. In fact, my office tends to post them to LinkedIn more often than to USAJobs, so be sure to check there for openings.

How many years of securities litigation experience is the division looking for, generally?

bump

Can only speak with experience for my regional office, but usually 5-7 years for the standard staff attorney positions. We have hired people with as little as 3 years of litigation experience, but it's very rare.

[Anonymous User]

I work at the Commission and have been on the hiring panel for ENF staff attorney openings at my regional office. I want to caveat this by saying that the applicant pool is going to be very different depending on which office you apply to. However, at my regional office, we had so many qualified applicants that applied in the last round that anyone who didn't have specific securities litigation or white collar investigations experience was not even considered for an interview. While many ENF attorneys come from top tier firms, this is not a requirement. We selected several for interviews from regional firms who had securities litigation or investigations experience and did not select many people from top firms who lacked this experience. Some of this is just luck of the draw though. In previous hiring rounds, we had fewer applicants and hired people with just general litigation experience. The key is to keep applying and try to get securities or investigations experience on your resume--few people get the job on their first try.

And yes, if USAJobs said you were not referred, this is accurate. However, note that because attorneys are "excepted service" positions, there is no requirement for the SEC to post openings on USAJobs. In fact, my office tends to post them to LinkedIn more often than to USAJobs, so be sure to check there for openings.

Does the Commission look at in-house counsel for a bank with experience in regulatory enforcement/internal investigations as a positive? Most hires seem to be associates from law firms, and haven't seen much in-house attorneys going to the SEC.

It's rare (but not unheard of) for the Division of Enforcement to hire in-house attorneys since it's usually looking for people with direct litigation experience (ironic, since little of the staff attorney work involves traditional litigation) or investigations experience directly representing clients. However, the Division of Examinations hires attorneys with in-house regulatory and investigations experience regularly and definitely views it as a plus, but they usually have a lot fewer attorney openings.

[Anonymous User]

I work at the Commission and have been on the hiring panel for ENF staff attorney openings at my regional office. I want to caveat this by saying that the applicant pool is going to be very different depending on which office you apply to. However, at my regional office, we had so many qualified applicants that applied in the last round that anyone who didn't have specific securities litigation or white collar investigations experience was not even considered for an interview. While many ENF attorneys come from top tier firms, this is not a requirement. We selected several for interviews from regional firms who had securities litigation or investigations experience and did not select many people from top firms who lacked this experience. Some of this is just luck of the draw though. In previous hiring rounds, we had fewer applicants and hired people with just general litigation experience. The key is to keep applying and try to get securities or investigations experience on your resume--few people get the job on their first try.

And yes, if USAJobs said you were not referred, this is accurate. However, note that because attorneys are "excepted service" positions, there is no requirement for the SEC to post openings on USAJobs. In fact, my office tends to post them to LinkedIn more often than to USAJobs, so be sure to check there for openings.

Does the Commission look at in-house counsel for a bank with experience in regulatory enforcement/internal investigations as a positive? Most hires seem to be associates from law firms, and haven't seen much in-house attorneys going to the SEC.

It's rare (but not unheard of) for the Division of Enforcement to hire in-house attorneys since it's usually looking for people with direct litigation experience (ironic, since little of the staff attorney work involves traditional litigation) or investigations experience directly representing clients. However, the Division of Examinations hires attorneys with in-house regulatory and investigations experience regularly and definitely views it as a plus, but they usually have a lot fewer attorney openings.

Thanks for the insight, this is really helpful information. I generally understand what the EXAMs team does (i.e. examiners and accountants), but can you expand on what the attorneys do on the EXAMs team?

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone applied in the Spring 2023 cycle and heard back yet?

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone applied in the Spring 2023 cycle and heard back yet?

I had a first round interview about 3 weeks ago and haven’t heard back, I assume I’m out of the running.

[Anonymous User]

OK in a similar boat, good to know you haven’t heard back either. I wouldn’t count yourself out entirely, I’ve heard it can take about that long or even longer. Would be helpful to get confirmation if someone has heard back or hears back soon

[Anonymous User]

Is this all in relation to the posting that closed on 5/5?

[Azure1991]

Is this all in relation to the posting that closed on 5/5?

I’m referring to the posting set to close on 5/16 (SK-13).

[Anonymous User]

Can anyone speak to whether the enforcement division hires from the top plaintiffs side securities firms? Have big law and clerkship experience to the extent it matters.

[Anonymous User]

Hi all,

I interviewed for a trial counsel position recently, went through two rounds of interviews, writing prompt, and I was asked for and provided references. I thought the interview went really well, and they stated they wanted to move fast on the hiring. But it's now been over 2 weeks and I haven't heard back. My references haven't been called either. Does anyone have any insight on the typical hiring timeline for regional enforcement trial attorneys?

[Anonymous User]

Hi all,

I interviewed for a trial counsel position recently, went through two rounds of interviews, writing prompt, and I was asked for and provided references. I thought the interview went really well, and they stated they wanted to move fast on the hiring. But it's now been over 2 weeks and I haven't heard back. My references haven't been called either. Does anyone have any insight on the typical hiring timeline for regional enforcement trial attorneys?

Caveat: this is possibly completely unhelpful. However, I will say I recently interviewed for an attorney position at a financial regulator (not SEC) and it took about a month from when I submitted my writing assignment to finally getting an offer. The whole process took 3 months from application. My references were never called (even though I had to assemble them before my first interview) but I'm told they may be called during my background check. That said, I am sure there were other folks who waited a similar amount of time and did not get good news at the end of the wait. There's no way to know how things will turn out.

Anyway, though I recognize an anecdote from someone who interviewed with another regulator may not be what you're looking for, I also know that I was agonizing during the wait--so on the off chance it gives you any peace of mind, I wanted to share. Good luck!

ETA: Tl;dr, the Feds are slow sometimes.