Would applying to an AUSA area in an undesirable area help my chances? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I graduated from a T14 school around median, have a couple of years of big law experience, and no clerkship. I'm considering applying for an AUSA position (criminal division) in a really undesirable area (Bakersfield, CA) because being an AUSA is my dream and I know that more desirable areas are unattainable to me.

Does anyone have any insight into whether applying to an AUSA area in an undesirable area helps an applicant's chances?

[Anonymous User]

I graduated from a T14 school around median, have a couple of years of big law experience, and no clerkship. I'm considering applying for an AUSA position (criminal division) in a really undesirable area (Bakersfield, CA) because being an AUSA is my dream and I know that more desirable areas are unattainable to me.

Does anyone have any insight into whether applying to an AUSA area in an undesirable area helps an applicant's chances?

So, anything that reduces the competition will technically help your chances, and you're right that fewer people are going to apply to Bakersfield than to, say, SF or LA. But there are going to be others like you who are applying around the country in the hopes of getting the gig, who may have (no offense) better qualifications than you. So I don't know how *much* it will improve your chances. It will depend on who else applies, and what kinds of things the USA/USAO generally values. (Do they want only people from the T14? Do they value high grades over pedigree? Do they want to see a clerkship? Do they like to hire local prosecutors to get people with trial experience? Do they tend to hire people with connections? etc.)

One issue is that offices in "undesirable" areas often look for ties, to minimize the risk of people taking the job and then bailing as soon as possible to another office. It's not the only thing that matters, will vary by office, and can be outweighed by other qualifications, but it's something to keep in mind. (This can become a self-perpetuating thing, too - the people who stick around longest in the "undesirable" locations and therefore tend to be involved in hiring are often those who are local or had ties to the area.)

At the very least, if you walk in and give any hint of thinking that Bakersfield is a "really undesirable area," you will not get hired. I realize that's pretty obvious and you doubtless don't intend to walk in and talk about how undesirable Bakersfield is, but some people are pretty unself-aware about this kind of thing. (Pre-law I worked in a crappy little rural town in the midwest, in a profession that often brought people into town from across the country. One non-local job candidate asked about where you could buy a bagel in town, was shown the local supermarket bagels, and was not just visibly unimpressed, but disdainful that anyone would consider supermarket bagels good. While he was correct that there were no good bagels in town, and is allowed to value access to good bagels, he also didn't get hired almost entirely due to that interaction.)

Just for context, I've been tangentially involved in hiring for an office in a relatively undesirable location (though it probably has slightly more pros for many non-locals than Bakersfield). We got ~200 applications for a 1-year replacement position. We hired a local who had gone to a T30 [for vagueness] with a clerkship, 7-13 yrs in practice [broad range for anonymity purposes], and previous prosecution experience. The person who got hired for a permanent position around the same time was a T14 grad with 5-9 yrs' experience in big law and an elite district court clerkship (and I don't know how many applications we got for that position, but it was probably more than for the term one).

Real talk, it sounds like a crazy number of applicants, but probably 1/2 can be eliminated in about 30 seconds each as obviously unqualified. But even eliminating the candidates that made you go "huh???", likely the only way your application would have generated interest would be if you had some kind of amazing cover letter highlighting experiences/qualifications beyond what you've mentioned here (which tbf you may well have), and/or (ideally and) a recommendation from someone connected to the office.

I'm not saying any of this to dissuade you from applying. There's no point in ruling yourself out, and if you can get an interview, the experience will be helpful for the future even if you don't get hired this time. I also saw the postings for Bakersfield are only requiring 1 year of experience, which does suggest they don't always get the deepest application pool. So you never know. It's just not as simple as saying "no one wants to be in Bakersfield so Imma get that job." Even the most "undesirable" locations have locals who go off to the T14 for law school and then return home, or stay relatively close but get lots of experience with prosecution and trials before applying to the USAO.

(I do think that if you are willing to go anywhere, you will likely get an AUSA gig at some point, though it might take repeated applications and you might need to get some more experience. And it is possible to go from one USAO to another, at least within reason - I wasn't remotely competitive for SDNY out of law school and they aren't going to hire me just b/c I've been an AUSA for a while.)

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Just wanted to thank you so much for your lengthy reply - I'm sure it took you quite some time to get so detailed and I appreciate every word! I'll shoot my shot.

[Anonymous User]

I'll just reiterate some of this:

Yes, it'll help your chances. I'd consider applying broadly though. Also, as the other poster said, it'll help to have ties.

I'm an AFPD, my office had around 75 apps for our last opening. It ran the gamut of T14s with great clerkships to folks who were PDs in Denver or Chicago. My office has a few folks not from here; and our AUSA counterparts have a couple of ex-JAG folks who aren't from here, but most are from our region, or even city.

I can only think of one AUSA who was not from our region and she has very shinny credentials. We are probs akin to Bakersfield (maybe, maybe a slight step above- our metro area has about 1/4 million more people as compared to Bakersfield) and I know our offices look for folks who plan to stay.