2016-2017 Clerkship Application Thread Forum

[newlawgrad]

I'd say three weeks after they told you you would hear. But obviousoy very very idiosyncratic.

[Anonymous User]

Just to repeat earlier question. What shows on the Judge's end when you update an application that is finalized? Can you still see the old app? Does a notification go out?

[kingjoffrey]

^ I'd like to know this as well, thanks!

[seizmaar]

you can't see the old application, except maybe in the archived applications area that no one ever looks at. no notification is sent out. however, next to your application a "U" shows up to denote it has been updated.

[Anonymous User]

0/3 interview streak. Some people [judges] just want to watch the world burn [me suffer].

[minnbills]

0/3 interview streak. Some people [judges] just want to watch the world burn [me suffer].

Keep plugging away, fourth time was the charm for me

[Anonymous User]

Finally got a second interview after a rejection in the fall. Fingers crossed.

[Anonymous User]

you can't see the old application, except maybe in the archived applications area that no one ever looks at. no notification is sent out. however, next to your application a "U" shows up to denote it has been updated.

Understand, too, that the U shows up when any update is made, including when a recommendation is uploaded. That type of update is by far the most common I've seen. For that reason, I never assume, upon seeing a U, that a candidate's initial application contained some sort of mistake. The U is also not all that conspicuous, so I don't even notice it.

In short: don't worry about updating your application; it's not a big deal.

[Jchance]

Finally got a second interview after a rejection in the fall. Fingers crossed.

Assuming the same judge, how did you manage to do that?

[wwwcol]

Finally got a second interview after a rejection in the fall. Fingers crossed.

Assuming the same judge, how did you manage to do that?

Not that anon, but that's a really strange assumption to make.

[Anonymous User]

Finally got a second interview after a rejection in the fall. Fingers crossed.

Assuming the same judge, how did you manage to do that?

Not that anon, but that's a really strange assumption to make.

Am the above anon, definitely not the same judge. It just took forever for me to get another interview after the first one.

[Jchance]

Don't know what I was thinking, but good luck!!

[Anonymous User]

Another post-interview rejection in the books. This process is brutal, emotionally and on my bank account

[newlawgrad]

Another post-interview rejection in the books. This process is brutal, emotionally and on my bank account

any idea what the issue has been? Is the market just that brutal for clerks?

[Anonymous User]

Another post-interview rejection in the books. This process is brutal, emotionally and on my bank account

How many does that make for you? It took me seven before I was able to finally fool a judge into hiring me.

[Anonymous User]

Only 4, so I can't complain yet. It's just the market and most have been with circuit judges. Since applicants foot the travel bill, judges have no deterrence from calling in multiple applicants per opening.

[Anonymous User]

Another post-interview rejection in the books. This process is brutal, emotionally and on my bank account

Out of curiosity, how much are ya'll blowing on this process?

I have sunk my entire spring break budget and then some, and am seriously considering limiting the scope of my search to basically local spots because ain't nobody got money for this.

[Anonymous User]

Only 4, so I can't complain yet. It's just the market and most have been with circuit judges. Since applicants foot the travel bill, judges have no deterrence from calling in multiple applicants per opening.

I know it's pricey for y'all, but why would you possibly expect a judge to only call in one applicant for each spot? Judges aren't trying to screw anyone over. In my experience, my judges felt awful about making people fly in for interviews only to turn them down. So I'd hardly say there is no deterrent to calling in multiple applicants. But my judges also took clerk hiring incredibly seriously. They not only wanted the best possible candidates, but wanted to put together a clerk class that fit well together. Pretty hard to do that if you are only calling in 4 applicants for your 4 open spots.

[Anonymous User]

So it makes sense to me that judges would interview more than one person for each position, but how does that practice match-up with the apparently common practice of giving an offer to someone on the same day of the interview or the day after? I'm thinking about judges who are only hiring for one opening, so they wouldn't be able to give one person an immediate offer while interviewing others later for the remaining spots. Any insights?

[A. Nony Mouse]

So it makes sense to me that judges would interview more than one person for each position, but how does that practice match-up with the apparently common practice of giving an offer to someone on the same day of the interview or the day after? I'm thinking about judges who are only hiring for one opening, so they wouldn't be able to give one person an immediate offer while interviewing others later for the remaining spots. Any insights?

Some judges just schedule one interview at a time. But judges have also been known to cancel later interviews if they interview someone they like and want to hire them on the spot before that point. This was one of the things that made hiring on the plan so chaotic/stressful - people wanted to make sure to get the earliest interview they could with their first choice judges, so they wouldn't get bumped by someone else who interviewed earlier.

[Anonymous User]

So it makes sense to me that judges would interview more than one person for each position, but how does that practice match-up with the apparently common practice of giving an offer to someone on the same day of the interview or the day after? I'm thinking about judges who are only hiring for one opening, so they wouldn't be able to give one person an immediate offer while interviewing others later for the remaining spots. Any insights?

Some judges just schedule one interview at a time. But judges have also been known to cancel later interviews if they interview someone they like and want to hire them on the spot before that point. This was one of the things that made hiring on the plan so chaotic/stressful - people wanted to make sure to get the earliest interview they could with their first choice judges, so they wouldn't get bumped by someone else who interviewed earlier.

Yeah. I've seen interviewing work two different ways. One of my judges just interviewed on person at a time. So the first person might get an offer on the spot (or might not, if the interview didn't go well), and then the judge would continue to interview applicants one at a time, building the clerk class based both on how well he liked the person, and on how well he thought the person would fit with the folks who had already been hired. My other judge interviewed a bunch of folks without extending any offers right away, and then at the end of all the interviews gave offers based both on who interviewed well and on how the class would fit together. (Although if someone really stood out earlier in the process, they might get an offer before all the interviews were complete.)

[Anonymous User]

At what point should I worry about not having any clerkship interviews? I've sent about about thirty applications to mostly federal district judges and some circuit court judges. I would prefer a federal clerkship, but would be happy with a SSC clerkship. I just don't want to start applying to SSC judges too quickly, get an offer, and then find out I could have had a federal district court clerkship had I just waited.

[Anonymous User]

^the obviously flaw here is only applying to 30 judges. I got a surprisingly good clerkship after 4 interviews. That's 4 interviews out of about 175 applications.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Unfortunately that's the balancing act you have to handle - wait for a federal clerkship and maybe miss out on SSC/everything? Or go for SSC and possibly miss a federal clerkship you could have got? There's not much you can do, you have to just decide what risk you feel better taking.

[BVest]

Unfortunately that's the balancing act you have to handle - wait for a federal clerkship and maybe miss out on SSC/everything? Or go for SSC and possibly miss a federal clerkship you could have got? There's not much you can do, you have to just decide what risk you feel better taking.

Agreed. You have to figure out your own priorities and not let the fear of missing out (#FOMO) hamstring you through the process. For me, geography and not uprooting my family took priority, therefore I looked at D Ct and SSC on equal terms and the only thing that affected my order of applications was the order in which the judges were hiring.