AO 78 application Forum

[Anonymous User]

I was offered a fed clerkship, and now I got to fill out this long Ao-78 application and fingerprint thing. The AO-78 thing demands jobs going back a decade, when I was in high school. Most of them I can't remember the salary or specific info for (like who my boss was, how many hours I worked, etc). How serious is filing out this thing perfectly for decade-old high school jobs? Anyone experience this?

[Anonymous User]

I'm in my second clerkship and both times I sort of half-assed the AO 78. I put the job and the dates, but I didn't fill in the pay, or the supervisor, or the phone number. I had the mentality that I was already hired, so it wasn't a big deal.

Perhaps some courts care more then others, but both my courts didn't have an issue. I would however, stress that you make sure your dates are accurate because it factors into when you are eligible for a grade bump.

[mjb447]

I think I remember doing the best I could with HS employers: the data is virtually never verified to the level of detail you're describing AFAIK.

I don't know if it matters, but I also saved a copy so that if I ever had to fill a similar form out again I could give consistent answers (even if they weren't checkable against any real world data) while saving myself a headache.

[Torts Illustrated]

In my experience, it really doesn't matter. I feel like the AO 78 is the sort of thing that might matter for permanent, non-chambers court employees, but doesn't matter at all for chambers staff.

[Anonymous User]

did anyone have to do OPM stuff after this app? Or is it just the FBI background thing?

[A. Nony Mouse]

I didn't have to do anything. I filled it out and it went into the HR files.