Attorney Advisor (Trademark Examining Attorney) for USPTO Forum

[Anonymous User]

I read on Reddit that some interviewees were told they will hear back in "mid-March" with offers...did anyone else hear this "mid-March" timeline...I was really hoping to hear something sooner.

I was definitely told early March. I'm now choosing to believe that they have already ranked us to an extent and that the people who were told early March are higher up on the list and the people who were told mid-March are second round draft picks.

Also, where have you read this on Reddit? People keep talking about posts on there, but I can't seem to find them.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I have interviewed multiple times and been told the timing for offers without receiving one. Government interviews are standardized by design--they pretty much have to ask the same questions and impart the same information to all interviewees.

For those who have interviewed multiple times: Has it been the same interview panel and question set?

Not the same panel (but repeat offenders among managers (that you might not notice if you don't have a good memory)) and similar questions but also random curveballs.

When you applied again, did you use the same application material you used before? If I don't get a call back this round I plan to apply again... tbh idk what I would do differently I guess in this case it would be my interview.

I always update my cover letter, resume, and written statement with any new positions and how they and the knowledge and/or skills gained therein are relevant to the USPTO job duties. I also do more interview prep based on previous interviews and the questions and comments of the managers, but I haven't been successful yet so who knows.

How many times have you applied/interviewed?

[Anonymous User]

First time posting - I also interviewed and was/am hopeful, but haven’t heard anything. Feeling less hopeful as the days and weeks go on!

9 people. That brings the chances of all of us here being not-selected to 2.09%.

[Anonymous User]

I haven't heard anything either guys. Given the timeline, I think its possible that we were all just unlucky and calls have already gone out. Maybe thats my inner pessimist!

I am really stressing about these calls not going out, so I have done the math. There are at least 8 people here that interviewed and haven't heard back yet.
Let's suppose 90 people interviewed and 30 were hired. With these numbers, there are only 3.3% chances that a random group of 8 people out of the 90 interviewed would turn out to be all not-selected.
I wanted to share that with you, for what's worth.
Now I am going back to stressing.

Love the math you did here. So i was thinking when i got my interview the webex time frame was a duration of 3.30hours... my interview was about 45mins so realistically if everyones interview lasted about 30-45 mins and the panel took breaks in between in 3.30hours about 3-4 interviews can be conducted... they said they were conducting interviews for 3 weeks.. lets say 4 interviews a day for 15 days thats 60 interviewees... i may just be going crazy here doing all this math lmaooo but if there were 30 spots and there are about 9 of us here.. what are the odds all 9 of us were unlucky? idkk this is all speculation i am just going crazy here. I'm glad i have yall as a support group haha.

[Anonymous User]

I haven't heard anything either guys. Given the timeline, I think its possible that we were all just unlucky and calls have already gone out. Maybe thats my inner pessimist!

I am really stressing about these calls not going out, so I have done the math. There are at least 8 people here that interviewed and haven't heard back yet.
Let's suppose 90 people interviewed and 30 were hired. With these numbers, there are only 3.3% chances that a random group of 8 people out of the 90 interviewed would turn out to be all not-selected.
I wanted to share that with you, for what's worth.
Now I am going back to stressing.

Love the math you did here. So i was thinking when i got my interview the webex time frame was a duration of 3.30hours... my interview was about 45mins so realistically if everyones interview lasted about 30-45 mins and the panel took breaks in between in 3.30hours about 3-4 interviews can be conducted... they said they were conducting interviews for 3 weeks.. lets say 4 interviews a day for 15 days thats 60 interviewees... i may just be going crazy here doing all this math lmaooo but if there were 30 spots and there are about 9 of us here.. what are the odds all 9 of us were unlucky? idkk this is all speculation i am just going crazy here. I'm glad i have yall as a support group haha.

Is 30 spots the official number?

[Anonymous User]

I’m just gonna go ahead and ~manifest~ that at least one of us hear by tomorrow (hopefully, we all do – because we’re clearly all very dedicated lol).

[Anonymous User]

I don't believe calls have gone out yet. A current TEA told me that there was a meeting yesterday for people interested in mentoring this cycle, during which it was said that they expected to hire ~45 people. He also said that he got his offer a day under five weeks from his start date, and for this cycle, and for this cycle next week will be five weeks out.

I just wanted to share this information in case it could help calm anyone's nerves a bit.

[Anonymous User]

I haven't heard anything either guys. Given the timeline, I think its possible that we were all just unlucky and calls have already gone out. Maybe thats my inner pessimist!

I am really stressing about these calls not going out, so I have done the math. There are at least 8 people here that interviewed and haven't heard back yet.
Let's suppose 90 people interviewed and 30 were hired. With these numbers, there are only 3.3% chances that a random group of 8 people out of the 90 interviewed would turn out to be all not-selected.
I wanted to share that with you, for what's worth.
Now I am going back to stressing.

Love the math you did here. So i was thinking when i got my interview the webex time frame was a duration of 3.30hours... my interview was about 45mins so realistically if everyones interview lasted about 30-45 mins and the panel took breaks in between in 3.30hours about 3-4 interviews can be conducted... they said they were conducting interviews for 3 weeks.. lets say 4 interviews a day for 15 days thats 60 interviewees... i may just be going crazy here doing all this math lmaooo but if there were 30 spots and there are about 9 of us here.. what are the odds all 9 of us were unlucky? idkk this is all speculation i am just going crazy here. I'm glad i have yall as a support group haha.

There is more than one panel interviewing people at the same time, and they usually interview around 3× the amount of people as spots available.

[Anonymous User]

I also really love the math, kudos. The way I see it is we have not been unlucky. In fact, tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day...a universal day of luck. I'm not even Irish, but let's all visualize receiving happy calls tomorrow. With our energies combined, we will all get offers! May the odds be ever in your favor. (That is a trademark btw!!)

[Anonymous User]

I haven't heard anything either guys. Given the timeline, I think its possible that we were all just unlucky and calls have already gone out. Maybe thats my inner pessimist!

I am really stressing about these calls not going out, so I have done the math. There are at least 8 people here that interviewed and haven't heard back yet.
Let's suppose 90 people interviewed and 30 were hired. With these numbers, there are only 3.3% chances that a random group of 8 people out of the 90 interviewed would turn out to be all not-selected.
I wanted to share that with you, for what's worth.
Now I am going back to stressing.

Love the math you did here. So i was thinking when i got my interview the webex time frame was a duration of 3.30hours... my interview was about 45mins so realistically if everyones interview lasted about 30-45 mins and the panel took breaks in between in 3.30hours about 3-4 interviews can be conducted... they said they were conducting interviews for 3 weeks.. lets say 4 interviews a day for 15 days thats 60 interviewees... i may just be going crazy here doing all this math lmaooo but if there were 30 spots and there are about 9 of us here.. what are the odds all 9 of us were unlucky? idkk this is all speculation i am just going crazy here. I'm glad i have yall as a support group haha.

Is 30 spots the official number?

oh i literally have no idea 30 was my hypothetical number

[Anonymous User]

Despite what we heard in interviews regarding "early March" if you look back through the thread at past cycles, it seems the reference calls / extensions of offers came closer to the start date, as an example, seebelow from Jan 2020:

"In my interview they said that the interviews would go on for up to two and half weeks. So that would be from Jan 6 - Jan 22. They said from there they will take about two weeks to make decisions. Then over the next two weeks they will be calling to ask for references and if you’re still interested. They said that while their goal is to give everyone at least around one month notice, it will likely be more around three, and at a minimum, two weeks."

Like the language above is a little unclear w/r/t timing of reference calls vs firm offers and how long the turnaround between the two are, but all this to say I still think this week and next week are possibilities. Not to mention that would fall within the 18-week USPTO timeline published online.

[Anonymous User]

Despite what we heard in interviews regarding "early March" if you look back through the thread at past cycles, it seems the reference calls / extensions of offers came closer to the start date, as an example, seebelow from Jan 2020:

"In my interview they said that the interviews would go on for up to two and half weeks. So that would be from Jan 6 - Jan 22. They said from there they will take about two weeks to make decisions. Then over the next two weeks they will be calling to ask for references and if you’re still interested. They said that while their goal is to give everyone at least around one month notice, it will likely be more around three, and at a minimum, two weeks."

Like the language above is a little unclear w/r/t timing of reference calls vs firm offers and how long the turnaround between the two are, but all this to say I still think this week and next week are possibilities. Not to mention that would fall within the 18-week USPTO timeline published online.

I just messaged a TEA on LI who I reached out to last year to learn more about the job, he said the following:

"not sure re specifics; best I can do is give you what it was like for me (maybe similar timeline):
Applied: October 2020
Interviewed: January 2021
Offer: Mid-March 2021
Start: Mid-April 2021"

Now I know interviews for this cycle did not start until Feb 6, so if you push the rest of the timeline forward accordingly...I think next week calls would go out.

[Anonymous User]

haven't heard anything today... wonder how many of us are here.

[Anonymous User]

I’ve heard nothing either. Thanks to those who did the math & who contacted a TEA. Now I’m confident calls will go out next week. Good luck everyone!

[Anonymous User]

Per a current TEA: There was a meeting last Wednesday for people who were interested in mentoring with the new group where it was said that they are expecting to hire about 45 people.

I feel like that indicates that they hadn't made offers yet, but will be soon. I hope.

[Anonymous User]

someone posted on reddit that they received a call last Friday.. i dont think that person comes on here. Anyone else get a call?

[Anonymous User]

Someone on Reddit apparently received a call asking if they were still interested in the role this past Friday:

https://www.reddit.com/r/usajobs/commen ... ?context=3

This poster had actually accepted another role so turned them down. Interestingly, I believe they were applying to the law clerk position as they were not yet barred.

[Anonymous User]

That makes me so nervous! I am barred and applied for the attorney position. I still haven’t heard anything as of 3pm ET. I’m continuing to hope that attorney calls have not gone out yet. I want good news for all of us!

[Anonymous User]

I didn't hear anything yet. I am barred too.

[Anonymous User]

I applied for the Law Clerk position and haven't heard anything. I'm thinking I didn't get the job. If current TEAs were told last Wednesday that they were planning on hiring around 45 people, and someone got a call on Friday, it's likely they started making calls Wednesday afternoon/Thursday morning. This also aligns with the "mid-March" timeline since last week was technically mid-March. Maybe the attorneys and law clerks are in different pools though and calls for attorneys haven't been made yet? Hoping the best for the rest of you!

[Anonymous User]

someone posted on reddit that they received a call last Friday.. i dont think that person comes on here. Anyone else get a call?

Am i weird for thinking that person maybe be trolling? my friend who works there said they never called her, they communicated everything through email.. I mean obv that can change but idk that persons post just doesnt sit right with me.

[Anonymous User]

I believe all calls have gone out. Law clerk and TEA duties are exactly the same -- I highly doubt they're on different timelines as far as being notified goes.

I wonder how many applied this cycle. What a grueling 18-week process this was. It truly is a shame they don't have the resources or capacity to let candidates know they did not get the position.

Bummer. Wishing you all the best in your next endeavors.

[Anonymous User]

someone posted on reddit that they received a call last Friday.. i dont think that person comes on here. Anyone else get a call?

Am i weird for thinking that person maybe be trolling? my friend who works there said they never called her, they communicated everything through email.. I mean obv that can change but idk that persons post just doesnt sit right with me.

I actually got a similar vibe. They call there TM experience "substantial," citing multiple jobs. But they aren't clear on what those actually were. Given they just graduated law school, that gives me pause that their direct law work experience is "substantial."

Also, their account is super new, and the username appears to be one of the autogenerated options that are usually burners. They have some comments on r/barexam (their only other Reddit activity) that look legit though.

[Anonymous User]

I believe all calls have gone out. Law clerk and TEA duties are exactly the same -- I highly doubt they're on different timelines as far as being notified goes.

I wonder how many applied this cycle. What a grueling 18-week process this was. It truly is a shame they don't have the resources or capacity to let candidates know they did not get the position.

Bummer. Wishing you all the best in your next endeavors.

What makes you believe all the calls have gone out for both positions? The one Reddit comment?

Also, the fact that the duties are the same doesn't necessarily mean that calls would go out at the same time. The positions have totally different applicant pools.

[Anonymous User]

I'm giving it until the end of this week...that reddit post is one data point and confirms at least that calls were going out much later than early March. Not to mention the recipient of that call turned down the role, so presumably the hiring attorney or HR person will need to call someone else on the list to offer it to them. Consider that these calls are likely going out during business hours, so may not be immediately answered if the candidate is at work. I could see the intial calls process taking some time, even if the calls themselves are brief.

[Anonymous User]

I believe all calls have gone out. Law clerk and TEA duties are exactly the same -- I highly doubt they're on different timelines as far as being notified goes.

I wonder how many applied this cycle. What a grueling 18-week process this was. It truly is a shame they don't have the resources or capacity to let candidates know they did not get the position.

Bummer. Wishing you all the best in your next endeavors.

What makes you believe all the calls have gone out for both positions? The one Reddit comment?

Also, the fact that the duties are the same doesn't necessarily mean that calls would go out at the same time. The positions have totally different applicant pools.

The duties are identical, the interviews are conducted at the same time, the positions do not have totally different applicant pools. The pools are exactly the same, with preference toward those who are already barred so that the agency can avoid the concern that a hiree won’t pass the bar within the 14 month timeline set. It’s not uncommon for there to be almost no law clerks hired. Don’t let the fact that there’s “2 positions” add a ghost variable into your analysis, although you could be right about calls still going out.

I’m just assuming for my own sanity & career that the calls have gone out.