Tag Archives: government

Lost & Found – Rebooted

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Now that I’ve officially sat for the bar, I find myself with a fair bit of time on my hands. But, as my lovely readers know – it’s not “free time.” Unless you translate “free time” to mean “time to search for jobs.” Therefore, I’ve gotten back on the horse. Below are this week’s finds:

Internship

Entry Level (0-1)

Junior (1-3) 

Mid (3-5)

Senior (5-10) 

Partner (10+)

Academic

Contract

The Fellowships That Weren’t

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So, I’m a bit bummed. I applied to and interviewed for 2 (unpaid) fellowships with an executive branch agency. I REALLY wanted them for the following reasons: (1) the agency they were with, (2) solid work experience, (3) the possibility of obtaining funding through my school, and (4) the max 35 h/week schedule that would allow for looking for full-time employment.

I thought the interviews went well, but then the usual thing happened: I heard nothing. And then more nothing. I followed up: no reply. (Which, for the record, is never a good sign). I followed up again. Instead of my contact emailing me back, a secretary sent me a generic rejection email.

Now, while it’s a bummer to not get something – I think that the way my contact handled the follow-up made the situation that much more sucky. It’s bad enough to be rejected – but to not even have the decency to follow-up with me yourself? It just made me sad.

The unfortunate side effect of being so excited for these fellowships is that I sort of put my job hunting on hold, probably putting too many eggs into those particular baskets. Now I have to get underway again ASAP because trying to do anything during bar study besides bar study is challenging at best. And, as you all know, looking for a job is a full-time job in and of itself.

But, I’m back in the saddle. Here’s to not having to declare bankruptcy come September.

A (General) Guide to the GS Payscale

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I don’t know about everyone else, but when I first started perusing USAJobs for jobs to apply to I took one look at the General Pay Scale and went “what the hell does this mean”? I had no idea what I could or couldn’t apply to, other than GS15 seemed to pay pretty well for government work, so it clearly couldn’t apply to lowly entry-level me. I’m pretty sure that first time resulted in me immediately closing the window and tabbing back over to facebook. Needless to say, the job search this year has been rife with denial and emotional shut downs at the sheer prospect of educating myself on absolutely everything related to law jobs (and procuring one) overwhelmed me.

So I did what any self-respecting student born in the internet age would do – I googled. And then I googled some more. And then I came across this lovely gem of an article: The Ultimate Guide to the GS Page Scale. Complete with FAQ.

The most helpful/relevant section for budding law grads was the discussion on how to determine where you stand on the pay scale if you’re not already within the system.

The run down:

  • GS-9: MA/MS, J.D/LLM
  • GS-11: Ph.D, Equivalent doctoral degree (which arguably a J.D. qualifies as), or 3 academic years of progressively higher level graduate education

What does this translate to practically? Most newly-minted J.D.s are hired at GS-9, and then bumped to GS-11 with bar passage. Also, if you see a job listed at GS-11 and it doesn’t absolutely require bar passage to begin with, you should probably apply for it. Additionally some GS-11 and GS-12 attorney positions allow you to substitute experience in internships, judicial clerkships, and your position on things like Journal or moot court for the total years of work experience if you don’t yet have bar passage.

Lesson: Don’t discount yourself too early and read job postings carefully. Further, most postings on USAJobs have a contact name with an email where you can send questions. When in doubt, ask someone.