Reply to Should my kid bail on DOJ Honors

Forum Index » Jobs and Careers

Reply to "Should my kid bail on DOJ Honors"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Thanks to everyone for their response.

We are a true middle class family (not just DCUM middle class, son got a full scholarship to law school which is why no student loan debt).

He has asked for my advice because he is trying to make a major life decision. But nobody in our family has ever been a lawyer and I don't know anyone who has worked for the DOJ, so I don't feel well-positioned to offer advice which is why I asked my question here. Sorry if I offended with the work/life comment, he's no stranger to working hard, just is holding out hope for a job where 70-80 work weeks aren't the year-round norm.

Sections he interviewed with are Commercial Litigation and (I think) Bankruptcy Trustee. He is at the point where they've asked for references and seem to be moving forward, so he was debating whether now is the time to step out of the process. In the federal clerkship hiring process, his school's doctrine was that students shouldn't continue to pursue a job if they'd decided they wouldn't take it if offered - he was told that was very bad form, though maybe that was just the school trying to preserve its relationship with particular judges. So he was concerned that maybe similar guidelines apply to DOJ Honors hiring.

It is sometimes hard for me to tell him not to take a signing bonus that would be as much as I've ever made in a year, and not to take a BigLaw job that would pay him life-altering money before he turns 30. But I've always told him there's a lot more to life than money and so I am trying to live up to those principles when he asks what I think he should do. Hearing that DOJ is a great way to launch a career that can take him anywhere is very helpful.

I think I will tell him he should still try to land the offer, even if he isn't definite he wants to take it, and he can cross that bridge if/when he comes to it but he shouldn't drop out of the process now. I welcome additional insight and thanks again![/quote]

Those aren’t great options for DOJ honors. He should apply to big law and lit boutiques. [/quote]

They are fine options. Just because it isn't Crim Div or OIA doesn't mean it isn't the best opportunity for OP's kid, above and beyond "big law and lit boutiques." [/quote]

OP here - those are what he applied for because that’s what he finds interesting. Doesn’t want to be a prosecutor. But if those are his interests, maybe DOJ is not for him? [/quote]

What is going on here? Why are you so desperately fishing for a way to tell him to drop this opportunity? Are you just really ignorant and see irresistible dollar signs with the big law gigs? DOJ HP is not an opportunity to walk away from lightly. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics