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Relevant experience is the key — is biglaw giving you the type of experience the agency values? I’ve seen agencies hire attorneys from small firms who have relevant subject matter experience, instead of general litigators with better law school credentials coming from V10 firms . I’m sure the V10 litigator could quickly learn to do the work, likely even perform it at a high level in 6 months… But when given the option between someone who has a demonstrated interest and experience in the subject matter, and someone who is a well credentialed generalist… agencies often choose the former.
If by “Senior Associate” in the government you mean a management position, it may be difficult because you typically have to demonstrate management experience in interviews. Also, for any senior role, you will likely be competing with a lot of internal candidates, as upper-level government positions can be rare at some agencies. All agencies are different, though, so it may vary.
I don’t think government really has an age/experience level hiring cliff. Plenty of hires are in their 40s and 50s, though I think you see fewer candidates in their 50s than you see in their 30s and 40s.
Thanks for the replies! To be clear, I mean exiting as a senior associate, so not sure what GS level that might translate to? And practicing in a specialist group focused on regulatory compliance/enforcement (not general lit).
Depends on the agency, the grade and step level in the vacancy announcement, how experienced you are, how willing you are / the agency is to negotiate. Most agency counsel attorneys are advertised as GS-14 or GS-15 (sometimes the former, but with promotion potential to the latter). They won’t automatically make you a step 10 just because you’re taking a big pay cut to come to government, but some agencies may be willing to do so for attorneys with a lot of experience. For existing employees in a GS grade, it takes 1 year to advance through steps 1-3, 2 years each for steps 4-6, and 3 years each for steps 7-9. There are some opportunities to earn a step increase for good performance, but this gives you an idea of the seniority it takes to move up to the highest step of a grade from within government.
What’s the agency or substantive area that you’re looking at? Knowing that might get you some better feedback.