Paralegal Specialist (Recent Graduate)

Clarification from the agency

Candidates eligible under the Pathways Recent Graduate Program.

Paralegal Specialist (Recent Graduate) positions are available in the following sections of the Criminal Division:

• Appellate Section (APP): APP defends the integrity and constitutionality of federal criminal investigations and prosecutions. Appellate Section attorneys litigate cases in the Supreme Court and the federal courts of appeals, in collaboration with the Office of the Solicitor General, other components of the Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorneys' Offices throughout the country.
• Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP): HRSP protects the American public and U.S. interests from serious threats to public safety, border security, immigration systems, and individual rights by prosecuting: (1) leaders and members of criminal networks and cartels responsible for proli?c transnational alien smuggling, human traf?cking, and related immigration fraud crimes; (2) individuals and enterprises implicated in other human traf?cking offenses involving forced labor, sex trafficking, and related coercion-based trafficking crimes; (3) persons who have committed human rights violations including genocide, torture, war crimes, and other atrocities, including those who ?ee to the United States seeking safe harbor after committing such crimes or who commit immigration fraud by concealing their past crimes; and (4) persons who committed violent crime abroad where a U.S. citizen is a victim or perpetrator. As part of its mission, HRSP helps lead Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA).
• Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF): MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who conceal profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees who violate money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act, and sanctions laws; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.
• Violent Crime and Racketeering Section (VCRS): VCRS is a specialized group of prosecutors charged with developing and implementing strategies to disrupt and dismantle regional, national and international gangs and organized crime groups. VCRS, in partnership with United States Attorney's Offices, prosecutes significant Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO), Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR) and violent crime cases against the most dangerous criminal groups in the U.S.

This vacancy includes a Selective Placement Factor. Please see below for more information.

As a Paralegal Specialist (Recent Graduate), you may perform duties such as:

• Providing support to senior Paralegals and Section Attorneys by identifying and evaluating applicable cases, law, and regulations pertaining to criminal cases, policies, and issues.
• Assisting senior Paralegals in preparing memoranda and litigation reports in connection with legal issues, summarizing the allegations, facts, results of investigations and recommending disposition of particular cases.
• Assisting senior Paralegal Specialists and Section Attorneys in their assigned investigations, trials, appeals, and/or special projects.
• Producing work products that are well written, clear, and free of errors.
• Assisting in preparing and organizing trial exhibits such as statistical charts, graphs, and maps to be presented in court.
• Assisting attorneys with case management, including follow-up, scheduling, and use of electronic tools for data and time management.
• Handling other duties such as cite checking using Bluebook, as well as other citation and style requirements for legal writing; documentation preparation, management, and transmission; trial support utilizing courtroom technology; legal and other research utilizing electronic databases.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to qualify for this position.
• You must complete the online questionnaire and additional assessment(s).
• You must undergo a pre-employment security investigation.
• Selective Service Registration is required, as applicable.
• You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
• Eligibility Requirements: See Qualifications Section.
• You may be required to complete a two-year trial period.
• Direct Deposit: All federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• The Criminal Division participates in the Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification Program. E-Verify helps employers to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. For more information, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.

Qualifications

To be eligible for this recent graduate position, one of the following requirements must be met:

1. Recent graduates who have completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution. (Current students may apply if they are in their final semester, with a graduation date of Summer 2026. Include your expected graduation date on your resume and provide current transcripts. You must receive your degree prior to appointment.)
2. Veterans unable to apply within two years of receiving their degree, due to military service obligation, have as much as six years after degree completion to apply.

To qualify at the GS-07 grade level, applicants must have one of the following:

• A bachelor's degree AND meet one of the following provisions for Superior Academic Achievement: (1) A standing in the upper third of your college class or major subdivision (e.g., school of business) at the time you apply; (2) A grade point average of "B" (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or its equivalent for all courses completed; (a) at the time of application; or (b) during the last 2 years of your undergraduate curriculum; (3) A "B+" (3.5 on a 4.0 scale) or its equivalent for all courses completed in a qualifying major field of study, either (a) at the time of application; or (b) during the last two years of your undergraduate curriculum; or (4) Election to membership in one of the national honorary societies (other than freshman societies); OR
• One (1) full academic year of graduate level education; OR
• One (1) year of specialized experience at, or equivalent to the GS-05 grade level. Examples of specialized experience must include duties such as: gathering and preparing legal paperwork; providing a wide range of legal support or administrative services; skill in communicating with others to exchange information; and performing research to provide background information or analysis; OR
• Combination of education and experience may also be used to qualify. Please note, only education in excess of a completed undergraduate degree may be used in this calculation.

To qualify at the GS-09 grade level, applicants must have one of the following:

• Two full years of graduate education or a master's degree, LL.B, J.D., or equivalent degree that demonstrates the competencies needed to do the work of the position may be substituted for the experience required; OR
• At least one year of specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-07 grade level. Examples of specialized experience include: conducting legal research; writing legal reports, to include summarizing factual information, legal issues, and case law relevant to a given case; and assisting with the preparation of exhibits, such as statistical charts, graphs and maps, to be presented in court; OR
• A combination of education and experience as listed below. Please note, only education in excess of one year of graduate education may be used in this calculation.

Selective Placement Factor: To qualify for this position at the GS-09/11 grade level, applicants must be proficient in English writing. Applicants' proficiency in (English) writing will be assessed through an online (USA Hire) writing assessment. Applicants who do not display a minimum level of proficiency on the USA Hire Writing Assessment will be ineligible for further consideration.

Combination of Education and Experience - Your current education completed is credited as a percentage of the education required for the grade level and your current experience is credited as a percentage of the total experience required for the grade level. The two percentages are added and must equal 100% in order to qualify for the desired grade level.

All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see www.ed.gov.

Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For more information about this requirement, please visit the U.S. Department of Education website for Foreign Education Evaluation. All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your application will be evaluated under Rule of Many procedures. This announcement uses the Set Number of Candidates method under 5 CFR 332.402. The top 15 eligible candidates will be referred per grade level. Preference eligibles will receive 5 or 10 points added to their score based on the adjudicated preference. All applicants at or above the pre-determined number, including ties and any preference eligibles with a service-connected disability of 10 percent or more, at any score, will be referred to the selecting official for consideration. We will provide the selecting official with a sufficient number of names, when available, to consider at least three candidates per vacancy. If fewer than three eligible and available candidates per vacancy result, we will expand the group in accordance with DOJ's supplemental strategy and OPM policy.

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g, resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

The USA Hire Assessment includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

If you would like to preview the application questionnaire, please see: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12976077.

Veterans' Preference and Military Spouses: If you are entitled to veterans' preference or are a military spouse, please see USAJOBS Veterans Preference for more details or visit https://www.fedshirevets.gov/job-seekers/veterans/veterans-preference/#content. The selecting official will adhere to veterans' preference rules and Rule of Many procedures when making selections.

You are strongly encouraged to convert your resume to an Adobe PDF file prior to submitting your application, especially if you are submitting using a Mac system. Resumes not pre-converted to a PDF file will undergo conversion by the system. This conversion process may cause some formatting changes to your resume, including line and page break errors. To ensure your submitted resume does not display with formatting issues, please submit your resume as a PDF. This error does not affect USAjobs resumes.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete application package which includes:

1. Resume (cover letter is optional) - Applicants will be evaluated based on a comparison of the position requirements against the quality and extent of experience or related education as reflected in their resume. Applicants are encouraged to ensure work experiences clearly show the possession of knowledge of the subject matter pertinent to the position and the technical skills to successfully perform the duties of the position. Your resume must be no more than 2 pages. If more than 2 pages are submitted, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications. Please ensure all information you believe is qualifying for the position is contained in the first two pages, or you may be marked ineligible. Additionally, your resume must include the following information for each job listed: month and year, start/end dates (e.g. June 2007 to April 2008), and full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week).
2. Unofficial Transcripts - transcripts must reflect cumulative GPA. If selected, applicants will be required to provide an official copy of their transcript before they enter on duty.
   1. Degree audits will not be accepted. Transcripts need to display your name and credit hours earned.
   2. If it cannot be determined that you meet the eligibility requirements, you may be removed from consideration.
   3. If you have already graduated, your degree conferral date must be indicated on your transcripts.
3. USA Hire Reasonable Accommodations Requests - If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you may be asked to submit documentation to support your request (https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us/articles/45424542500371-How-to-request-a-reasonable-accommodation).
4. Documentation of Eligibility for Special Hiring Authorities (if applicable) to prove appointment eligibility. Examples include: Schedule A disability letter, Peace Corps volunteer letter, military spouse hiring authority documentation, etc.
5. Current or Former Political Appointees (if applicable) - Please note on your resume and attach an SF-50. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office.
6. Schedule A Documentation (if applicable) - The Criminal Division welcomes and encourages applications from persons with disabilities and is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department. The Criminal Division also encourages eligible Schedule A applicants to submit their resumes directly to the Criminal Division disability POC at crm.schedulea@usdoj.gov.
7. Veterans' Preference Documentation (if applicable):

• If you are a discharged, non-disabled veteran, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 showing character discharge (Member 4 Copy), or other documentation of service and separation under honorable conditions. If you do not have your DD-214, you may request it after discharge from the National Archives at http://www.archives.gov/veterans.
• If you are a veteran within 120 days of discharge, you must submit signed documentation from the Armed Forces certifying: 1) your expected release/retirement from active duty, 2) under honorable conditions, 3) your pay grade/rank/rate at time of discharge, 4) dates of active duty service, 5) any campaign or expeditionary medals received, and 6) dated within 120 days of your separation.
• If you are a disabled veteran, Purple Heart recipient, or parent or spouse of a disabled or deceased veteran, you must submit a completed SF-15 (https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf) and all additional proof required by the SF-15, as applicable, if you do not have your Department of Veterans Affairs letter establishing proof of disability, you may request it at https://www.va.gov/resources/getting-started-with-va/ or call 1-800-827-1000.

Next steps