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Post by Propmaster on Feb 25, 2008 1:07:44 GMT -5
Oddly (or perhaps sadly? or understandably?), this is the only group of people to whom it makes sense for me to vent/whine/communicate/unburden. I have noticed my friends are particularly disinterested in hearing (again) whether I think phone calls will start Friday or Monday, etc.
This immensely long process is more taxing than I expected. I am perfectly happy in my current job (OK, not perfectly), and was not looking for any other job when the ALJ notice came out. HOWEVER, I've been waiting for that notice for years. As sad and possibly unbelievable as it sounds, being an ALJ is literally the pinnacle of my ambition. Of course, I want to be a d**n good one - but I can't really think of anything else I'd rather do.
For those who are/were there, I thank you for the warnings and advice. However, I don't feel like I'm jumping in blind, here. I'm a very friendly person, and I have been privy to a lot of SSA gossip over the years. I sit in hearings now telling ALJs how to use their electronic files and how to order claim files and how to issue subpoenas, etc. I love bureaucracy and forms and unification rulings and following regulations and instructions (while making the necessary decisions). I want to see some prime time television when it first comes out (not on DVD), and I want to pay my student loans and still have money left for eating out.
All that being said, it is hard to look at what is probably right around a 1/3 chance (or less - my score was quite low) and have much optimism. From my head. My heart is all excited, despite my best efforts.
And thus, this waiting is trying. I'm awake right now (wide awake) although I should be in bed (for at least three reasons, the least important of which is that I might get a call at 7:30 am my time (not likely, I know). I'm playing the scenarios impotently in my head - we all know there is nothing that can be done now. Somewhere, someone knows my future; and I have to wait. But that pesky hope is just waiting to turn into disappointment.
I know after coming this far I'll be devastated to miss. No matter how much I think about the likelihood of not getting it - the statistics of the thing are not making an impression on my hopes - it will be hard to handle. I don't mean suicidally hard (I'm not trying to be melodramatic), I just mean that we've all seen the ways in which this cert represents a "perfect storm" of factors coming out in favor of helping those with low scores and lucky geographical picks this round. I don't anticipate being this close to ALJdom for years if I don't get it this go round. (I won't bother to reapply until I feel like my AR would increase - I need more relevant experience).
I've developed some interesting, fun projects around the office to occupy my time if I don't get this - I expect I'll survive and continue on about my satisfactory life as if there had never been a cert - but the first few days/weeks will be very depressing.
I don't know why I'm using you guys as a catharsis for exploring my feelings. Maybe because this group is a collection of individuals with personalities (hopefully mostly real) and we share (some of us now, some in the past, others in the future (others not at all, I guess)) some similar situations.
I want to wish everyone good luck. I can see from the quality of the people here that the new judges will be an asset to SSA/ODAR. I hope everyone remembers the good advice we've gotten here. Over the next week and change, if you haven't heard, please remember that a lot of people are going through the same stuff (some without even an online community for support!) and life will go on and there's a lot of people pulling for YOU.
Propmaster
(Thanks for reading or ignoring (you're the only one to blame if you did the wrong thing - I made a pretty descriptive title)).
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Post by jagghagg on Feb 25, 2008 6:18:05 GMT -5
Prop - a caveat first, if my "tone" irritates, please grab a HUGE saltlick and begin, because irritation is not my intent albeit (apparently) my MO.  Now then, that being said, if you are still paying your student loans, then you are - hopefully - pretty far from something that is "literally, the pinnacle" of your ambition. (Put another way: you are young.) I would say that more than a few of us are in pretty good career positions and were not seeking a new job. Some, like me, are ancient (paid off my college and law school loans decades ago) and are looking at the last few decades of their working life. The opportunity to become an ALJ just happened when it happened, having an impact on most every person on the list (and certainly on these boards). Considering the angst on these boards, sometimes it seems the impact has, generally, not been so good. But no one can be sure about getting a phone call this week or NOT getting a phone call this week. Not even you. But you are right about one (in many) thing(s) and that is that life will go on no matter which circumstances happens. [Just remember, if your chances are 1 in 3, and if you DON'T get a call, then that means the Register is down by 150 (down to - what? - about 300 ?) when SSA asks for a cert to fill the next 25. And if you don't get a call after that round, the Register will be down to 275 or so when, in 2009, SSA gets to do this all over again. And just where will you be then, score-wise ? Probably right up there.] I wouldn't hesitate to re-apply, and re-test. The things you have learned from this Board and from the interviews will have taught you how to emphasize your resume (or SF-171); in the meantime, (if you want to buttress your relevant experience) perhaps you could take some mediation classes and volunteer to do some of that work in your local state courts as well as some pro bono work with your local Legal Aid community. (Building your resume for what you really want beats the hell out of "developing fun and interesting projects around the office," don't you think ?) It's only five more days.....just five more days.......go to movies; go out with friends; eat huge, unhealthy dinners; play with dogs; exercise obsessively - but DON'T hang around the phone! If they call, they will leave a message and you can call them back. They will not check the box that says "gee-he-wasn't-home-offer-the-job-to-the-next-guy" ---- And remember, life is neither fair nor unfair; it is circumstantial. Good guys finish both first, last and in the middle. Something good is developed and someone else will fake it and exploit it..... Life is what it is and all you can do is keep your head about you. Once you know your own self-worth, (and I sense you have a good handle on that), the rest is frustration, not devastation. Well, I suppose you don't want to hear all this unsolicited advice. Heck, I wouldn't. (So why can't I resist offering it ? I don't know! I don't know!) PS: (Prime television is MUCH better on DVD.......)  |
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Post by govtattorney on Feb 25, 2008 7:39:59 GMT -5
anyone smarter than me care to create a poll or something that people can sign in, say they have an offer, and the location chosen.
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Post by shadow on Feb 25, 2008 8:02:33 GMT -5
Good luck everyone.
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Post by judicature on Feb 25, 2008 8:15:11 GMT -5
govtattorney - just post your outcome under the Acceptances/Locations post and one of our statistical stars will compile the information for everyone. Good luck to everyone!  |
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Post by privateatty on Feb 25, 2008 8:54:36 GMT -5
Prop - a caveat first, if my "tone" irritates, please grab a HUGE saltlick and begin, because irritation is not my intent albeit (apparently) my MO. Now then, that being said, if you are still paying your student loans, then you are - hopefully - pretty far from something that is "literally, the pinnacle" of your ambition. (Put another way: you are young.) I would say that more than a few of us are in pretty good career positions and were not seeking a new job. Some, like me, are ancient (paid off my college and law school loans decades ago) and are looking at the last few decades of their working life. The opportunity to become an ALJ just happened when it happened, having an impact on most every person on the list (and certainly on these boards). Considering the angst on these boards, sometimes it seems the impact has, generally, not been so good. But no one can be sure about getting a phone call this week or NOT getting a phone call this week. Not even you. But you are right about one (in many) thing(s) and that is that life will go on no matter which circumstances happens. [Just remember, if your chances are 1 in 3, and if you DON'T get a call, then that means the Register is down by 150 (down to - what? - about 300 ?) when SSA asks for a cert to fill the next 25. And if you don't get a call after that round, the Register will be down to 275 or so when, in 2009, SSA gets to do this all over again. And just where will you be then, score-wise ? Probably right up there.] I wouldn't hesitate to re-apply, and re-test. The things you have learned from this Board and from the interviews will have taught you how to emphasize your resume (or SF-171); in the meantime, (if you want to buttress your relevant experience) perhaps you could take some mediation classes and volunteer to do some of that work in your local state courts as well as some pro bono work with your local Legal Aid community. (Building your resume for what you really want beats the hell out of "developing fun and interesting projects around the office," don't you think ?) It's only five more days.....just five more days.......go to movies; go out with friends; eat huge, unhealthy dinners; play with dogs; exercise obsessively - but DON'T hang around the phone! If they call, they will leave a message and you can call them back. They will not check the box that says "gee-he-wasn't-home-offer-the-job-to-the-next-guy" ---- And remember, life is neither fair nor unfair; it is circumstantial. Good guys finish both first, last and in the middle. Something good is developed and someone else will fake it and exploit it..... Life is what it is and all you can do is keep your head about you. Once you know your own self-worth, (and I sense you have a good handle on that), the rest is frustration, not devastation. Well, I suppose you don't want to hear all this unsolicited advice. Heck, I wouldn't. (So why can't I resist offering it ? I don't know! I don't know!) PS: (Prime television is MUCH better on DVD.......) Its gotta be that I am changing or maybe the 'hagg is mellowing (although that seems unlikely on its face--but then there is this demonstrative evidence) but I gotta say ditto to everything she said. With all due respect, paying off student loans? For many of us that was a lifetime in terms of careers ago. Which means of course that we are looking at this job as what we will do for ten or fifteen years before our spouses or infirmity put us out to pasture. ;D Nonetheless, I liked your post alot and thanks for sharing your heart with us. I related. Given your compassion and consideration, those qualities must have come through in your interview and therefore I predict you will get an offer. |
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Post by Propmaster on Feb 25, 2008 8:58:01 GMT -5
Jagghagg: Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I don't have any disagreement with any of the things you said. However, I am going to clarify a few things that were a little ambiguous (or entirely absent) in my original post. 1) My student loans are not a good indicator of my age. I went to private university entirely on loans for 11 years (several degrees - I didn't get into law right away). Then they were in deferment/forbearance for a while. Now I am on a 30 year pay-off plan that uses about 1/3 of my after-tax income. I don't regret it, though, as it brought me to this point. 2) I don't think the depletion of the register will help me much, since almost all my cities are on this cert, and any new cert will likely involve a lot of different cities, resulting in new entry into the interview process of many with high scores who were not in this one due to geaography: possibly the new cert would not happen until after the oppotunity to add locations, anyway. 3) I work at legal aid, so the missing part of my salary is my pro bono work (See number one, above). What I consider fun and interesting projects are impact litigation; and I think I have finally gathered enough information to file a qui tam for a client or two against our state DDS. I really do love my current work, and consider time at work as akin to leisure time (without the leisure part). My "projects" have been percolating for a while, and I intend immersion in them (if necessary) to serve as a distraction from any disappointment I might feel. 4) I have to hang around my phone - it's my watch and my Internet access. 5) I am not looking for fairness. Que sera sera was an excellent thread. Boley's response on this thread was also apropos. I use G-d rather than fate or destiny (not sure if Boley was beating around the bush of religion or not), but I don't doubt that my ability to positively move forward as a person is facilitated by whatever happens. I've had clients who can't get past something "unfair," and it ruins their lives (not to mention clogging the courts). In any case, thanks for your reply. I assume I look like a dork to some of the people on here, but this is a pleasant community in which this kind of dialogue can take place. Dare I say, helpful. |
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Post by jagghagg on Feb 25, 2008 9:20:23 GMT -5
To question someone over student loan debt as if its some sign of immaturity, quite frankly, isn't fair. Just to clarify - I wasn't questioning him "over" his student loan debt. In fact, I wasn't really "questioning him at all. Nor has there been any suggestion from anyone that "younger" attorneys don't have a "right" to become an ALJ just like everybody else. (Geez.....people are so sensitive!  ) |
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Post by happy on Feb 25, 2008 9:22:03 GMT -5
Wow. Chill, Dude. I don't think that's what the Hagg was getting at at all. Rather, I think it was a caution against viewing the ALJ thing as the be-all and end-all, which I don't think Propmaster was saying, either.
Personally, I'm like Propmaster. I'm in my 40s, so I think I'm still "young", but I still have about $35,000 to go over the next 20 years to pay off all my loans. In other words, I'll be paying off around the time I intend to retire. <sigh> BUT, being an ALJ is something I've wanted to do for some time now. I am already an SSA disability adjudicator, I think I do an awesome job and I think I'd be a highly dedicated and highly productive ALJ. I will be very disappointed if I don't get an offer. But life will absolutely, positively go on and I will absolutely, positively re-apply and re-test when the opportunity arises.
Cheers!
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Post by secondchance on Feb 25, 2008 9:23:13 GMT -5
As the process continues and the tension rises (and it will) I think we ALL have to remember to stay calm (for our own sakes) and collegial (for the sake of all the wonderful friends we've made on this Board). everybody! |
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Post by testtaker on Feb 25, 2008 9:28:45 GMT -5
So far, no press release. Hmmm, wonder what that means?
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Post by shadow on Feb 25, 2008 9:28:46 GMT -5
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakk! [borrowed from Bill the Cat. . . with permission]
no cats or other critters were harmed in the making of this movie
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Post by govtattorney on Feb 25, 2008 9:31:48 GMT -5
happy is also trying to win so he can save his grandma's house. remember, go to your happy place...
Happy Gilmore - a great movie.
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Post by happy on Feb 25, 2008 9:37:02 GMT -5
I'm ALWAYS in my happy place. |
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Post by mama on Feb 25, 2008 9:38:03 GMT -5
I am in agreement. The thing that makes this board so wonderful is that we can share ideas and thoughts, some silly, (beach songs) some serious -- Yet all be supportive.
People, do not let me down. We will be working together in the not too distant future. Eventually everyone on this list, I am certain, will be among the ranks. It may take awhile, but I am confident that we will all get where we want/need to be.
It's all good. Is everyone breathing? Deep cleansing breaths!
Listen to Mama. . .she knows best.
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Post by tricia on Feb 25, 2008 11:00:08 GMT -5
Prop, you said: "All that being said, it is hard to look at what is probably right around a 1/3 chance (or less - my score was quite low) and have much optimism. From my head. My heart is all excited, despite my best efforts."
Keep the faith. If you don't make it this time, it sounds like there will be other chances coming up. I hope that you will give yourself credit for having made it this far this time.
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Post by morgullord on Feb 25, 2008 11:10:43 GMT -5
Nobody out-dorks me!
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Post by conanthebarbarian on Feb 25, 2008 12:42:48 GMT -5
govtattorney: "Happy Gilmore" was a very good movie but I enjoyed the "Water Boy" even more. Remember Bobby's sheets, the "power bomb" by Captain Insano and those wise words of Farmer Fran, "We lib do fi ano day!" Who needs the Oscars! Best regards, CTB
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Post by govtattorney on Feb 25, 2008 12:52:35 GMT -5
CTB - i love that one too. But scrappin with Bob Barker at the ProAm wins it for Happy. And how bout when he lost his cool, "go to your home...don't you want to go to home...answer me."
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Post by conanthebarbarian on Feb 25, 2008 14:07:26 GMT -5
govtattorney: How they ever got Bob Barker to do that scene I'll never know but it was very, very funny. CTB
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