Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)

Our Expert ALJ Resume and Record Development Service Last year’s ALJ Announcement opened and closed within 30 hours. You weren’t ready. You rushed. You didn’t understand exactly what they wanted and how they wanted to hear it. You didn’t know how to present your skills, qualifications and accomplishments in their best light. This year you’ll be ready. As a lawyer, you already know how to create a record. Isn’t it time you applied those well-honed case-making skills and created yours? The Administrative Law Judge package for federal ALJ applicants is a significant writing project for any senior attorney. Preparing for it is like taking a bar review course all over again. You must train your brain to think and respond in specific ways. Your written materials must reflect that training.

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TIMING: Schedule your ALJ Application Writing Services NOW. Please be advised that it takes two weeks to develop a complete 20-page ALJ package. Order our services here online or request a custom ALJ project quote.

Consultation Two hour professional consultation on application direction

$380.00

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Full Service Writing (See description below) Please allow 2-3 weeks to complete this service

$3200.00

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Developmental Edit / Critique of Application Package Please allow 10 working days to complete this service

$2100.00

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Complete ALJ Package Development and Writing with Interview

Includes all the components needed for one ALJ application: the senior attorney / ALJ federal resume, eight essays, and cover letter. Total project working time: 16 hours.

• Consultation – 2 hours, spread over the course of the project. INCLUDES materials, such as the actual questionnaire, ALJ Manual, some successful examples, and our own Guide.
• Resume Writing – 6 hours to prepare from interview, matching essays, keywords and chronological content.
• Essays – 8 total (6 questions plus the litigation question and the administrative question). 1 hour apiece – 2000 characters each.
• Purchase the total package at 16 hours x $200/hr = $3,200 or request a custom quote (hourly rate = $200/hr)

Our ALJ Senior Attorney Consultant / Writer: Nicole Schultheis

Read Nicole’s bio »

Frequently Asked Questions

What is in the ALJ application?

The full application requires answers to multiple choice questions (the self-assessment questionnaire), a federal resume (which is typically 4-6 pages long), answers to SIX narratives in the Accomplishment Record and TWO additional narratives to detail your qualifying administrative and litigation experience. What’s the deadline for applying? When the announcement to submit the application to qualify for the exam is posted (rumored to be early November 2010), the application will be open for a designated period OR until a maximum number of applicants is received. In 2009, 600 applications were allowed and that number was reached by the second day the announcement was posted. This year, PLAN AHEAD and get your materials in shape well before the announcement opens. It is unlikely you will have more than 2-3 days to apply; some believe it will remain open less than a single day.

What comprises the ALJ Accomplishment Record?

The Accomplishment Record requires that you provides examples from your experience to demonstrate your competence in six areas. Contrary to what you might expect, not all of your examples need to be from your legal experience. Other parts of your community and life experience can be used effectively. Have you served on a board or commission? Made critical decisions as part of a review panel? Published a written work that was persuasive and well received? It’s all relevant and potentially persuasive.

Learn how to write your Accomplishment Record in the format deemed essential by OPM: Context-Challenge-Action-Results (CCAR).

What does the Federal ALJ Resume look like?

The typical Federal resume is more detailed than a private practice resume or the one you used to apply for a state or local government job. Most private practice resumes are two-to-three pages long and do not provide much detail beyond identifying the type of work and the names of the firms or other employers. The federal resume is very different, and contains substantially more information. Among other things, your current position, and the past two positions should be described in much greater detail, by job function, highlighting those that speak to the competencies addressed in the ALJ announcement.

What are key words and do I really need to worry about them?

Key words and phrases are taken from the announcement itself – they highlight your skills and qualifications essential for the job. They can be found right in the announcement and assessment questions. Because the applications are rated by Human Resources professionals and not fellow attorneys (nor ALJs), your use of these key words is critical. It is your job to show reviewers how your work experience addressed ALL the critical criteria.

Why should I purchase your services when the ALJ application requires me to attest that I “worked independently, and did not get any form of assistance, while completing the Accomplishment Record”?

The Resume Place, Inc. provides expert writing, editing and consulting services to support both SES and ALJ candidates. Our services fall within required ethical bounds for completing these applications. We work with clients to draft and edit a comprehensive federal resume, and to both think and write about their professional accomplishments with confidence and candor. Your responses to the Accomplishment Record questions will be based on your own work product, improved by our coaching and the insights you’ll gain through the support we provide. Our work is acceptable to OPM and federal human resources, based on our many years’ experience providing services to individuals hired into SES and ALJ positions. As a proven trainer, The Resume Place has been hired repeatedly by government agencies to train federal job seekers, provide application coaching, and polish executive writing so that it complies fully with the requirements of federal job applications.

More ALJ Information

• Leaving the Legal Grind Leaving the Legal Grind: Land a Plum Job as an Administration Law Judge, Elizabeth Juge, Certified Federal Resume Writer
• ALJ Discussion Board
• OPM to Open Administrative Law Judge Exam
• OPM’s Qualifications for ALJ
• ALJ Pay System & Scale
• Administrative Law Judge job Announcement on USAJOBS
• OPM ALJ Fact Sheet
• Social Security Blog / News