Is it hard to get hired at Public Defender Service For The District Of Columbia?

Glassdoor users rated their interview experience at Public Defender Service For The District Of Columbia as 78.3% positive with a difficulty rating score of 3.55 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty). Candidates interviewing for Criminal Law and Trial Attorney rated their interviews as the hardest, whereas interviews for Human Resources Generalist and Law Clerk roles were rated as the easiest.

How long does it take to get hired at Public Defender Service For The District Of Columbia?

The hiring process at Public Defender Service For The District Of Columbia takes an average of 31 days when considering 46 user submitted interviews across all job titles. To compare, the average duration of hiring at similar companies like BlackRock, Inc. is 14 days, Fabricated Software, Inc. is 2 days, and Apple Inc. is 21 days. Candidates applying for Summer Intern had the quickest hiring process (on average 1 day), whereas Intern Investigator roles had the slowest hiring process (on average 90 days).

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Public Defender Service For The District Of Columbia

Public Defender Service For The District Of Columbia interview questions

Q: Where can I find Public Defender Service For The District Of Columbia interview experiences by job title?

Investigative Intern (21) ; Intern Investigator (15) ; Attorney (5) ; Intern (5) ; Investigative Specialist (5) ; Investigator (5) ; Investigator Intern (3) ; Staff Attorney (3) ; Assistant Public Defender (2) ; Internship (2)

based on 52 ratings - Updated Feb 20, 2026

Difficult interview difficulty

Very positive interview experience

How others got an interview

87%
Applied online
Applied online
5%
Other
Other
5%
Campus Recruiting
Campus Recruiting
3%
Employee Referral
Employee Referral

Interview search

52 interviews

Law Clerk Interview

Aug 20, 2023

Anonymous employee

Accepted offer

Positive experience

Average interview

Application

I applied through college or university. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Public Defender Service For The District Of Columbia (Washington, DC) in Apr 2022

Interview

The interview consisted of a few questions about myself, my relevant public defense experience and why I wanted to be a public defender. There were no hypos or legal questions.

Interview questions [1]

Question 1

Why do you want to be a public defender? What relevant experience have you had in this area?

Answer question

Investigative Specialist Interview

Sep 12, 2022

Anonymous employee

Accepted offer

Positive experience

Difficult interview

Application

I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Public Defender Service For The District Of Columbia (Washington, DC) in Jun 2022

Interview

2-month long process. Two interviews. Asked hypo questions, and quizzed me on the mission/PDS and the role, they tried to gauge my views on the CJ system and PDS work. Finally, many questions about experience and myself.

Interview questions [1]

Question 1

What do you know about PDS? What does the mission mean to you? how do you handle competing deadlines? Many hypos about uncooperative witnesses. Have you ever written a report?

Answer question

Summer Law Clerk Interview

Jun 19, 2022

Anonymous employee

Accepted offer

Positive experience

Difficult interview

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at Public Defender Service For The District Of Columbia

Interview

The interview was very thorough, they asked about my experience and the information on my resume but it was also clear that they were trying to get a sense of my perspective and how it would fit into the culture. It's one of the only interviews I've had where they give you a hypo and I thought that was a great component.

Interview questions [1]

Question 1

They gave a hypothetical related to how you would approach a situation given your client's interests.

Answer question

Viewing 11 - 15 of 52 Interviews

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