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[diditallwrong]

Dear All,

I have a EE degree, I graduated a TTT with a JD, I have over a year of IP experience.  My grades were good in school.  However, as you may have suspected, LS was a dramatic mistake.  I can't rectify it with hindsight, and despite my best efforts, I can't get permanent employment.

What are the chances of getting an Examiner position?  Is this a decent job? Does it offer upward mobility? What are the exit options, if any? Not that I am picky, but I think its the only thing I have a shot at, if that.

I don't know what to do anymore.  Any advice or help, on the Examiner position or otherwise, would help. 

[diditallwrong]

All,

I realize practitioners do not like desperosity or regrets, but any advice at all on how to rectify my mistakes would be appreciated.  Anything at all.

[blakesq]

What is TTT?  With an EE degree you should be able to find a position, especially if you are willing to move. 

Dear All,

I have a EE degree, I graduated a TTT with a JD, I have over a year of IP experience.  My grades were good in school.  However, as you may have suspected, LS was a dramatic mistake.  I can't rectify it with hindsight, and despite my best efforts, I can't get permanent employment.

What are the chances of getting an Examiner position?  Is this a decent job? Does it offer upward mobility? What are the exit options, if any? Not that I am picky, but I think its the only thing I have a shot at, if that.

I don't know what to do anymore.  Any advice or help, on the Examiner position or otherwise, would help. 

[Isaac]

What is TTT? 

It's a disparaging description of his law school.   The use of the term in a message is all the cue I need not to respond.

[plex]

OP, you would probably have a good chance, more so if you have EE experience as well.  However, the job posting for a position was only open for 2 weeks, and it is hard to tell when the next one will come.  I remember not so long ago when the position was permanently open, and they were offering $20k signing bonuses for people with EE degrees.  But the IP experience does help with getting started and the JD helps get a slightly higher starting grade and with reaching positions above GS-13, so it is not a total loss.

The job market for prosecution is actually pretty ridiculously bad, the small boutiques are lowballing so hard that you actually make more starting as an examiner, and the large boutiques have cut starting pay so much that it makes prosecution only marginally better for the first 10 years (after which obviously it has a much higher ceiling).  It isn't even a matter of getting in, it's not even desirable to get in anymore for some people.

[diditallwrong]

I really appreciate the replies.  I apologize if my comments were offensive in anyway.

Its just that I have been unable to find any meanigful work in the field.  I have really tried my best.

The "TTT" reference was made to indicate that the school is in the lower tiers.  I have gotten so used to using "TTT" as a short hand that I forget that the last "T" can be offensive and/or disparaging.

If the USPTO will not take me, does anyone have any other suggestions?  Anything at all would be helpful.

I really appreciate the fact that people replied. 

I

[Gatorbull84]

Plex,
Do you know if a portion of the signing bonus is given upfront to help the examiner move?

[plex]

As I said, they were offering them, pretty sure that completely stopped in 2008.  It was spread out over 4 years of working at the office.  Not sure if re-location is paid for at all, there is some sort of public transportation subsidy of ~$200/month while working there.

[diditallwrong]

I will definitely try to apply to the USPTO next cycle, if a cycle opens up, it sounds like a solid and stable job.

Is there any other advice people could offer?

Are there any cities where a EE carries more weight than others?

Is there anything I could do to make myself more attractive to firms despite the lack of pedigree, etc.?

[plex]

1) Nothing really constructive

2) EE is everywhere, certain areas have other specialties that make EE somewhat less common, but it is still there to some degree  E.g. Boston/St. Louis are Bio/chem, Washington is CS, and Michigan is Mech

3) Not really, there are things that are sort of nice like a MSEE or a bit of examining experience, but the main thing they want is to not have to train you at all, e.g. 3+ years of experience.  The only thing that will cause a really major change is a shift in the economy.

[diditallwrong]

Plex,

Thanks for responding.  So I will take your response to mean that, outside of another hiring cycle at the USPTO, matters are out of my hands, the EE degree does not confer a real advantage, and unless the economy improves, securing employment in this area is not probable.  Correct?

I appreciate your responses, and although disheartening, the realism helps.  If I had investigated matters as extensively as I should have prior to attending LS, perhaps I would not be in this situation, but alas, se la vie.