New Cert received

Text of notice:
SOCIAL SECURITY

July 29, 2009

NOTIFICATION TO ALJ CANDIDATE

We are pleased to inform you that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has certified your name to the Social Security Administration’s Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) for the position of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), AL-3. The entrance base salary for an ALJ is $102,400 per year plus locality pay based on geographic location. Current or former federal civilian employees may be eligible for a higher base salary. This determination will be made at the time of selection.

ODAR, with its headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia, is the highest appellate level of the Social Security Administration. Our employees, which number almost 7,000, include approximately 1,100 ALJs who work in 141 hearing offices across the country. Our ALJs hold hearings and make and issue decisions on appeals from determinations made under Titles II (Retirement, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act.

If you are interested in being considered for this position, you must complete the following form, listed below. If your contact information (telephone numbers, email address, home address, etc) has changed since you filed with OPM, please include any updates with your reply. Additionally, please provide your cell phone number so we can more easily contact you.

Geographic Availability List (GAL)
This form lists the locations where we are currently recruiting that match the locations you have on file with OPM. You have the option of declining all locations by stating this on the form. You may also indicate an interest in all or some of the locations by placing an “X” next to the location(s) you would accept if an ALJ position were offered to you.

The above document must be faxed to Thomas Graham at (410) 966-4796 or (410) 966-6804 no later than August 5th or you will not be considered for an ALJ position. Documents sent by mail will not be accepted. If you are declining all locations, return the GAL stating your reason for declination.

If you have not been interviewed by SSA for the ALJ position, you will be contacted within the next few weeks to schedule a personal interview. The interview does not represent an offer of employment. SSA will not be re-interviewing candidates that we have previously interviewed.

If selected, you must be prepared to first report to your duty station for Phase I of your ALJ Orientation. During this time, you will meet and begin to work with a mentor ALJ. Phase II involves classroom training in Baltimore, Maryland. You will then report back to your duty station at the conclusion of Phase II for Phase III of your orientation. During Phase III, you will begin to hold hearings and continue to work with your mentor. We expect to have all successful candidates enter on duty during the fall of 2009; the exact dates have yet to be determined. If you have any questions, you may contact Bob Gehlken on (410) 965-4470 (bob.gehlken@ssa.gov) or Thomas Graham on (410) 965-8714 (thomas.graham@ssa.gov).



Sincerely,
Robert M. Gehlken
Robert M. Gehlken

From my notice:

The information you provide on this form will be reported back to OPM once SSA has completed the selection process for
these duty locations. Therefore, it is important that you consider the following information when completing this form:
•
If you decline a location(s), OPM will remove your name from further consideration for that location(s).
•
You will not be able to reinstate a location from which you have been removed until the next ALJ vacancy
announcement open period.
•
If you decline two (2) job offers, your name will be suspended from the register for one (1) year or until the register
is terminated, whichever occurs first.
REGION
LOCATION
ACCEPT
03
Pittsbrugh, PA
04
Tampa, FL
05
San Antonio, TX
09
Downey, CA

Yes, if someone has the generic post re all sites under consideration, please post for those interested in site specificity as well as impact on ALJ transfers.

Any positions in New Orleans, Metairie, or Alexandria in Louisiana?

I got a notice that lists 4 NYC area places: Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, Newark.

San Antonio or anywhere else in TX has people on the transfer list, so no way to tell if they have 1 opening or 2 at this point or if the person at the top of the list will decline the transfer

My advice is to stay calm until you actually get an offer since I had the misfortune of having all of my possible cities from the first cert in 2008 filled by transfers. I was blessed to get into an office later on where they had 2 openings at once and the HOCALJ was fine with taking a new hire instead of 2 transfers.

The cities on my new GAL included:

03 Huntington, WV
03 Philadelphia, PA
03 Pittsburgh, PA
03 Richmond, VA
04 Atlanta, GA
04 Birmingham, AL
04 Charleston, SC
04 Chattanooga, TN
04 Knoxville, TN
04 Louisville, KY
04 Macon, GA
04 Memphis, TN
04 Montgomery, AL
04 Nashville, TN
04 Orlando, FL
04 Raleigh, NC

For those of you that were notified that you made the Cert today, were you in the most recent Cert that just took place also?

In other words, do you have to get a new email to qualify to be selected this time around?

Thanks for a reply!

I made the register but was not in the most recent cert earlier this summer.