Apparently unique situation in 2007

[rep2]

Hello and good luck to everyone going through the process.
Isn't it great to have a knowledgeable support system through all of this??
I've been reading the posts for awhile, but haven't contributed much.
I initially applied for ALJ in 2007 and received my dates and times for interviews, which ended up being retracted 2 days later. I am curious...to you posters who have been in the game for a while, have you heard of this happening to anyone else? Can anyone speculate on the reason? It was so strange. I wasn't sure if I was back-stabbed by a reference at the last minute (though they all appeared to be highly supportive), or if it was my failure to supply the full date I was licensed for the bar. OPM didn't say it was a technical issue, though.
I have my name in the hat again, but am approaching the process VERY cautiously.
Does anyone know when the references/verifiers are contacted? It sure seems like it would be before the offers to test are extended, but I've gotten conflicting information about this.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[carrickfergus]

My references weren't contacted until after I took the tests and made the cert (2009). It makes sense not to divert resources to contacting references unless it's necessary.

[McLovin']

That is absolutely terrible. My gut and my experience as a former government employee, tell me that they had not checked references as of that time. I think maybe they were short one desk and had to go back and eliminate someone.

I also have many questions about references and former employers. Do they only contact the references I have listed and the people that I listed as being able to verify my experience? I do not know where many of my former supervisors are and for one job, the organization had a weird split and I do not know where the records would be housed.

[privateatty]

Jan 12, 2010 17:50:15 GMT -5 rep2 said:

Hello and good luck to everyone going through the process.
Isn't it great to have a knowledgeable support system through all of this??
I've been reading the posts for awhile, but haven't contributed much.
I initially applied for ALJ in 2007 and received my dates and times for interviews, which ended up being retracted 2 days later. I am curious...to you posters who have been in the game for a while, have you heard of this happening to anyone else? Can anyone speculate on the reason? It was so strange. I wasn't sure if I was back-stabbed by a reference at the last minute (though they all appeared to be highly supportive), or if it was my failure to supply the full date I was licensed for the bar. OPM didn't say it was a technical issue, though.
I have my name in the hat again, but am approaching the process VERY cautiously.
Does anyone know when the references/verifiers are contacted? It sure seems like it would be before the offers to test are extended, but I've gotten conflicting information about this.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Alls I can say is you have my sympathies, rep2. This is as nasty a tale as I've heard in 2 1/2 yrs on this Board.

Keep your chin high.

[maxlaw]

Nasty business indeed. I wonder if perhaps someone wasn't afforded a vet preference, and when the extra points were added they leapfrogged you? Purely a WAG though. Did you appeal?

[karaj]

Rep, when you apply for the ALJ position online (the AR or Accomplishment Record), you will be asked to provide the name of "verifiers" who can verify your accomplishments. These can be people you worked for, or with, in the past but who had knowledge of what you did. For example, you could name a co-worker. I seem to recall worrying about this, and yet could find no one on this Board who reported that a "verifyer" had been contacted. If someone has different information, please let us know.

Now, if you make it to a Cert (i.e., you get a high enough score of your AR, WD, and SI, and your name is sent to an Agency for an interview), you will need to provide several references. This is different from verifiers. These references will be contacted. These should be people who you can trust to provide only positive statements about your character, work product, etc. They are not necessarily the same folks you named as verifiers. I highly doubt that the situation you described was a result of a verifier being contacted. It is too bad you did not appeal to find out why you were denied the opportunity to test..but if you failed to provide complete bar info., that is more likely why your application was denied. It is how OPM weeds out applicants. Notoriously.

[rep2]

Thanks for all the great comments and input (and sympathy!). I actually did appeal and was told that OPM decided to "sustain my original ineligible NOR." Kind of funny wording, since the "original" finding was that I was eligible, before the retraction...

[decadealj]

Under the old exam, you had to list the names and contact information of opposing counsel and the judges of your 10 most significant cases and OPM did contact them not only to "verify" but to grade you on what were then what i suppose are now the ARs. For the life of me, I can't understand, with all the information available, how SSA selected some of my contemporaries. But I don't see how the new exam could better ID bad apples in the barrel.

[cinderella]

Yes, I know (personally know) of someone who had the same thing happen- and it was extremely upsetting. That person appealed and lost, then re-applied in a subsequent opening and is now a sitting ALJ. At the time, we'd heard of a handful of people who had their initial eligibility retracted- with no explanation.

[rep2]

Interesting, Cinderella. Thanks for writing. I know how terribly upsetting those circumstances are, and I am happy to hear that you friend's tale had a happy ending.