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Post by arkstfan on Jul 12, 2013 14:17:33 GMT -5
Listen to the question.
Answer confidently and fully.
Stay calm and if you get near panic attack and can barely speak, just remember it happened to me and worked out fine.
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Post by bartleby on Jul 12, 2013 14:31:18 GMT -5
I do not believe that there is anyway one can prepare for this other than getting a good night's sleep and think before opening your mouth. I don't think the questions have right answers, only good responses. Use common sense and as arksfan noted try not to panic. This was truly the worse part of the process for me and you know the Bartleby is good on his feet..
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Post by privateatty on Jul 12, 2013 16:07:54 GMT -5
Listen to the question. Answer confidently and fully. Stay calm and if you get near panic attack and can barely speak, just remember it happened to me and worked out fine. Oh yeah, I forgot to add that if you disdain deodorants without aluminum, we may want to re-think. I was dripping like an ice cream cone in July. At least I was consistent at OPM and SSA. Maybe you can ask a friend to help you ensure olfactory compliance.  Crossing one's legs repeatedly like a frog's leg under the voltage in a biology lab may well result in demerits, but I guess it depends on the examiners. I was one ignorant pilgrim and thought that it would be some chatty kathy get to know ya discourse--hah. As I said in another post you have to garner some self-confidence. |
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Post by mcb on Jul 13, 2013 14:20:10 GMT -5
I do not believe that there is anyway one can prepare for this other than getting a good night's sleep and think before opening your mouth. I don't think the questions have right answers, only good responses. Use common sense and as arksfan noted try not to panic. This was truly the worse part of the process for me and you know the Bartleby is good on his feet.. While I agree with Bartleby about getting a good night's sleep, for those of you who occasionally have trouble sleeping before tests, bar exams, big trials, etc., you can get through this. I flew in from the West Coast the day before th SI, and due to my work schedule - I was a claimant's rep - with hearings to attend and prepare for the day before and the day after the SI, I wasn't scheduled to arrive at Reagan Airport till 11:00 PM., the night before the SI. Of course, my flight was delayed for about an hour, so that by the time I arrived at my hotel room in Alexandra, VA, it was after 1:00 AM and my SI was scheduled for 9:00 A.M. I couldn't sleep, and I had printed out mapquest directions fom my cheaper hotel to the one where the SI was being administered, so I decided to take a quick walk over to the hotel/SI site. Of course what appeared to be - looking at the directions - a brisk 7 block walk over to the SI site was well over a mile, and I got lost trying to find it, though I finally did get there, but I didn't back to my hotel room tell well after 2:00 A.M. Of course, then I couldn't fall asleep, and was tossing and turning, but about 4:00 A.M. looked out my window and to my pleasant surprise I saw a Starbucks. I tossed and turned for about two more hours and at 6:00 AM. got up, got dressed, went down to the Starbucks and slammed down two 31 oz. ice coffees. Then I showered and dressed and headed over to the hotel/SI site. When checking out the hotel/SI site the night before, I noticed they offered a breakfast buffet, so I went to the hotel's restaurant and loaded up on carbs and protein and drank lots of coffee and OJ. I arrived for the SI about 30 minutes, got signed in and waited for my interview. As others have noted, listen carefully, use common sense in your replies and try to appear confident. I flew through the first 90% of the SI, but with my lack of sleep the night before and my jet lag, crossing three time zones, I hit a wall and by the end of the interview it was a struggle to complete it. After the interview, I sleepwalked through lunch at a local restaurant with my sister, who lives in Burke, VA, and my nieces and nephews. After lunch we went back to her house and I crashed out for a few hours - I couldn't even keep my eyes open to chat - before catching a late afternoon flight back to the West Coast (I was in and out of DC/Northern VA in less than 20 hours). What did I take away from this experience? Arrive as early as possible the day before the SI, especially If you live on the West Coast or Mountain time zone (nonstop flight preferable) orr are drviving in from a far distance. If the Si is taking place at a hotel, try and get a room there, or at a hotel as close as possible. It's worth the extra expense to be there, right on site. And if possible, GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP! |
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Post by moopigsdad on Jul 13, 2013 15:00:03 GMT -5
I do not believe that there is anyway one can prepare for this other than getting a good night's sleep and think before opening your mouth. I don't think the questions have right answers, only good responses. Use common sense and as arksfan noted try not to panic. This was truly the worse part of the process for me and you know the Bartleby is good on his feet.. While I agree with Bartleby about getting a good night's sleep, for those of you who occasionally have trouble sleeping before tests, bar exams, big trials, etc., you can get through this. I flew in from the West Coast the day before th SI, and due to my work schedule - I was a claimant's rep - with hearings to attend and prepare for the day before and the day after the SI, I wasn't scheduled to arrive at Reagan Airport till 11:00 PM., the night before the SI. Of course, my flight was delayed for about an hour, so that by the time I arrived at my hotel room in Alexandra, VA, it was after 1:00 AM and my SI was scheduled for 9:00 A.M. I couldn't sleep, and I had printed out mapquest directions fom my cheaper hotel to the one where the SI was being administered, so I decided to take a quick walk over to the hotel/SI site. Of course what appeared to be - looking at the directions - a brisk 7 block walk over to the SI site was well over a mile, and I got lost trying to find it, though I finally did get there, but I didn't back to my hotel room tell well after 2:00 A.M. Of course, then I couldn't fall asleep, and was tossing and turning, but about 4:00 A.M. looked out my window and to my pleasant surprise I saw a Starbucks. I tossed and turned for about two more hours and at 6:00 AM. got up, got dressed, went down to the Starbucks and slammed down two 31 oz. ice coffees. Then I showered and dressed and headed over to the hotel/SI site. When checking out the hotel/SI site the night before, I noticed they offered a breakfast buffet, so I went to the hotel's restaurant and loaded up on carbs and protein and drank lots of coffee and OJ. I arrived for the SI about 30 minutes, got signed in and waited for my interview. As others have noted, listen carefully, use common sense in your replies and try to appear confident. I flew through the first 90% of the SI, but with my lack of sleep the night before and my jet lag, crossing three time zones, I hit a wall and by the end of the interview it was a struggle to complete it. After the interview, I sleepwalked through lunch at a local restaurant with my sister, who lives in Burke, VA, and my nieces and nephews. After lunch we went back to her house and I crashed out for a few hours - I couldn't even keep my eyes open to chat - before catching a late afternoon flight back to the West Coast (I was in and out of DC/Northern VA in less than 20 hours). What did I take away from this experience? Arrive as early as possible the day before the SI, especially If you live on the West Coast or Mountain time zone (nonstop flight preferable) orr are drviving in from a far distance. If the Si is taking place at a hotel, try and get a room there, or at a hotel as close as possible. It's worth the extra expense to be there, right on site. And if possible, GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP! Thanks for the advice mcb. I don"t know how you were able to function at all without any sleep. I give you props mcb. I will take what you said and put it to use. |
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Post by mcb on Jul 13, 2013 15:32:38 GMT -5
MPID, the first two times I applied, I didn't make it past the AR internet part of the exam. It just seemed as if the stars were aligned and all the dominoes fell as needed my third time around. Another bit of good luck was that my local HOCALJ and two SSA ALJs were my judicial references, and you'll most likely be interivewed by HOCLAJS, maybe an RCALJ, as I was, if you get a Falls Church ODAR. Just to show you how mysterious/wacked the OPM process is, after receiving my Dear John email after MY first AR, I still cut and pasted the same answers into the second and third ARs I took (I figured if my answers weren't good enough, I just wasn't menat to be an ALJ). Never worried about using the OPM buzz words, either. And, apparently, they do hire the occasional claimant's rep, as I was hired.
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Post by moopigsdad on Jul 13, 2013 15:52:26 GMT -5
MPID, the first two times I applied, I didn't make it past the AR internet part of the exam. It just seemed as if the stars were aligned and all the dominoes fell as needed my third time around. Another bit of good luck was that my local HOCALJ and two SSA ALJs were my judicial references, and you'll most likely be interivewed by HOCLAJS, maybe an RCALJ, as I was, if you get a Falls Church ODAR. Just to show you how mysterious/wacked the OPM process is, after receiving my Dear John email after MY first AR, I still cut and pasted the same answers into the second and third ARs I took (I figured if my answers weren't good enough, I just wasn't menat to be an ALJ). Never worried about using the OPM buzz words, either. And, apparently, they do hire the occasional claimant's rep, as I was hired. As a claimant''s rep for almost thirty years I appreciate your story. It gives me some hope in the long run. |
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Post by arkstfan on Jul 18, 2013 10:54:38 GMT -5
MCB, I had no travel issues for the OPM interview other than struggling to sleep and it being the first time I had flown into BWI rather than Reagan. Agency interview... Against my normal instinct I opted for an early afternoon flight instead an evening flight. My flight was delayed because of mechanical problems, booked a new flight from the hub to Reagan. Then the delay ran longer. Booked another new flight to Reagan and just as I'm wrapping up with reservation agent she tells me my flight to the hub is cancelled and I need to call back in 10 minutes while they sort things out. Just then the gate agent makes the announcement. My airline did not have enough space on the remaining scheduled flights to accomodate everyone so they chartered a bus to take us to another airport two hours away and get flights from there. Being a saavy traveler I knew that in this situation airlines are required to book you on a competing airline at no cost to you if space is available. I quickly found a flight on a competitor that would get in me in several hours later than planned but I wouldn't have to ride a bus for 2 hours. I called my airline and after a bit of grumbling they complied. The agent for my first airline gave me a voucher for food since I would be missing the ham sandwich and coke on the bus ride. Then I had to go back out of security to retrieve my bag to check it in on the other airline and get a boarding pass then go back through security. I happily sat down in the bar to have a burger and beer at roughly half price (8 buck vouchers don't go far in airports) and dug my phone charger out because my iPhone was down to 25% charge after searching flights and frantic calls to the airlines. The burger arrived and as my glass of beer touched my lips the airport went dark. Power was out for 2 hours of the 3 hour wait for my flight. Didn't dare use my phone to conserve power in case something else happened. The bartender refused to sell anything else because he couldn't open the register. Fortunately it was summer with no air moving in the terminal so there was no risk of freezing  Just as the air conditioner gets almost caught up board my flight. Get to Charlotte settle in for another fairly long layover. They change my gate. Hike to the new gate. Get settled in and plug my phone back in and they change my gate again to one across from my first gate. Hike back. Finally arrived at my hotel where the desk clerk chipperly informed me the restaurant had just closed and the van driver was done for the day but I could walk to a place several blocks away she thought "might" still be open. I ate supper out of a vending machine. Next morning caught a cab with another person interviewing who tried to impress me with his two hour mechanical delay flying in from a different airport. After all that, had a great interview, felt like I knocked out of the park like Mark McGwire getting a hold of a hanging curve after a double shot of steroids. |
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Post by lurker/dibs on Jul 18, 2013 18:23:41 GMT -5
Ark, that is like someone's worst nightmare ! Bless your heart is all I can say. I think I'll plan on flying in at least 24 hrs ahead of time just to avoid anything like that happening to me--that's just how my luck goes!
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Post by mcb on Jul 19, 2013 3:13:53 GMT -5
After all that, had a great interview, felt like I knocked out of the park like Mark McGwire getting a hold of a hanging curve after a double shot of steroids. I think I know what you mean, arkstfan. After everything that had happened the night before, the interview seemed like a walk in the park, not that I recommend what happened to you, or myself, to others. :-) |
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Post by DreamNalj on Jul 19, 2013 6:45:47 GMT -5
Since I'll be flying in from abroad...think I'll come in a FEW days early:)
Appreciate the advice!
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Post by funkyodar on Jul 19, 2013 6:52:45 GMT -5
Since I'll be flying in from abroad...think I'll come in a FEW days early:) Appreciate the advice! I thought about flying in a broad. But, then we would have had to find someone to stay with the funklings, so looks like i will go it alone. |
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Post by DreamNalj on Jul 19, 2013 7:11:18 GMT -5
L-O-L...
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Post by JudgeRatty on Jul 19, 2013 8:09:25 GMT -5
Since I'll be flying in from abroad...think I'll come in a FEW days early:) Appreciate the advice! I thought about flying in a broad. But, then we would have had to find someone to stay with the funklings, so looks like i will go it alone. Hysterical! Love it! |
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Post by moopigsdad on Jul 19, 2013 8:30:55 GMT -5
I thought about flying in a broad. But, then we would have had to find someone to stay with the funklings, so looks like i will go it alone. Hysterical! Love it! Sratty it looks like your avatar really got a chuckle out of that one. |
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