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Post by dpageks on Mar 25, 2014 9:26:17 GMT -5
So does anyone really know what cities have openings?
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Post by moopigsdad on Mar 25, 2014 9:34:00 GMT -5
So does anyone really know what cities have openings? You will certainly find out when certs start coming out from SSA.
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Post by funkyodar on Mar 25, 2014 10:46:15 GMT -5
If I had to hazard a guess, based on historical trends, reports on here and speaking to insider friends, I'd put the over under on hires from the upcoming 90 to each region being in the neighborhood of:
2/3 (60) going to regions 4 and 5.
10 or so to region 6
And the remaing 20 divided between 2, 3, 7 and 8 in roughly equal proportions (ie 5 each with most of region 2's share being from the special espanol cert for PR).
maybe a single outlier or 2 to regions 1, 9 and 10.
Again, purely a wag (not even credible enough for a swag).
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Post by 71stretch on Mar 25, 2014 10:59:29 GMT -5
So does anyone really know what cities have openings? That was discussed here in the last few weeks, and the answer is really no. Which offices technically have "openings" (a vacant office for an ALJ) is not the same question as which offices have openings that ODAR is going to fill. There are offices operating under their technical maximum capacity that will continue to do so. Even when a cert is issued, along with the cities that go with it, some of those cities may not actually receive a new ALJ. (I'm not getting into the multiple cert issue raised by the recent email posting in another thread).
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Post by moopigsdad on Mar 25, 2014 12:15:38 GMT -5
Devildog, I always love your posts. They make me smile and are usually informative. I have to say I like your present choice of avatar being used, but haven't mentioned it until now.
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Post by southerner on Mar 26, 2014 15:24:20 GMT -5
The cities available do change from time to time, given retirements and such.
My own city of New Orleans was not a popular choice especially after Katrina, but when I looked last year at transfer list, there were 5 people waiting to to make The Big Easy their new home.
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Post by uclabruin on Mar 27, 2014 0:16:51 GMT -5
Does anyone know whether there is a waiting list for the Puerto Rico SSA offices? And are the Spanish Certs for only Miami and Puerto Rico?
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Post by eyre44 on Mar 27, 2014 3:07:54 GMT -5
There is nobody on the transfer list for PR and I'm pretty sure there is no special wait list for PR. I know of at least three new hires for PR off certs since 2010.
Not sure on your other question, I'd guess no other cities, but it would just be a guess.
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Post by futuressaalj on Mar 27, 2014 5:28:10 GMT -5
Does anyone know whether there is a waiting list for the Puerto Rico SSA offices? And are the Spanish Certs for only Miami and Puerto Rico? Research indicates that PR is a hard place to fill when compared to other places for two reasons. One you need to be fluent in Spanish not just speaking but reading and writing. The OIG report indicates that San Juan has asked for Certs and the register that just expired did not have any more bilingual candidates left. The other reason is that it is an island and therefore an isolated location. There is no getting in the car on a long weekend and driving all day to a major population center like NYC, Orlando, Houston, Chicago, LA, SF or Seattle. I believe SSA only hires bilingual candidates for the three PR locations. It is a separate certificate from what I understand. I was also told by someone that the current transfer list has folks looking to transfer out of San Juan and out of the Mayaguez office but I believe there might be a requirement for backfill if want to get out of there and the backfill will have to come from the newly established register. Medicare does hire bilingual candidates also and I suspect that their Miami office is where they wind up--maybe even DC too. They only have four offices so its either those two or their Ohio California office. Chances of landing a medicare slot are probably much harder than SSA. Bottom line is that if you are a bilingual candidate and willing to move to PR a lower score will get you hired early provided you do not bomb your SSA interview. I anticipate being on the PR cert but after visiting San Juan and doing research on quality of life and crime, my wife told me she does not want to go there. So I am out of the competition,
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Post by useorlose on Mar 27, 2014 11:01:25 GMT -5
Are you able to tell us where you're transferring from, or is that TMI?
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Post by BagLady on Mar 27, 2014 11:26:56 GMT -5
Re: Puerto Rico, there have been a couple of news articles lately, describing the living conditions there. I would encourage anyone considering PR to read those articles. I also find it telling that there's no wait list to get in, but everyone wants to transfer out. (Now if I just knew how to include a YouTube link to "Hotel California"...)
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Post by pubdef on Mar 27, 2014 11:42:11 GMT -5
Puerto Rico has the highest rates of residents migrating to mainland United States since the 1950s which should tell us something. This is in large part due to economic conditions on the island. There is over 30% unemployment on the island. It also has a very high cost of living. For example, basic monthly utilities including electricity, heating and water cost about $246 in Puerto Rico as opposed to New York City's $161. Crime and schools have also been a source of people leaving the island.
If you are considering PR at least research living there to make sure you can handle the conditions. I'm sure there are some people who might love some of the great parts of PR and the bad isn't a huge concern. To be fair, most cities have good and bad. Google is our friend.
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Post by futuressaalj on Mar 27, 2014 11:55:12 GMT -5
Puerto Rico has the highest rates of residents migrating to mainland United States since the 1950s which should tell us something. This is in large part due to economic conditions on the island. There is over 30% unemployment on the island. It also has a very high cost of living. For example, basic monthly utilities including electricity, heating and water cost about $246 in Puerto Rico as opposed to New York City's $161. Crime and schools have also been a source of people leaving the island. If you are considering PR at least research living there to make sure you can handle the conditions. I'm sure there are some people who might love some of the great parts of PR and the bad isn't a huge concern. To be fair, most cities have good and bad. Google is our friend. Good Advice--I actually visited the place and it was not a place I would move to in order to take the job. And I do not have school age kids--if I did I would not have put it on my GAL. Hoping I show up on a cert for a Crapland location but PR is off the radar for me.
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Post by meanmom on Mar 29, 2014 10:28:39 GMT -5
I put PR on my GAL not realizing that fluency in Spanish was a requirement. Do I need to amend my GAL now or do I just leave it alone? I did not indicate that I was fluent in Spanish on the initial application. Thanks.
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Post by 71stretch on Mar 29, 2014 10:32:15 GMT -5
You can't "amend your GAL" now. If you are placed on a (the) cert, and the list of cities you get from ODAR at that time includes PR cities, you can take them off at that time.
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Post by meanmom on Mar 29, 2014 11:50:41 GMT -5
Thank you
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Post by futuressaalj on Mar 29, 2014 12:26:56 GMT -5
I put PR on my GAL not realizing that fluency in Spanish was a requirement. Do I need to amend my GAL now or do I just leave it alone? I did not indicate that I was fluent in Spanish on the initial application. Thanks. Mean you do not have to do anything. PR gets its own cert and only those that put down bilingual status can show up on that mini cert
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Post by 71stretch on Mar 29, 2014 14:21:05 GMT -5
I put PR on my GAL not realizing that fluency in Spanish was a requirement. Do I need to amend my GAL now or do I just leave it alone? I did not indicate that I was fluent in Spanish on the initial application. Thanks. Mean you do not have to do anything. PR gets its own cert and only those that put down bilingual status can show up on that mini cert Even easier. Thanks!
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Post by meanmom on Mar 29, 2014 14:24:58 GMT -5
Thanks everyone!
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Post by Ace Midnight on Mar 29, 2014 18:22:10 GMT -5
I haven't kept up with this entire thread - but I've dug through some of the GAL, region-by-region polls and I've come up with an estimate - when people vote within a region, roughly half the voters are picking the least popular city within that region.
So, again with my stubby pencil and Big Chief tablet, I estimate that roughly half of the register includes people with, give or take 179 locations on their GAL.
Doesn't that sound low, though?
ETA: I added a poll (my first) to try to firm these numbers up - I called it, cryptically, "Classify your GAL".
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