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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2015 0:48:42 GMT -5
At the Hampton Inn the rooms have little motif photos near the door. My room had a photo of a Stetson Western hat, which immediately made me think it had the Tigerlaw seal of approval! I took it as a good omen! FlaTreeFarm, I think it's a good sign. I should of carved "Tiger was here" somewhere in the room (that's is the same place that I stayed at if it's the one across the street from Skyline). I wish everyone on this board the best of luck as always.
tiger
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Post by hondo35 on Jan 26, 2015 9:22:02 GMT -5
Ditto, FlaTreeFarm's remarks about the relief of having done all that I can, and it now being out of my hands. I must say that it was a pleasure to have met FlaTreeFarm, if only for a brief time, and how delighted I am that we are not up for the same cities. I'm sure I'm up against enough other qualified candidates that I didn't need another such impressive candidate vying for my little slice of ODAR!
In any event, I would like to thank everyone on this board for all of your help, advice and wisdom thoughout the process. I would especially like to thank the ALJs who--although they have reached the promised land--still take time out of their days to come on here and guide, encourage and enlighten us with their experience. Thank you.
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Post by changedusername on Jan 26, 2015 11:13:29 GMT -5
Hello,
New to the board and I wish I had found you guys before I started this process. I interviewed in November, and my references (all called me and said they were very positive) were checked (unfortunately without respecting my "check with me request" before calling my current supervisor). Obviously I did not get the position I was hoping for, and was curious where does that leave me? My supervisor now knows I was looking for another job and did not get it after reference checks so he is like "ok you were looking for another job and you did not get it possibly based on references??" Puts me in an awkward position. Just curious as to what if anything is next?
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Post by gary on Jan 26, 2015 11:32:01 GMT -5
Hello, New to the board and I wish I had found you guys before I started this process. I interviewed in November, and my references (all called me and said they were very positive) were checked (unfortunately without respecting my "check with me request" before calling my current supervisor). Obviously I did not get the position I was hoping for, and was curious where does that leave me? My supervisor now knows I was looking for another job and did not get it after reference checks so he is like "ok you were looking for another job and you did not get it possibly based on references??" Puts me in an awkward position. Just curious as to what if anything is next? The short answer is you may still be in the running for hires SSA makes in cities on your GAL. A more specific answer can't be given without more information about your situation, and even with that information the question may be unanswerable. There is a great deal of information on this Board that you might find enlightening. If you haven't done so already, I would suggest starting by reading the ALJ hiring process threads stuck near the top of the list of General Board threads. |
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Post by hondo35 on Jan 26, 2015 11:41:51 GMT -5
z (I'll just call you 'z' for short),
These aren't Dante's gates of hell, and there is no reason to abandon hope. Since you're new, you may not yet know from prior posts that there are at least several others who--like yourself--interviewed in November and found themselves without offers when many others were hired for the January start date. Several of those people have since received offers for the March 23 start date. I suspect that several of you will likewise receive offers for whatever the start date of the next class happens to be. You may very well be one of those people. Also--not knowing how wide your GAL was and how many of those cities you were on the latest cert for--please keep in mind that you may recieve notice of openings in some other cities that you weren't notified for in November. You will not interview again, but I believe you'll just be asked to rank whatever new cities that are on your GAL and for which they are hiring.
As for your job, I'm not sure you're really asking for advice on that situation, but since I'm typing anyway...just let your boss know (assuming it's true) that you are not looking for a new job, but that you reached out for a rare opportunity for an advancement in your career that would be hard to pass up. You were competing with a lot of qualified people from all over the country and you made it much farther in the process than the vast majority of people who step onto this path. If your boss is upset that you took a chance at the possibility of becoming a judge, then maybe you do need to keep an eye open for a new job, IMHO.
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Post by moopigsdad on Jan 26, 2015 12:04:11 GMT -5
Hondo was right on with his post above. It was a great response to a question posed by a Board Member. I can add little to what he has already posted. I just wanted to give kudos to Hondo for the very thoughtful answer.
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Post by hondo35 on Jan 26, 2015 17:20:52 GMT -5
Well, I must say, it feels pretty good to get kudos from a forum legend, lol! Thank you, moopigsdad!
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Post by changedusername on Jan 27, 2015 9:56:38 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies everyone. Just found the process of doing reference checks and they were good, not giving someone a position. In private practice we would decide before checking that unless the reference checks were bad, this person is getting the job because we are exposing the fact that they are looking at another job to their references. I know this process is completely different (that is a polite description) but if references are checked and good, the candidate should be given the position.
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Post by JudgeRatty on Jan 27, 2015 10:05:46 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies everyone. Just found the process of doing reference checks and they were good, not giving someone a position. In private practice we would decide before checking that unless the reference checks were bad, this person is getting the job because we are exposing the fact that they are looking at another job to their references. I know this process is completely different (that is a polite description) but if references are checked and good, the candidate should be given the position. This process is SO different from the private practice area. Here, they check all the references and do interviews of everyone who makes a cert. It is by is NO means indicative of having it "in the bag" at that point. Many have been on past registers (and will be in future registers) for years after having references checked, yet never receive an offer. The only thing you can take away from this is that at least you have passed all the hurdles and are waiting just like the other several hundred of us who have interviewed from this new register.  It is all out of your hands once you finish the last interview at SSA...then the waiting begins yet again. EDIT: I should say at this point you have "finished" all the hurdles... not passed. There is only one way to know you have "passed" all the hurdles...and that is getting the call. And even then, if you do not get the offer call, it may be that there was someone who they wanted just a wee bit more, not that you were not suitable. |
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Post by northbend on Jan 27, 2015 10:15:06 GMT -5
I seem to recall that we had some intel about a group meeting in Falls Church after the November interviews to sort through the interview and reference check results and to decide who would fill the January class. It seems like they also decided on some but not all of the people who would get offers for the March class. But the March class isn't full, we don't think, right? So is that same group or a similar group going to meet and sort through the interview reports and reference check reports from January before phone calls go out to fill the rest of the spots in the March class? If so, that suggests that phones won't start ringing for at least a few days yet...
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Post by anotherfed on Jan 27, 2015 10:21:50 GMT -5
I seem to recall that we had some intel about a group meeting in Falls Church after the November interviews to sort through the interview and reference check results and to decide who would fill the January class. It seems like they also decided on some but not all of the people who would get offers for the March class. But the March class isn't full, we don't think, right? So is that same group or a similar group going to meet and sort through the interview reports and reference check reports from January before phone calls go out to fill the rest of the spots in the March class? If so, that suggests that phones won't start ringing for at least a few days yet... I think that's the conventional wisdom... Of course, the new process, with OPM's twists, defies conventional wisdom. |
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Post by gary on Jan 27, 2015 10:40:13 GMT -5
I seem to recall that we had some intel about a group meeting in Falls Church after the November interviews to sort through the interview and reference check results and to decide who would fill the January class. It seems like they also decided on some but not all of the people who would get offers for the March class. But the March class isn't full, we don't think, right? So is that same group or a similar group going to meet and sort through the interview reports and reference check reports from January before phone calls go out to fill the rest of the spots in the March class? If so, that suggests that phones won't start ringing for at least a few days yet... As I recall we had intel ahead of time that they were going to meet in FC the week after the last December interviews to deliberate. I am not convinced they will need to physically re-convene in FC each time they make some more selections. It would eat up a lot of valuable high-muckety-muck time if they did given the amount of hiring they plan to do before October. I think having had the getting-to-know-you meeting in December, they may do subsequent meetings by telephone conference. (I'm not sure videoconferencing would be feasible with a bunch of different people in separate locations.) |
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Post by saaao on Jan 27, 2015 10:53:56 GMT -5
I seem to recall that we had some intel about a group meeting in Falls Church after the November interviews to sort through the interview and reference check results and to decide who would fill the January class. It seems like they also decided on some but not all of the people who would get offers for the March class. But the March class isn't full, we don't think, right? So is that same group or a similar group going to meet and sort through the interview reports and reference check reports from January before phone calls go out to fill the rest of the spots in the March class? If so, that suggests that phones won't start ringing for at least a few days yet... As I recall we had intel ahead of time that they were going to meet in FC the week after the last December interviews to deliberate. I am not convinced they will need to physically re-convene in FC each time they make some more selections. It would eat up a lot of valuable high-muckety-muck time if they did given the amount of hiring they plan to do before October. I think having had the getting-to-know-you meeting in December, they may do subsequent meetings by telephone conference. (I'm not sure videoconferencing would be feasible with a bunch of different people in separate locations.) That sounds about right, especially given travel problems that occur this time of year in the DC/NYC/Boston Corridor. There are not many cities left to fill and the majority of the candidates have been ranked (however ODAR does that)from prior rounds with only the stragglers from last week's interviews left to sort out. The next group of hires could probably be sorted out with a quick teleconference and offers starting the later half of this week, or beginning next week. |
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Post by funkyodar on Jan 27, 2015 12:43:52 GMT -5
Just received emailed vacancy announcements for the NHCs in Baltimore, Falls Church and St Louis. These are solicitations for existing ALJs that want to go there.
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Post by funkyodar on Jan 27, 2015 12:55:39 GMT -5
The way I read it, looks like one each for B'more and FC and multiples for St Lou. Should open some hearing office doors that you wannabes can fill. Good luck.
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Post by gary on Jan 27, 2015 13:05:08 GMT -5
Just received emailed vacancy announcements for the NHCs in Baltimore, Falls Church and St Louis. These are solicitations for existing ALJs that want to go there. Funky, do the NHCs have transfer lists like other offices? Or does SSA solicit interest and then pick whoever they want (from among those interested) to send to an NHC? |
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Post by funkyodar on Jan 27, 2015 13:13:11 GMT -5
My understanding is they solicit applications for NHC slots and choose from that. One can't just transfer in. Out, is a different story. They are on the list like anyone else. But, because it is a "management position" you have to apply to get in. Most similar to the Hocalj selection process, I assume.
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Post by gary on Jan 27, 2015 13:14:49 GMT -5
Thanks for both the intel and the info, Funky.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2015 23:13:49 GMT -5
Ditto, FlaTreeFarm's remarks about the relief of having done all that I can, and it now being out of my hands. I must say that it was a pleasure to have met FlaTreeFarm, if only for a brief time, and how delighted I am that we are not up for the same cities. I'm sure I'm up against enough other qualified candidates that I didn't need another such impressive candidate vying for my little slice of ODAR! In any event, I would like to thank everyone on this board for all of your help, advice and wisdom thoughout the process. I would especially like to thank the ALJs who--although they have reached the promised land--still take time out of their days to come on here and guide, encourage and enlighten us with their experience. Thank you. Hondo35, I gotta tell you, I've been to the promised land--and it's not that bad, but a little bit over blown, IMHO. 
However, Funky and I have had this conversation in the past....what is great about this board for those that participate is the exchange of ideas and encouragement to one another during this PAINFULLY long process. Funky, HT, and I were the first hired and it still took 16 months of tests, interviews and waiting for the final call. As I have stated repeatedly, on your first day at HQ for ALJ training, you will be floored by the sheer brilliance and background of your fellow ALJs.
This process is long and painful, but so is life.
tiger
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2015 23:19:36 GMT -5
Well, I must say, it feels pretty good to get kudos from a forum legend, lol! Thank you, moopigsdad! Becoming a forum legend is not all that it is cracked up to be, trust me. I got a free lunch from hilltopper, but funky taught me the wrong secret handshake that involved chickens and I still have nightmares. I now know how to debone chickens, but I picked that up from Judge Posner's opinion, not from funky....but I can't go into details.
tiger
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It is all out of your hands once you finish the last interview at SSA...then the waiting begins yet again. 
