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Post by Gaidin on Mar 10, 2015 16:12:41 GMT -5
I received the following PM earlier and thought the Board should know. Also thank you very much for the information.
"Dept of Labor has received a cert for at least Pittsburgh and Newport News. I turned down the interview offers but others will likely be called. Please feel free to let the board know."
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Post by Gaidin on Mar 10, 2015 17:05:57 GMT -5
Does anyone know anything about working at Labor? Do they discourage transferring between offices? Adversarial hearings? Anything about management?
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Post by keepsake on Mar 10, 2015 18:17:53 GMT -5
Not sure how much intel it gives one interested in DOL ALJ positions, but Federal Circuit recently upheld MSPB decision (think Circuit decision was late 2014 if I recall from the blurb about it in the news) that found no violation of 5 USC 7521 related to furlough of DOL ALJs resulting from sequester. Case was named Berlin v. DOL I think. Have no idea how or if that case and underlying furlough impacted judicial corps and management.
And yes - cases can be quite "complex" and adversarial. Understand they do, among others, black lung cases, longshoreman cases, certain ERISA cases, and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Only have direct expereicne from private pracrtice with OFCCP cases involving affirmative action plans for federal contractors. Those cases can involve big money and aggressive litigation by defendant companies. Interesting work as I understand it generally at DOL.
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Post by privateatty on Mar 10, 2015 20:30:24 GMT -5
You will need a very high score and trial experience that will impress interviewers that you can run a federal bench trial. In addition, Labor decides disputes in over 40 statutory schemes. It is unlikely that you will be able to transfer anytime soon as there are only seven offices.
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Post by gary on Mar 10, 2015 20:41:51 GMT -5
You will need to make a top 3 for a location in which the DOL is hiring, just like for SSA or OMHA. How high a score it will take at this point in the life of the register I don't know.
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Post by funkyodar on Mar 11, 2015 11:28:19 GMT -5
A member wishing to remain anonymous wishes to relay that they have been invited to interview with DOL in the Newport news office.
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Post by Missundaztood on Mar 11, 2015 11:55:38 GMT -5
A member wishing to remain anonymous wishes room relay that they have been invited to interview with DOL in the Newport news office. Good luck, anon, with "room relay[.]" JK. Good luck with your interview!  Funky, I think you are out of practice!  |
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Post by funkyodar on Mar 11, 2015 12:36:03 GMT -5
Damn new phone and auto correct. Bad combination.
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Post by gary on Mar 11, 2015 13:33:12 GMT -5
I like autocorrect. With it I don't have to convince anyone that the typos were made by my cat.
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Post by Missundaztood on Mar 11, 2015 13:41:43 GMT -5
I like autocorrect. With it I don't have to convince anyone that the typos were made by my cat. It lets me practice my proofreading skills. |
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Post by privateatty on Mar 11, 2015 16:15:17 GMT -5
It was my understanding that they generally hire ALJs through transfers. They may be taking a look at the eligible candidates on the register before going that route. Anybody know how many they are looking to hire? In the past. DOL/OALJ has not been happy with the Register and potential SSA transfers. I don't recall anyone seeing a posting on USAJObs for sitting ALJs to apply. My guess is that they want to see what this new litigation-on-the-resume Register can offer them and take it from there. It is likely that we will hear nothing about their hires or only after the fact, third hand. |
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Post by redryder on Mar 14, 2015 19:41:11 GMT -5
Five years ago, DOL had no provision for transfer. You stayed in the office where you were hired. I was told this by the chief ALJ when I made a cert for a slot in San Francisco. You should never assume that all agencies have the same policies as Social Security . If you make the cert for another agency, you need to ask if the agency has a policy and how it works.
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Post by HallmarkFan on Mar 25, 2015 13:58:09 GMT -5
I heard that interviews are being scheduled for the Cincinnati office in late April.
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Post by ruonthelist on Mar 26, 2015 15:05:09 GMT -5
DOL doesn’t have a policy on inter-office transfers analogous to ODAR’s transfer list procedure. Transfers there are a matter of management prerogative. I believe that is true of all agencies other than SSA. I have known DOL judges who transferred from one office within the agency to another, but with only 8 offices and a few dozen judges the number of transfers, like the number of hires, is small.
I have met DOL judges who were hired from the register and others who transferred from SSA. DOL seems to do what a lot of agencies do when they have a vacancy; both request a cert from OPM and advertise the position to sitting ALJs. That way they get 3 high scorers from the register plus however many incumbent ALJs apply, maximizing their options.
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Post by Ace Midnight on Mar 30, 2015 14:57:22 GMT -5
DOL seems to do what a lot of agencies do when they have a vacancy; both request a cert from OPM and advertise the position to sitting ALJs. That way they get 3 high scorers from the register plus however many incumbent ALJs apply, maximizing their options. They did advertise for management ALJ jobs last fall, but nothing recent on any line judges. Maybe they look at OPM's list first, then go to the USAjobs.gov well? |
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Post by futuressaalj on Apr 3, 2015 11:29:46 GMT -5
I got an e-mail from the Pittsburgh Office last month to interview in person and they would pay for my travel. When I told them I am in Europe they offered a Skype interview because the "agency does not have money to travel people from Europe.". With GSA City Pairs Fare my fair was cheaper than a lot of places in the Continental United States.
Does anyone know if an Agency interviews candidates in person if they have to interview all of them in person if they are willing to travel? I turned down the Skype interview because anyone interviewing in that manner is not going to be on the same footing as those that interview in person, it is just a fact of life.
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Post by moopigsdad on Apr 3, 2015 18:15:06 GMT -5
Sorry to hear that futuressaalj. I hope you have the opportunity to interview in person one of these days.
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Post by jd on Apr 3, 2015 19:06:31 GMT -5
Sorry future alj, but you wont win that argument. You should have skyped. I sat on selection panels where we hired phone interviewees over live candidates. I did a ton of cpl and they have a valid reason for not flying you in. Jd
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Post by privateatty on Apr 4, 2015 10:03:26 GMT -5
I got an e-mail from the Pittsburgh Office last month to interview in person and they would pay for my travel. When I told them I am in Europe they offered a Skype interview because the "agency does not have money to travel people from Europe.". With GSA City Pairs Fare my fair was cheaper than a lot of places in the Continental United States. Does anyone know if an Agency interviews candidates in person if they have to interview all of them in person if they are willing to travel? I turned down the Skype interview because anyone interviewing in that manner is not going to be on the same footing as those that interview in person, it is just a fact of life. From what I can gather here, you felt that you were at a disadvantage and thus declined an interview? I can't buy into this analysis for two reasons: one, you don't know how you would have done. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, not the beholden. Secondly, are you so confident that ODAR or OMHA or whomever will pick you up? If you are, power to you. I don't have to tell you that many high scorers were thrice struck or just passed over in the past. I hope you get hired, but I would never decline a trip to the plate. Having said that it is true that transfer opportunities are all but non-existant at DOL and if you can't stand Newport News, then I get it. Finally, I always shake my head when I see a declination. I can understand when you or a spouse don't want to live in a certain place, sorta. But this decision to be an ALJ or not to be can't be made with the same set of principles/prejudices/mind-set than any other legal job choice. Maybe for senior attorneys becoming ODAR Judges the transistion was not as stark, but for me it has been a totally different life and I mean totally--in a marvelous way. Look at me now, a Saturday morning, doing the laundry with n'er a care in the world--when I could be in the Office catching up on dictation or whatever and worrying about my receivables and depo schedules... |
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Post by HallmarkFan on Apr 4, 2015 10:58:39 GMT -5
Interesting. I live in Pgh and was invited to interview in Cincinnati. Want to trade?
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Funky, I think you are out of practice! 
