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Post by gary on Sept 22, 2015 12:38:00 GMT -5
I agree. It's too soon for new polls. As of yet, it is not clear whether SSA is hiring a last couple before asking for new certs or is beginning a full on January hire.
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Post by owl on Sept 22, 2015 13:36:46 GMT -5
In the absence of polling data, I will go into complete and utter speculation mode.
At this point, we know of 2 let's-call-them-auxiliary hires to the late August/early September round of hiring calls.
One (Orland Park) tells us he/she is nonvet. That means he/she did not drop in through quarterly testing/retesting but has had a NOR since Mar. 2014. Orland Park is probably a fairly high-competition office given its proximity to Chicago, and very few hires have been made into Orland Park so far I think. So anyone hired for Orland at this point probably still has a fairly high score. This person, an outsider, was given a January start date.
The other (presumably for a Mountain time zone city, and I think the ones in play were Albuquerque, Billings, Denver, and Salt Lake), going by past posts, is an insider (vet status unknown) who was on the first set of certs (interviewed with SSA in June 2014), so clearly had a high score. Denver undoubtedly is a high-competition office, probably followed by SLC, ABQ, and Billings in that order. This person was given the start of the next upcoming pay period as a start date.
I think SSA has decided to take a second look at some high scorers for some high-competition offices. If they are outsiders, they are getting a January report date, and insiders without practices to wind up and who don't need the whole 3-week acclimation period before going to training are being asked to report at the start of the next pay period and they will get one week in the office before going to Falls Church.
Remember that every hire, in a sense, has the potential to kill 3 birds with one stone from SSA's viewpoint. SSA fills a position and 2 people get strikes (discretionary, but still), and applying strikes can open up paths to more hires. I think what SSA is doing now is both hiring people that it has decided it wants and preparing the field for a larger January hire so they are not again stuck hiring 30-35 people when they claim to want 75-90.
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Post by christina on Sept 22, 2015 13:39:59 GMT -5
In the absence of polling data, I will go into complete and utter speculation mode. All right!!!! it is what WE do best!!!!! actually Owl, now that i read your post, everything makes a lot of sense.
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Post by Gaidin on Sept 22, 2015 13:46:52 GMT -5
I got a pm earlier from someone who had heard from Bob today.
They will be hiring more people for January, but that won't be until later this year.
I am not sure how all this fits together but I SWAG that @owl is pretty spot on.
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Post by wingnut on Sept 22, 2015 13:53:18 GMT -5
Also, if the GAL expansion takes place "soon," there will be time for people to interview before offers go out at the end of December.
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Post by beenlurking on Sept 22, 2015 14:05:52 GMT -5
In the absence of polling data, I will go into complete and utter speculation mode. At this point, we know of 2 let's-call-them-auxiliary hires to the late August/early September round of hiring calls. One (Orland Park) tells us he/she is nonvet. That means he/she did not drop in through quarterly testing/retesting but has had a NOR since Mar. 2014. Orland Park is probably a fairly high-competition office given its proximity to Chicago, and very few hires have been made into Orland Park so far I think. So anyone hired for Orland at this point probably still has a fairly high score. This person, an outsider, was given a January start date. The other (presumably for a Mountain time zone city, and I think the ones in play were Albuquerque, Billings, Denver, and Salt Lake), going by past posts, is an insider (vet status unknown) who was on the first set of certs (interviewed with SSA in June 2014), so clearly had a high score. Denver undoubtedly is a high-competition office, probably followed by SLC, ABQ, and Billings in that order. This person was given the start of the next upcoming pay period as a start date. I think SSA has decided to take a second look at some high scorers for some high-competition offices. If they are outsiders, they are getting a January report date, and insiders without practices to wind up and who don't need the whole 3-week acclimation period before going to training are being asked to report at the start of the next pay period and they will get one week in the office before going to Falls Church. Remember that every hire, in a sense, has the potential to kill 3 birds with one stone from SSA's viewpoint. SSA fills a position and 2 people get strikes (discretionary, but still), and applying strikes can open up paths to more hires. I think what SSA is doing now is both hiring people that it has decided it wants and preparing the field for a larger January hire so they are not again stuck hiring 30-35 people when they claim to want 75-90. I think owl is spot on with his assessment.
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Post by bookman on Sept 23, 2015 16:58:58 GMT -5
In the absence of polling data, I will go into complete and utter speculation mode. At this point, we know of 2 let's-call-them-auxiliary hires to the late August/early September round of hiring calls. One (Orland Park) tells us he/she is nonvet. That means he/she did not drop in through quarterly testing/retesting but has had a NOR since Mar. 2014. Orland Park is probably a fairly high-competition office given its proximity to Chicago, and very few hires have been made into Orland Park so far I think. So anyone hired for Orland at this point probably still has a fairly high score. This person, an outsider, was given a January start date. The other (presumably for a Mountain time zone city, and I think the ones in play were Albuquerque, Billings, Denver, and Salt Lake), going by past posts, is an insider (vet status unknown) who was on the first set of certs (interviewed with SSA in June 2014), so clearly had a high score. Denver undoubtedly is a high-competition office, probably followed by SLC, ABQ, and Billings in that order. This person was given the start of the next upcoming pay period as a start date. I think SSA has decided to take a second look at some high scorers for some high-competition offices. If they are outsiders, they are getting a January report date, and insiders without practices to wind up and who don't need the whole 3-week acclimation period before going to training are being asked to report at the start of the next pay period and they will get one week in the office before going to Falls Church. Remember that every hire, in a sense, has the potential to kill 3 birds with one stone from SSA's viewpoint. SSA fills a position and 2 people get strikes (discretionary, but still), and applying strikes can open up paths to more hires. I think what SSA is doing now is both hiring people that it has decided it wants and preparing the field for a larger January hire so they are not again stuck hiring 30-35 people when they claim to want 75-90. That is some mighty fine speculation I hope you are correct ! Cheered me up a little...
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Post by saaao on Sept 23, 2015 17:48:57 GMT -5
I got a pm earlier from someone who had heard from Bob today. They will be hiring more people for January, but that won't be until later this year. I am not sure how all this fits together but I SWAG that @owl is pretty spot on. Congratulations to all the late hires! Strange things happening behind the curtain apparently. As far as later in the year goes... well shut down talk is getting a bit more serious. The White House has directed the executive branch to start shutdown preparations. www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/09/22/white-house-starts-shutdown-ball-rolling/You might say we have gone to DEFCON 4 to DEFCON 3* with very little time left on the clock. They probably don't have a clear idea of when they can resume hiring. * As the numbers get lower, the DEFCON (i.e. Defense Readiness Condition) gets more serious. DEFCON 5 is world peace and is largely theoretical. DEFCON 1 is all out war with nuclear release. That doesn't have anything to do with anything we talk about here. It just drives me crazy when some one talks about getting angry and going to "DEFCON 5" on somebody. What they are actually saying is that they had achieved a sense of peace akin to Zen Nirvana, and passed that sense of peace on to their adversary. The more you know....
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Post by privateatty on Sept 23, 2015 19:12:58 GMT -5
I can't worry about crap I have no control over--shutdowns, stolen fingerprints and in the past after I gave it my best shots, OPM and Puzzle Palace. You give up a lot of freedom when you become an ALJ. No more letters to the Editor, political posturing and you have to conform to a stricter pattern of behavior. On the other hand, you gain a lot more freedom of finance, professional worry and just plain 'ol peace of mind. Every time Congress shuts down the government those same folks have got to stand for re-election. At the very least they have to press a lot of flesh they'd rather not. Me, I know my check is in the mail as long as I can make it in. Makes me smile just typing this.
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Post by shoocat on Sept 24, 2015 14:37:01 GMT -5
Can anyone give me any advice regarding good areas of Columbia, SC in which to live?
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Post by carrickfergus on Sept 24, 2015 14:53:23 GMT -5
Shoocat, Check your PM
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Post by peach66 on Oct 8, 2015 17:09:03 GMT -5
Did any new hires out there look at paystubs today and have heart failure because there was no deduction for family insurance? Anybody know who to call about determining if you have coverage or not?
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Post by christina on Oct 8, 2015 17:35:52 GMT -5
talk to your local managers. They can see what is going on and if needed, get you in touch with the correct person, who is probably in Regional. i would suggest your HOD first and HOCALJ second.
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Post by lizdarcy on Oct 8, 2015 21:50:11 GMT -5
Or you can ask Bob. He answered many questions for me about insurance plans. Since he never reads the board, he won't know I sicced you on him.
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Post by ba on Oct 9, 2015 6:29:34 GMT -5
Or you can ask Bob. He answered many questions for me about insurance plans. Since he never reads the board, he won't know I sicced you on him. I also had questions about insurance plans answered by personnel (Bob and Mellinda). If it is outside their ballywick, they will let you know where to go.
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