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Post by Gaidin on Sept 2, 2015 18:05:48 GMT -5
I received a pm earlier from a forum regular who had an occasion to talk to someone who would know. According to them the person who would know indicated OPM will soon allow a GAL expansion. This person didn't know how soon "soon" was. But I needed the good news and thought a lot of you would as well.
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Post by mch135 on Sept 2, 2015 18:10:12 GMT -5
Finally some positive news!! I'm one of those outsiders who had no clue how important a GAL was and only chose 7 cities. I have a high score and have made every cert but never for more than 3 cities. I have been hoping they'd do this.
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Post by wingnut on Sept 2, 2015 18:18:12 GMT -5
Interesting...
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Post by wingnut on Sept 2, 2015 18:56:59 GMT -5
OK, I can't help it. I just noticed I am now a Senior Member. Therefore, my occasional memory lapses must be weighed against my awesome wisdom and great experience.
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Post by mch135 on Sept 2, 2015 18:59:52 GMT -5
OK, I can't help it. I just noticed I am now a Senior Member. Therefore, my occasional memory lapses must be weighed against my awesome wisdom and great experience. And your uncanny ability to make calls happen when you take a break lol |
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paattorney
Full Member
One year anniversary. Wow.
Posts: 46 
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Post by paattorney on Sept 2, 2015 21:12:22 GMT -5
Thanks, Galdin, for the info. I am in the same boat as mch135, except with even fewer cities. This cert was my first. A GAL expansion would be great. I think it would be logical for them to have the expansion occur in December when they (hopefully) extend the register. That is my hypothesis as to what shall occur.
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Post by litig8tor on Sept 2, 2015 21:23:18 GMT -5
Finally some positive news!! I'm one of those outsiders who had no clue how important a GAL was and only chose 7 cities. I have a high score and have made every cert but never for more than 3 cities. I have been hoping they'd do this. I'm in a position similar to yours, but even worse. High score and only 4 SSA cities. This round was my first cert and only for 1 city. Bring on the GAL expansion please! |
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Post by gary on Sept 2, 2015 21:27:09 GMT -5
Thanks, Galdin, for the info. I am in the same boat as mch135, except with even fewer cities. This cert was my first. A GAL expansion would be great. I think it would be logical for them to have the expansion occur in December when they (hopefully) extend the register. That is my hypothesis as to what shall occur. Based on the 2013 experience, I think they won't add the big group until March or later. The handful who have been testing recently may be scored and many of them may be added to the register before the end of the CY. I agree it would make sense for OPM to do the GAL modification period after they add all the newbies to the register. I hope, however, they do it sooner. |
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paattorney
Full Member
One year anniversary. Wow.
Posts: 46
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Post by paattorney on Sept 2, 2015 21:57:54 GMT -5
Thanks, Galdin, for the info. I am in the same boat as mch135, except with even fewer cities. This cert was my first. A GAL expansion would be great. I think it would be logical for them to have the expansion occur in December when they (hopefully) extend the register. That is my hypothesis as to what shall occur. Based on the 2013 experience, I think they won't add the big group until March or later. The handful who have been testing recently may be scored and many of them may be added to the register before the end of the CY. I agree it would make sense for OPM to do the GAL modification period after they add all the newbies to the register. I hope, however, they do it sooner. March or later?  That is not "soon" in my opinion. I think it would be more fair to let us expand our GALs before adding newbies. I know. I know. Nothing about the process is fair. But, I can dream, can't I? |
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Post by gary on Sept 2, 2015 22:02:48 GMT -5
Based on the 2013 experience, I think they won't add the big group until March or later. The handful who have been testing recently may be scored and many of them may be added to the register before the end of the CY. I agree it would make sense for OPM to do the GAL modification period after they add all the newbies to the register. I hope, however, they do it sooner. March or later? That is not "soon" in my opinion. I think it would be more fair to let us expand our GALs before adding newbies. I know. I know. Nothing about the process is fair. But, I can dream, can't I? The "soon" part makes me hopeful the GAL expansion may come sooner. But OPM always takes longer than I expect them to for everything. |
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Post by 71stretch on Sept 2, 2015 22:49:49 GMT -5
Thanks, Galdin, for the info. I am in the same boat as mch135, except with even fewer cities. This cert was my first. A GAL expansion would be great. I think it would be logical for them to have the expansion occur in December when they (hopefully) extend the register. That is my hypothesis as to what shall occur. It doesn't have to occur when the register is extended. The two things really have nothing to do with each other. |
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paattorney
Full Member
One year anniversary. Wow.
Posts: 46
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Post by paattorney on Sept 3, 2015 5:55:15 GMT -5
Thanks, Galdin, for the info. I am in the same boat as mch135, except with even fewer cities. This cert was my first. A GAL expansion would be great. I think it would be logical for them to have the expansion occur in December when they (hopefully) extend the register. That is my hypothesis as to what shall occur. It doesn't have to occur when the register is extended. The two things really have nothing to do with each other. I recognize that it doesn't HAVE to occur at the same time. It just makes sense to me for OPM to send out both notifications at the same time. We KNOW that the register is either coming to an end (probably not) or being extended in December. The GAL expansion is supposed to be "soon." December is soon. |
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Post by saaao on Sept 3, 2015 5:58:57 GMT -5
It doesn't have to occur when the register is extended. The two things really have nothing to do with each other. I recognize that it doesn't HAVE to occur at the same time. It just makes sense to me for OPM to send out both notifications at the same time. We KNOW that the register is either coming to an end (probably not) or being extended in December. The GAL expansion is supposed to be "soon." December is soon. Unless a miracle occurs and a budget is agreed to I don't think there will be hiring money until January (at the earliest) anyway, so December is probably a good bet. |
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Post by curiousga on Sept 3, 2015 6:10:59 GMT -5
Finally some positive news!! I'm one of those outsiders who had no clue how important a GAL was and only chose 7 cities. I have a high score and have made every cert but never for more than 3 cities. I have been hoping they'd do this. Have hope. I was in the same boat. Only 8 cities and all within two hours of one metro area. I never saw 3 choices. All my certs had one or two cities and I still got the call. It can happen. |
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Post by saaao on Sept 3, 2015 6:35:31 GMT -5
I am in the same boat as mch135, but I am in the large group that will start testing soon. Since we will likely not get our results to March, if the GAL expansion occurs in December would it apply to us as well? Do you actually have to be on the Cert to make changes in you GAL selections? That's probably an OPM help desk question. They have only done this once before and there was no testing going on at that time. Uncharted territory and all that. Short answer is it probably doesn't hurt to ask. |
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Post by ibnlurkin on Sept 3, 2015 6:36:09 GMT -5
That's a great question
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Post by gary on Sept 3, 2015 7:19:51 GMT -5
1. OPM would need to have a whole new register ready to put in place to end this register in December. They haven't taken the first step toward doing this.
2. Testing the 1,000 or more (my estimate) they're currently scheduling to come to DC would make no sense if OPM was about to end the register.
3. This register will not be ended in December.
4. Everyone who is on the register and everyone who is testing--except for a small number of vets--selected their GALs in March of 2013. I can't see OPM letting those currently on the register modify their GALs and not allowing those who will be coming onto the register "soon" the same opportunity.
5. I see 3 ways they could do this:
A. They could let everybody make changes at some time before the big group received scores. This would have the potential advantage of making more people available for some unpopular locations at the time they most need more candidates for those locations. It would have the disadvantage of requiring OPM to deal with the GAL changes of a large number of people who ultimately don't land on the register.
B. They could hold off expanding GALs for everyone until they've put the successful new testees on the register. The advantage of this is they do not waste effort on expanding the GALs of people who don't make the register. The disadvantage is they don't get the boost in number of candidates for unpopular locations when they most need that boost, which is before they add several hundred to the register.
C. They could do it in two groups--allow GAL modification now (or soon) for those on the register and allow GAL modification for the new testees who make it after they are on the register. This would have the advantages of getting the boost in candidate availability when they are hurting for candidates to put on lists of eligibles for unpopular places and not wasting time on the GALs of testees who don't make the register. The disadvantage is OPM would have to do two GAL expansions rather than one.
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Post by mch135 on Sept 3, 2015 8:13:03 GMT -5
1. OPM would need to have a whole new register ready to put in place to end this register in December. They haven't taken the first step toward doing this. 2. Testing the 1,000 or more (my estimate) they're currently scheduling to come to DC would make no sense if OPM was about to end the register. 3. This register will not be ended in December. 4. Everyone who is on the register and everyone who is testing--except for a small number of vets--selected their GALs in March of 2013. I can't see OPM letting those currently on the register modify their GALs and not allowing those who will be coming onto the register "soon" the same opportunity. 5. I see 3 ways they could do this: A. They could let everybody make changes at some time before the big group received scores. This would have the potential advantage of making more people available for some unpopular locations at the time they most need more candidates for those locations. It would have the disadvantage of requiring OPM to deal with the GAL changes of a large number of people who ultimately don't land on the register. B. They could hold off expanding GALs for everyone until they've put the successful new testees on the register. The advantage of this is they do not waste effort on expanding the GALs of people who don't make the register. The disadvantage is they don't get the boost in number of candidates for unpopular locations when they most need that boost, which is before they add several hundred to the register. C. They could do it in two groups--allow GAL modification now (or soon) for those on the register and allow GAL modification for the new testees who make it after they are on the register. This would have the advantages of getting the boost in candidate availability when they are hurting for candidates to put on lists of eligibles for unpopular places and not wasting time on the GALs of testees who don't make the register. The disadvantage is OPM would have to do two GAL expansions rather than one. For selfish reasons, I really hope they go with your option C, but I can see them waiting until they are ready to add to the register and having everyone do it at once. |
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Post by 71stretch on Sept 3, 2015 8:28:20 GMT -5
I am in the same boat as mch135, but I am in the large group that will start testing soon. Since we will likely not get our results to March, if the GAL expansion occurs in December would it apply to us as well? Do you actually have to be on the Cert to make changes in you GAL selections? I think you have to be on the register (not "the Cert") for the expansion to apply, but no harm in asking OPM. |
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Post by robespierre on Sept 3, 2015 10:47:54 GMT -5
If you made it onto a cert and declined at that time to be considered for a city on your GAL, can you add that city back as part of a GAL expansion?
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That is not "soon" in my opinion. I think it would be more fair to let us expand our GALs before adding newbies. I know. I know. Nothing about the process is fair. But, I can dream, can't I?
