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Post by valkyrie on Feb 12, 2016 14:40:31 GMT -5
I noticed a post stating that there is some hiring of older individuals for the ALJ positions. I am in my early 60s and have been a state judge for the past decade. Is there a possibility that the hiring individuals would have an interest in someone like me at my age? I always thought older individuals may have a more difficult time in the hiring process. They do not care about your age. You would be considered. I'll second that. I have firsthand knowledge of an ALJ hired at the irresponsibly young age of 87. He transferred locations soon after being hired so that he could to get closer to his girlfriend!
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Post by christina on Feb 12, 2016 14:48:09 GMT -5
They do not care about your age. You would be considered. I'll second that. I have firsthand knowledge of an ALJ hired at the irresponsibly young age of 87. He transferred locations soon after being hired so that he could to get closer to his girlfriend! lol!!! that's great!
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Post by gary on Feb 12, 2016 15:23:46 GMT -5
We are expecting a refresh to begin just over three years after they started the process that created this register. Based on that history, one might predict another refresh beginning in May 2019. New to some of the lingo, would that mean a new chance to apply in May 2019? Yes, and Prop may be right about greater frequency. I mainly wanted to counter the 2030 date some were bandying about with something based on historical practice.
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Post by litigator52 on Feb 12, 2016 18:34:23 GMT -5
Dam Valkyrie, you inspire me! --Lit 52
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Post by montyburns on Feb 12, 2016 20:19:13 GMT -5
hate to say it but i think you are SOL. i think you need the 7 years in by date application period closes The fellow above who stated it's now or not again until 2030 has me a bit worried! to be clear, I only meant your best chance would be now or in the near future. There is a lot of expansion now (well pressure for expansion anyway, see the above comments about aspirational hiring goals v. actual hiring) due to the boomer backlog, that demographically, looks unlikely to happen again in our lifetimes. Moreover, due to the freeze from 200-2007, a lot of ALJs were expected to leave/retire in the 2013-2020 timeframe. However, I was not saying they would not open the register again or refresh it between now and 2030. I apologize if it came across that way. Apparently I was wrong about the time from the opening to the first hire, it was more like 15 months, so that puts 2018 into play for the upcoming opening. They better extend this register again, if I get it on it only to have it expire within a year, I'll be nonplussed to say the least.
As for attrition, I can't dispute the 10% number because I have no data. I would be somewhat skeptical that it would keep up with this trend, given the relative lowering of the mean age of the recent hires, and the fact that no-one seems to retire (the expected mass retirement does not seem to have occurred), they just die. Of all the ALJs I've known to leave the ALJ corps (not overall many I admit) (as opposed to transfer out of ODAR), only one retired, the rest died.
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Post by jonsprag1 on Feb 12, 2016 21:31:00 GMT -5
ALJ attrition at ODAR has been pretty consistent at 10% per year for as long as I can remember, which is why it has been so painful for the agency when OPM doesn't do any hiring. The ALJ classes hired within the past 10 years are historically younger than past classes. That said, there has still been a number of new ALJs hired in their 60s and 70s, and the younger ALJs are typically more open to quickly transferring to other agencies, or leaving the ALJ gig all together. I do not foresee that 10% number changing significantly any time soon, and until the backlog is gone, ODAR will continue to be motivated to hire new ALJs to replace the attrition. yeah, i agree with Val
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Post by jonsprag1 on Feb 12, 2016 21:40:11 GMT -5
They do not care about your age. You would be considered. I'll second that. I have firsthand knowledge of an ALJ hired at the irresponsibly young age of 87. He transferred locations soon after being hired so that he could to get closer to his girlfriend! . I was hired in January 2015 with a start date of March 22. I was 61 years old. The other 3 judges who started with me were all in their 50s. In my new office the oldest alj is 77. He said the other day that he has 3 more years on the job. At my training class in falls church most of us were at least 50, although some were younger. Don't feel your age is a drawback
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Post by privateatty on Feb 13, 2016 9:11:45 GMT -5
I'll second that. I have firsthand knowledge of an ALJ hired at the irresponsibly young age of 87. He transferred locations soon after being hired so that he could to get closer to his girlfriend! . I was hired in January 2015 with a start date of March 22. I was 61 years old. The other 3 judges who started with me were all in their 50s. In my new office the oldest alj is 77. He said the other day that he has 3 more years on the job. At my training class in falls church most of us were at least 50, although some were younger. Don't feel your age is a drawback I know of one ALJ who died at 92. He was still doing his job until he retired and died four months later. Of course it all depends on the person. Many states, including my home one, mandates Judges retire at 70. You can bet your bottom dollar that the folks who passed this legislation were in their 40's and 50's and had contempt for an older boss along their career track who got it their ambitious way. I'm going to keep on reminding my younger and younger attorneys who The Black Panthers and The Beatles were--not to mention what it was like losing 400 young men/women in a week while in a very very contentious war. Kinda like Boomer Duty...
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Post by christina on Feb 13, 2016 9:34:19 GMT -5
. I was hired in January 2015 with a start date of March 22. I was 61 years old. The other 3 judges who started with me were all in their 50s. In my new office the oldest alj is 77. He said the other day that he has 3 more years on the job. At my training class in falls church most of us were at least 50, although some were younger. Don't feel your age is a drawback I know of one ALJ who died at 92. He was still doing his job until he retired and died four months later. Of course it all depends on the person. Many states, including my home one, mandates Judges retire at 70. You can bet your bottom dollar that the folks who passed this legislation were in their 40's and 50's and had contempt for an older boss along their career track who got it their ambitious way. I'm going to keep on reminding my younger and younger attorneys who The Black Panthers and The Beatles were--not to mention what it was like losing 400 young men/women in a week while in a very very contentious war. Kinda like Boomer Duty... i know of an ALJ who retired well into his 80's. Excellent ALJ. One of my role models on how to treat others and make the office fun despite tons of work.
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Post by lizdarcy on Feb 13, 2016 10:06:39 GMT -5
I know of an ALJ who was hired at 64. That was me.
I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and chillax. There will be hiring now and forever, as long as there are SSA ALJs. Two judges just retired in the HO where I have temporarily resided for the past few months. That will continue to happen everywhere.
to me, the question is how long the ALJ position will continue to exist. I see disturbing signs that the agency wants to deconstruct the ALJ job, hand over our bargaining unit work to non-APA "judges", change the title and make us into hearing officers under the control of the agency.
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Post by christina on Feb 13, 2016 10:38:46 GMT -5
I know of an ALJ who was hired at 64. That was me. I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and chillax. There will be hiring now and forever, as long as there are SSA ALJs. Two judges just retired in the HO where I have temporarily resided for the past few months. That will continue to happen everywhere. to me, the question is how long the ALJ position will continue to exist. I see disturbing signs that the agency wants to deconstruct the ALJ job, hand over our bargaining unit work to non-APA "judges", change the title and make us into hearing officers under the control of the agency. Agreed.... :/
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Post by Lawesome on Feb 13, 2016 10:43:24 GMT -5
We have an ALJ that said he plans on dying in the hearing room and jokes about having a home health nurse being hired to help care for him. Lol. We have another who is late 70s and several in their late 60s with no thoughts of retiring.
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Post by funkyodar on Feb 13, 2016 10:51:01 GMT -5
There is no way in Harligen I am dying at my desk (unless I check out way earlier than I am hoping and with no notice).
One of the primary reasons I left private practice and perhaps the best thing about gov employment is the retirement benefits. I mean, damn, name another employer in the modern Era that gives you both a guaranteed pension and a 401k.
I love the job, but first time I run the numbers and see eligibility for retirement benefits that meet my needs, Funk's going fishing. Forever.
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Post by gary on Feb 13, 2016 10:52:56 GMT -5
Not even if when you retire they let you take your desk out to Funky Pasture?
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Post by montyburns on Feb 13, 2016 11:02:26 GMT -5
I know of an ALJ who was hired at 64. That was me. I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and chillax. There will be hiring now and forever, as long as there are SSA ALJs. Two judges just retired in the HO where I have temporarily resided for the past few months. That will continue to happen everywhere. to me, the question is how long the ALJ position will continue to exist. I see disturbing signs that the agency wants to deconstruct the ALJ job, hand over our bargaining unit work to non-APA "judges", change the title and make us into hearing officers under the control of the agency. Well I was all chillaxed.... Then I read your last sentence, and it totes harshed my mellow
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Post by phoenixrakkasan on Feb 13, 2016 11:47:26 GMT -5
I know of an ALJ who was hired at 64. That was me. I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and chillax. There will be hiring now and forever, as long as there are SSA ALJs. Two judges just retired in the HO where I have temporarily resided for the past few months. That will continue to happen everywhere. to me, the question is how long the ALJ position will continue to exist. I see disturbing signs that the agency wants to deconstruct the ALJ job, hand over our bargaining unit work to non-APA "judges", change the title and make us into hearing officers under the control of the agency. I do not think that is what the Agency is trying to do. Although they may be making mistakes, it does not follow that they are to get the ALJs.
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Post by privateatty on Feb 13, 2016 12:05:55 GMT -5
I know of an ALJ who was hired at 64. That was me. I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and chillax. There will be hiring now and forever, as long as there are SSA ALJs. Two judges just retired in the HO where I have temporarily resided for the past few months. That will continue to happen everywhere. to me, the question is how long the ALJ position will continue to exist. I see disturbing signs that the agency wants to deconstruct the ALJ job, hand over our bargaining unit work to non-APA "judges", change the title and make us into hearing officers under the control of the agency. Let's assume that you are 100% correct and that's what ODAR wants to do. Puzzle Palace will have a ton of bricks fall on them. Hasn't everyone seen the firestorm over at SEC regarding allegations that their ALJs are essentially Agency hacks? While we all know that that is not true and that there are other forces at work, the concern about due process is what needs to be addressed. Two inescapable facts: one, ODAR's appellants are the most vulnerable with the least political clout and two, they supply 95% of the Judges in the system--including those folks where real money and political whathaveyou exist like at SEC, Interior, FERC, NLRB, etc. As such, we all need Puzzle Palace to ensure that the ALJ Corps is alive and well and they need to be mindful not only of their fantasies but the inescapable truth that thousands of Agency litigants need them to keep the ALJ Program "healthy".
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Post by mercury on Feb 13, 2016 12:57:03 GMT -5
I don't see SSA doing away with ALJs anytime soon. Even if they could replace them with AJs, the APA gives the agency cover in district court.
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Post by sealaw90 on Feb 13, 2016 14:27:39 GMT -5
I don't see SSA doing away with ALJs anytime soon. Even if they could replace them with AJs, the APA gives the agency cover in district court. Merc, what do you mean that the APA gives the agency cover in DC? The APA is not about giving anything to an agency, it's about giving protection to the citizenry being impacted by federal programs (euphemistically said about programs)
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Post by mercury on Feb 13, 2016 15:24:01 GMT -5
It's just speculation on my part, but I think a certain type of case could be brought involving agency control of AJs that wouldn't be made while we use ALJs.
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