Reference checks

[counselor95]

How were they contacted? Phone, email, . . . ?
And how do those doing the reference checks identify themselves?

[counselor95]

Thanks, Chris, I ended up telling my references to expect anything!

[chieftain]

1200+ judges contacted before 400 candidates? That is pretty impressive work. The contractor must have tables of callers set up kind of like the Jerry Lewis telethon.

[kingfisher]

Mine was a quick 10 to 15 minute phone call from the "703" area code to my General Counsel ~ I was corporate attorney at the time. She was asked not to discuss the contents of the call but she did give me a thumbs up.

[chris]

chieftain said:

1200+ judges contacted before 400 candidates? That is pretty impressive work. The contractor must have tables of callers set up kind of like the Jerry Lewis telethon.

My guess is that it's the difference between private enterprise and the federal government.

[Waffle]

I was actually called by OPM as a listed reference for another ALJ applicant who appealed his composite score. This was about a month ago. I found it odd that they were calling the references of an individual who appealed his score.

[privateatty]

Is SSA going to "score" references (i.e., give brownie points for enthusiastic thumbs-ups) or is it just to weed out those unfortunates who didn't really know what these judges and references would say about them?

[deadwood]

Some of my judicial references have now been contacted.

[witz]

I have not seen or heard any further word that references were being contacted on the board since Deadwood’s entry of 12-21. Does anyone have any news on this front to offer ? I am not aware of any inquiries being made of my references.

It seemed like the inquiries may have been starting in December, but there was not any significant follow-up noted on the board once the Christmas/ New Year holidays commenced. Anyone else have news in this regard ?

Thanks

[southerner]

I have not heard back from any of the judges as to contact at this time, but would suspect the holidays would be difficult time to reach and the private entity contracted by SSA would recommence shortly.

[morgullord]

My judicial refrences have not been contacted as of 1/3/08 @ 9AM EDT. I am not concerned as I understand that the government moveth in mysterious ways.

[Propmaster]

I'm both a candidate who has not heard from any references that they have been contacted, and a reference for at least two other candidates (opposing counsels) and I have not been contacted. Perhaps they are completing the reference checks in interview schedule order? My interview is not until the 29th.

[kingfisher]

On January 10th, I was called by an investigator employed by Yale Investigators of New York, regarding an ALJ Candidate who had listed me as a judicial reference.

The questions were read to me and the investigator wrote down my answers verbatim. The questions pertained to topics such as character, integrity, skill as an advocate, knowledge of Social Security regulations and procedures. I was also asked for my opinion of whether this attorney would be a good ALJ and the basis for my response.

Two other judges in my office were contacted on that candidate as well. The investigator told me that she had a long list of calls to make, as did others in her location. So, it is clearly a long and difficult process and is still ongoing. Hang in there.

[nonamouse]

All of my ALJ references in my office were contacted early last week. They were called one after another on the same date.

[julie]

Like Morgullord, my interview is in the last week of January, and I am not worried about it - presume that the calls take time. As of today (1/14/08) none of my references have yet been contacted. Also, I was asked to provide contacts to confirm my resume work dating back 20 years (i.e., current-1988).

[southerner]

2 of my references were contacted so far today.

Make that 5 (1 USDC judge and 3 lawyers) and office director re employment confirmation.

Process is moving along. 3:32pm Central.

[testtaker]

Two of my references were contacted today. One was employment related.

[snowman]

Has there been a consistent time frame between being contacted by Omnisec and the time that references were contacted?

[Propmaster]

I was just contacted as a reference for an opposing counsel. The questions were much more in-depth than I expected.

I was pleased to hear that SSA seems to be counting familiarity with SSA law and procedures, given the intro to one of the questions.

[July]

The day after my interview, I returned to my office to find 2 messages from Yale Investigators of NY regarding 2 different candidates. Each message was from a different representative. I called the first one and answered questions pertaining to the topics referenced by Kingfisher. When I called the second representative, she told me that she no longer had the file for that candidate. The representative was nice enough to answer some questions. She said her supervisor had taken the file b/c she had successfully contacted a minimum of 7 references. At my urging, the representative did take down my cell phone in case the file was returned to her. The point is don't assume all of your references will be contacted. It seems their goal is no less than 7 but not necessarily all of the references listed. None of the 12 I listed have told me they were contacted yet.