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Post by Gaidin on Mar 16, 2014 21:44:30 GMT -5
In my opinion a person in the funkmeisters situation is almost assured on the first cert b/c of the wide open GAL. As has been stated many times, GAL is crucial and the poll stats (20% 3 or fewer and 43% 20 or fewer) is telling. Of course there are hundreds that didn't partake in the poll, but that includes many who don't know about the forum or the vast amount of info on the forum. Of those who don't know about th forum, I have to believe those individuals (in general) are not as knowledgeable about the importance of an extensive GAL. On September 14, 2014 Funky reported the following info. "A more perplexing issue regarding gals presented during a few conversations I had with other candidates at testing. One guy told me he was hoping to be an epa alj and would not consider ssa at all. Yet when I asked about his gal he told me he only gave his home city and a neighboring city. Neither is a locale that even has an epa alj office. Another told me he only wanted to be a judge for the VA. I didn't have the heart to tell him the VA doesn't hire from the register or even use aljs per se."I know when I sat down and submitted my application materials I was ignorant as heck about this process and since I didn't find out about the listing until the night before it was due I really didn't have time to do research. I would have to look back to my first post to see when I found this board but it is my belief that there are a ton of people who will be deeply disappointed when they find out that the job as ALJ at OSHA isn't going to happen and the only opportunity they ever get to participate in a cert is for SSA. Or they put down the two cities closest to home because they thought they would be hiring ALJs in those cities but those two cities are on the beach in Florida.
I would have put almost all of the cities on my GAL had I known. As it is I put a fairly large number. Unfortunately, for a lot of people they didn't have this board for guidance and they didn't really understand what they were applying for. Those folks with a wide open GAL will have a great opportunity this time around that has historically been absent because of the nature of the posting this time around.
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Post by JudgeRatty on Mar 16, 2014 21:51:39 GMT -5
In my opinion a person in the funkmeisters situation is almost assured on the first cert b/c of the wide open GAL. As has been stated many times, GAL is crucial and the poll stats (20% 3 or fewer and 43% 20 or fewer) is telling. Of course there are hundreds that didn't partake in the poll, but that includes many who don't know about the forum or the vast amount of info on the forum. Of those who don't know about th forum, I have to believe those individuals (in general) are not as knowledgeable about the importance of an extensive GAL. On September 14, 2014 Funky reported the following info. "A more perplexing issue regarding gals presented during a few conversations I had with other candidates at testing. One guy told me he was hoping to be an epa alj and would not consider ssa at all. Yet when I asked about his gal he told me he only gave his home city and a neighboring city. Neither is a locale that even has an epa alj office. Another told me he only wanted to be a judge for the VA. I didn't have the heart to tell him the VA doesn't hire from the register or even use aljs per se."I know when I sat down and submitted my application materials I was ignorant as heck about this process and since I didn't find out about the listing until the night before it was due I really didn't have time to do research. I would have to look back to my first post to see when I found this board but it is my belief that there are a ton of people who will be deeply disappointed when they find out that the job as ALJ at OSHA isn't going to happen and the only opportunity they ever get to participate in a cert is for SSA. Or they put down the two cities closest to home because they thought they would be hiring ALJs in those cities but those two cities are on the beach in Florida.
I would have put almost all of the cities on my GAL had I known. As it is I put a fairly large number. Unfortunately, for a lot of people they didn't have this board for guidance and they didn't really understand what they were applying for. Those folks with a wide open GAL will have a great opportunity this time around that has historically been absent because of the nature of the posting this time around.Exactly. There is a lot to be said for research! When I was thinking about this job about 10 years ago I had no idea as compared to now. In about 2009 or so I became serious about it and started the quest but it wasn't until about 2011 that I found this board. I didn't register until even later. But just from lurking I realized the key was a wide open GAL. Start there and narrow later IF you must.
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Post by FlaTreeFarm on Mar 16, 2014 22:13:45 GMT -5
Great points! I have learned a lot since following this board, but only after the GAL decision was made. If these anecdotes indicate a trend, this smaller register might not support as many certs as we might be thinking, especially with the anticipated increased hiring. Maybe some of us can hope the one-time refresh story may be repeated at some point. That would certainly be better than starting over again next time, even with greater knowledge!
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Post by westernalj on Mar 16, 2014 22:15:09 GMT -5
I don't see how the high 3 rule can apply to getting on the cert. Again, any 3 high scorers with open GALs would be the high three for most openings. And I haven't seen anyone say that OPM moves through the locations list in the way SSA does, eliminating the winners of prior locations. Or am I missing something?
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Post by FlaTreeFarm on Mar 16, 2014 22:26:17 GMT -5
They must consider each candidate can only fill one vacancy and move down the list. Otherwise there might be a cert with only three names on it!
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Post by 71stretch on Mar 16, 2014 22:33:33 GMT -5
OPm basically gives them a different three people for each city/location on the cert, so each person only gets used once by OPM. Once SSA/ODAR starts making selections, a lot of people never actually make it onto the top three board for any city, they are just "filler"....but that does not count as a strike. You have to get "bona fide consideration" and not be selected in order to count as a strike.
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Post by westernalj on Mar 16, 2014 22:56:41 GMT -5
Thanks observer. That makes sense to me. I don't see how they would pull 3x the number of openings any other way.
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Post by dpageks on Mar 17, 2014 1:15:12 GMT -5
Doesn't OPM pull names from the register based simply on the criteria of the agency requesting the cert? What would keep SSA from also requesting the names of all persons on the register that received better than an 80? Is there a Federal Regulation that prohibits them from so doing?
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Post by 71stretch on Mar 17, 2014 7:33:19 GMT -5
Doesn't OPM pull names from the register based simply on the criteria of the agency requesting the cert? What would keep SSA from also requesting the names of all persons on the register that received better than an 80? Is there a Federal Regulation that prohibits them from so doing? I can't cite you any of the regulations, but the only "criteria" that have been used in the recent past are city locations on GAL, and, from Feb 2012 through the end of the old register, sending OPM a list of their three struck candidates and asking that they be left off the list. There are lots of scores of 80 or above with small GAL lists. SSA can't hire, under the regulations, someone with a high score who has said they will only go to cities that SSA doesn't happen to be hiring in-they can't be placed on that cert.
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Post by chessparent on Mar 17, 2014 12:27:46 GMT -5
Does the agency interview typically involve an overnight stay? Or do they usually fly you in and out the same day?
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Post by 71stretch on Mar 17, 2014 13:03:44 GMT -5
Does the agency interview typically involve an overnight stay? Or do they usually fly you in and out the same day? It depends on how far you are traveling, and what your scheduled interview time is, but for a lot of people, one night is paid. I actually was approved to stay two nights, which was a relative rarity. One night is certainly not unusual.
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Post by northbend on Mar 17, 2014 14:58:30 GMT -5
Does a poll already exist about how many locations we all listed on our GAL? If not, I'd be grateful if someone would create one... Thanks.
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Post by 71stretch on Mar 17, 2014 15:06:15 GMT -5
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Post by aljwishful on Mar 17, 2014 21:23:22 GMT -5
It depends on where you live. When I was interviewed three years ago I could not get an overnight because I live on the Eastcoast. I heard that a candidate from Chicago was also told that he/she had to do everything in one day. My interview was in the afternoon. The candidates who stayed over had their interviews in the morning. I thought this was outrageous so I came down on the train the day before and stayed over on my dime. Since this was in March I was also concerned about the weather. SSA does pay for your transportaion and you make the reservations with their agency. Good luck!
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Post by chessparent on Mar 17, 2014 21:28:31 GMT -5
Thanks wishful. That's kind of what I was thinking also. If I get an interview in the afternoon, it could be done in a day from my locale. I'm trying to figure out how I can wriggle out of two days of work and parenting
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Post by 71stretch on Mar 17, 2014 22:23:04 GMT -5
It depends on where you live. When I was interviewed three years ago I could not get an overnight because I live on the Eastcoast. I heard that a candidate from Chicago was also told that he/she had to do everything in one day. My interview was in the afternoon. The candidates who stayed over had their interviews in the morning. I thought this was outrageous so I came down on the train the day before and stayed over on my dime. Since this was in March I was also concerned about the weather. SSA does pay for your transportaion and you make the reservations with their agency. Good luck! I ended up with two nights as I was coming from the far west and had an afternoon interview. I could not have made it in time traveling the same day if I'd gone to the interview straight from the airport. Flew out very early the next morning.
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Post by MoStateALJ on Mar 18, 2014 21:08:47 GMT -5
Excellent points max. Many of us have passed the time fantasizing about having to cancel vacations due to training etc. This is clear pre-hatch chicken computation and dyslexic cart/horse placement. But its fun. In that tradition, here is my latest go: Odar is reportedly chomping at the bit to hire so I think closely matching the previously reported fastest reg to cert time is a good bet. So lets say first cert out within two weeks of last friday or March 28. Rounded up to middle of April for the return of references and the like. Interviews in May and from past practices it looks like 5 or 6 weeks of that. Lets say mid june for end of interviews, reference calls and background checks. Past practices point to maybe a month from then till offers go ot to the lucky few so say mid july. Its been reported on here that the average time lapse between offer and start date is 3 weeks but this will likely be staggered. A 90 person class is too large for training so they will likely cut it in half and stagger starts. The first group prolly start first of august. You spend two weeks at new duty station then 4 weeks in FC for training. So the first group could be trained by mid september. the second group could start at first of september (doing their initial 2 weeks at their duty station while the first group is doing their last two weeks in FC) and finish training in mid october. The biggest concern is gettin the hire done before the end of fiscal 14 on september 30. Training can come after. I had heard though that the hope was to get the first hires actually trained and in place by end of fiscal 14 so they could hurry up and do a second round early in 15. Not sure that would be possible now, but they could hit the accelerator and make it happen.
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Post by MoStateALJ on Mar 18, 2014 21:16:08 GMT -5
I got a score but am not expecting to make the first cert. if I do, however, I already have a vacation planned and paid for during the first week of June. I have bought plane tickets for 6 and the vacation house rental is non-refundable. Do I have any options if I am invited to interview that week? Is it interview when assigned or lose out and not get an interview, or is it like the Washington, D.C. testing and thus an applicant has one chance to reschedule?
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Post by MoStateALJ on Mar 18, 2014 21:20:53 GMT -5
I got a score but am not expecting to make the first cert. if I do, however, I already have a vacation planned and paid for during the first week of June. I have bought plane tickets for 6 and the vacation house rental is non-refundable. Do I have any options if I am invited to interview that week? Is it interview when assigned or lose out and not get an interviewe, or is it like the Washington, D.C. testing and thus an applicant has one chance to reschedule? They will work with you, but I believe there are only a few days from which to choose since those are the days in which the interviewers are available. Thanks for info.
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Post by 71stretch on Mar 18, 2014 22:35:37 GMT -5
I got a score but am not expecting to make the first cert. if I do, however, I already have a vacation planned and paid for during the first week of June. I have bought plane tickets for 6 and the vacation house rental is non-refundable. Do I have any options if I am invited to interview that week? Is it interview when assigned or lose out and not get an interview, or is it like the Washington, D.C. testing and thus an applicant has one chance to reschedule? If they interview everyone on the cert, including those interviewed on the last register, it may well take more than one week. They will probably be able to work with you if they have a broader span of time to work with. Or, if you are lucky, the interviews won't conflict at all. If they move quickly on the cert, they could happen sooner than that.
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