Be Careful What You Wish For

[tootsie]

Well, I guess it would depend on the weather. I wouldn't want anything too "heavy" - (Dustin Hoffman played it just about right) -

[testtaker]

morgullord said:

I hate to inject an element of dissention here but "doing the right thing" is not the standard, unless by "doing the right thing" you are adhering to SSA's laws and regulations.

I'm not sure what post this was referencing, but I looked at my last post where I said, " I think I can do so even when the Claimant seems worthy but his/her case does not show a "disability" or is technically deficient. " What I meant was that I wouldn't have a problem denying a claim if it did not meet the Commissioner's rules and regs showing a disability, no matter how much of a sad sack the claimant was. I did not mean to imply that I'd approve it.

[regalzr7]

This thread does bring one down to earth a bit. I was discussing the application with one of our local aljs. A very nice, smart and efficient alj. She has moved from office to office in the past several years. She opined that this was not a very good time to be joining the alj corps and overall did not seem very happy with the job itself. It was a bit sobering.

[jagghagg]

regalzr7 said:

She opined that this was not a very good time to be joining the alj corps and overall did not seem very happy with the job itself. It was a bit sobering.

Terrestrial is good.
Did she have any specifics as to WHY she is unhappy ?
I think that a step back from the "I-GOTTA-have-this-job" and an examination of why might be in order for everyone.

[barkley]

Over the past few years, OHA/ODAR has made several efforts to increase the productivity of the staff. PUT training with the state, elimination of recon in some states, the Adjudication Officer pilot, staffing realignments, various senior attorney programs, the failed FedRO, pushes in technology - nothing has adequately addressed SSAs inability to meet the demands of an ever increasing workload due to our aging population and decreasing staff levels. There is not enough staff to support the current ALJ level - with the hiring of more ALJs, the staffing deficits are going to be even worse.

Through all of that, the ALJs have been fairly insulated. In more recent years, it seems like (at least to a staff person) that management is taking a much closer look at the ALJ corp's part in the process. E-files and the use of video/long distance hearings have been marketed as the answer to SSA's problem; both technologies demand an unprecedented degree of computer literacy on the part of ALJs. While ALJs have always had "goals" it seems like SSA is really getting serious about goals being met, with teams being sent to "help" ALJs who are not achieving in the window of expectation. There is increased pressure for ALJs to hear raw cases that have not been put into order by a clerk. There is pressure for ALJs to issue bench decisions, requiring the ALJ to read specific findings into the record rather than have a writer document the decision. Even last summer's decision to require ALJs to have current law licenses could be interpreted as hostile to someone who has been in the business a long time.

Don't get me wrong - the ALJ job is a great job. But the work environment is changing and will likely get worse before it gets better.

[yogibear]

Barkley, I think you nailed it. Yogi

[nightowl]

After reading these posts, I can't help but laugh. You see, I work for a state agency, and if you heard some of my co-workers talk about the agency, you would think it is a horrible place to work. I know better. It's the best job I have had so far. There will always be pressure on the ALJs to render a final adjudication. The ALJ is the last step in the process. It's the nature of the business. The management at my agency hands down policies all the time about adjudicating cases without consulting the ALJs. If you are knowledgeable and productive, you have nothing to worry about.

[zero]

I would be interested in learning what experience goodolboy has that makes him offer this warning. Also, he only has a few posts and didn't chime in after people responded to the threads. I hope it's not OB-style pot-stirring.

But if the warning is accurate, then thanks for the info. It improves my sour grapes rationalization accepting my ZERO.

[privateatty]

zero said:

I would be interested in learning what experience goodolboy has that makes him offer this warning. Also, he only has a few posts and didn't chime in after people responded to the threads. I hope it's not OB-style pot-stirring.

But if the warning is accurate, then thanks for the info. It improves my sour grapes rationalization accepting my ZERO.

May I be so bold as to offer you a bit of advice? This pain that you feel about your zero score is obviously eating you up inside. I, and I'm sure others, have little doubt that you are qualified for the position. Early on, there were many, many stories about well-qualified individuals who either could not make, nor were aware, of the four-day window OPM imposed on May 4. Look at the technical denials. In my own case, the principal hurdle was sheer ignorance of not only the form of the testing but also its substance. If I had to do it all over again, I'm sure that I can raise my score, perhaps very significantly. Since May 4, this whole process has been an emotional roller coaster for many, if not all of us and even those on the board who sprinkle iron filings into their Cheerios have had their moments.

Neil Young once famously sang: "Don't let it get you down, it's only castles burning, find someone who is turning, and you will come around." If this sounds a bit pompous, or even condescending, I can only plead it was not an intentional tort.

[zero]

Thanks Private Attorney (when do you think you will be promoted to corporal? Excuse my pun fetish).

I liked the advice and the Neil Young reference.

If I haven't already let go, the time is soon coming. That's why my posts have slowed down on this site. The fact is, other than my occasional snarky comment about the appeals that OPM has carefully filed away in the circular file, I really don't have much to contribute to the whole ALJ issue anymore.

I sincerely believe the people who were picked earned their way on the list. Maybe OPM made a mistake with me but I’ve come to accept that I’ll never really know.

Besides, I was half serious about the sour grapes remark. Although the pay would be nice, it doesn't look like a particularly fun job.

[morgullord]

Zero, I have been continually buffing, polishing, and touching-up my SF-171 for almost 30 years. I read through it about every third month or thereabouts, looking for things that might mislead or misinform the casual reader. More than anything else, this has been an exercise in marketing oneself.

I offer this as a helpful suggestion, not as a criticism: start reworking your application now. If OPM grants your appeal, all well and good. If it does not, know that the next time the register opens, it will likely be done the same way as it was in May 2007--they will close the door when they reach a certain number of applications. Be ready for it. The format will not change significantly, nor will the requirements for documentation of information such as bar admission dates. Look for the holes a nit-picker will find.

General Nathan Beford Forrestt's strategy for success was "Be there furstest with the mostest".

It is never too early to prepare for the next round.

[jagghagg]

“Before you begin a thing, remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead. If you could see them clearly, naturally you could do a great deal to get rid of them but you can't. You can only see one thing clearly and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin.”

****Kathleen Norris

“You better live your best and act your best and think your best today, for today is the sure preparation for tomorrow and all the other tomorrows that follow.”

****Harriet Martineau (1802 - 1876)


“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”

****Colin Powell (1937 - )


“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.”

****Thomas H. Huxley


“It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.”

****Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965), My Early Life, 1930

[chieftain]

"Don't know. . . . Mongo but pawn in game of life."

-- Alex Karras

[privateatty]

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." Oscar Wilde

"A man, sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair." Samuel Johnson