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Post by futuressaalj on Apr 23, 2014 21:43:24 GMT -5
Anyone hear anything like supervisors or reference contacted? They have had my info for a couple of weeks now but they have not contacted anyone yet
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Post by sealaw90 on Apr 24, 2014 8:18:38 GMT -5
Does that mean you got through interview? I thought the references wouldn't be contacted until interviews were completed.
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Post by huskypower on Apr 25, 2014 12:35:26 GMT -5
I'm in the same situation. I sent in the requested information about references, supervisors, etc. by 4/11/14 and have heard nothing since (including no requests for an interview).
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Post by aqua96 on Apr 25, 2014 13:30:32 GMT -5
Just heard from a friend that OMHA is opening a 5th office in Lakewood, Colorado, which is outside Denver. I would guess there will eventually be another cert for this location. They will hire in FY2014 but won't officially open until FY2015.
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Post by ragnarov on Apr 29, 2014 14:44:50 GMT -5
Still waiting for OMHA...
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Post by sealaw90 on Apr 29, 2014 15:32:41 GMT -5
Still waiting for OMHA... thanks for the update - good luck and keep us posted!
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Post by bartleby on Apr 29, 2014 16:33:36 GMT -5
The latest from Judge Bice's Office: Greetings,
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) is seeking to fill Supervisory ALJ positions at the AL-03 level in its five field offices:
• Mid-Atlantic Field Office, Arlington, VA; • Midwestern Field Office, Cleveland, OH; • Southern Field Office, Miami, FL; • Western Field Office, Irvine, CA; and • Denver Field Office, Lakewood, CO.
Please share this solicitation with the ALJs in your organization. Information concerning how to apply is contained within the attached memorandum.
Contact me if you have any questions. Thank you in advance for your assistance in helping OMHA communicate this opportunity to the national ALJ community.
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Post by mcb on Apr 29, 2014 16:44:11 GMT -5
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Post by hopefalj on Apr 29, 2014 16:52:12 GMT -5
From the attached PDF memo. "Relocation expenses will not be offered." They must want supervisory people really bad. View AttachmentWithout commenting on the likelihood of such an appointment, this announcement doesn't appear to require a minimum amount of ALJ experience, right? Aren't all ALJs at the 03 level?
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Post by futuressaalj on Apr 29, 2014 18:05:30 GMT -5
Wow, does this mean that they do not like the folks who are on their cert? Are they going to not want to pay moving costs to current federal employees ALJs or not? The timing of this solicitation in conjunction with the certificate they received is puzzling.
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Post by futuressaalj on Apr 29, 2014 18:08:51 GMT -5
Sorry, after I posted a thought came to mind. Their certs must be locked up by all veterans who perhaps are not their most desired candidates--this may be the reason why they were seeking to find out if you were interested in even interviewing. Unlike SSA they cannot three strike a vet from all of their locations.
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Post by Gaidin on Apr 30, 2014 8:42:21 GMT -5
If they are looking for supervisory ALJs then they weren't going to hire them off the cert anyway. I don't see how this impacts those of you on the cert for OMHA other than it may be delaying things while they sort out who will supervise where before they hire to fill the supervisee positions.
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Post by aqua96 on Apr 30, 2014 8:50:23 GMT -5
All of OMHA's ALJs are Supervisory ALJs...they each supervise a team of attorneys and legal assistants and/or paralegals. That is how the organization is currently set up. There is one Managing ALJ for each field office, but the solicitation shared above is not seeking to fill any of those (5) positions.
Just an FYI - I have no idea how this all affects those that made the OMHA cert.
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Post by moopigsdad on Apr 30, 2014 8:58:35 GMT -5
All of OMHA's ALJs are Supervisory ALJs...they each supervise a team of attorneys and legal assistants and/or paralegals. That is how the organization is currently set up. There is one Managing ALJ for each field office, but the solicitation shared above is not seeking to fill any of those (5) positions. Just an FYI - I have no idea how this all affects those that made the OMHA cert. Interesting information. It seems OMHA would rather have experienced ALJ's than newbies. I don't necessarily blame them, but I can't see many ALJ's taking up their offer without relocation expenses being paid, unless already in the area or it is an area they really want to go to live. I still think there will be people hired from the Register, but perhaps a few less than originally planned.
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Post by funkyodar on Apr 30, 2014 9:01:06 GMT -5
My guess is its just omha exploring all options. They don't have to hire from the reg, so why not get a cert but also solicit sitting aljs? Interview them all and pick who you think would be best?
Maybe you want to try a freshly minted gung ho alj in one slot, maybe a proven producer veteran alj in another.
Shopping around is their perogative. Sure they will exercise it.
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Post by futuressaalj on Apr 30, 2014 10:28:07 GMT -5
My guess is its just omha exploring all options. They don't have to hire from the reg, so why not get a cert but also solicit sitting aljs? Interview them all and pick who you think would be best? Maybe you want to try a freshly minted gung ho alj in one slot, maybe a proven producer veteran alj in another. Shopping around is their perogative. Sure they will exercise it. Funky, I would agree with your assesment if the timing was different. Why does this option exploration come almost a month after they notified folks that they had pulled a cert? If they wanted the option of existing ALJ judges they did not have to wait for the ALJ register to be published nor did they have to request a cert from the new register. Because of the timing, the cynic in me suspects that they do not like their cert and there is not a whole lot they can do about it--they cannot ask for another cert so they resorted to going to sitting ALJs as a possible escape option. Like I said because of the new testing process and the added points given to vets, their certs must have veterans taking up almost all of the top 5-6 positions and given their inability to three strike due to limited locations they are in a pickle
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Post by hopefalj on Apr 30, 2014 10:37:29 GMT -5
My guess is its just omha exploring all options. They don't have to hire from the reg, so why not get a cert but also solicit sitting aljs? Interview them all and pick who you think would be best? Maybe you want to try a freshly minted gung ho alj in one slot, maybe a proven producer veteran alj in another. Shopping around is their perogative. Sure they will exercise it. Funky, I would agree with your assesment if the timing was different. Why does this option exploration come almost a month after they notified folks that they had pulled a cert? If they wanted the option of existing ALJ judges they did not have to wait for the ALJ register to be published nor did they have to request a cert from the new register. Because of the timing, the cynic in me suspects that they do not like their cert and there is not a whole lot they can do about it--they cannot ask for another cert so they resorted to going to sitting ALJs as a possible escape option. Like I said because of the new testing process and the added points given to vets, their certs must have veterans taking up almost all of the top 5-6 positions and given their inability to three strike due to limited locations they are in a pickle You might be correct, although I hope not for anyone that wants a position with OMHA. It wouldn't be the first time an agency has done this. I wonder how many former OMHA attorneys turned ODAR ALJs exist in the universe?
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Post by moopigsdad on Apr 30, 2014 10:44:27 GMT -5
My guess is its just omha exploring all options. They don't have to hire from the reg, so why not get a cert but also solicit sitting aljs? Interview them all and pick who you think would be best? Maybe you want to try a freshly minted gung ho alj in one slot, maybe a proven producer veteran alj in another. Shopping around is their perogative. Sure they will exercise it. Funky, I would agree with your assesment if the timing was different. Why does this option exploration come almost a month after they notified folks that they had pulled a cert? If they wanted the option of existing ALJ judges they did not have to wait for the ALJ register to be published nor did they have to request a cert from the new register. Because of the timing, the cynic in me suspects that they do not like their cert and there is not a whole lot they can do about it--they cannot ask for another cert so they resorted to going to sitting ALJs as a possible escape option. Like I said because of the new testing process and the added points given to vets, their certs must have veterans taking up almost all of the top 5-6 positions and given their inability to three strike due to limited locations they are in a pickle Future, the Registers have always been top heavy with veterans due to preference points. It is the nature of the Federal Government testing process. So, it is not an unexpected development for OMHA. They knew going in that most of the people at the top would be veterans. I just think, as funky stated, they wanted to try all options prior to hiring all newbies. Perhaps, such as the Lakewood, Colorado new OMHA office they wanted to have a mix of established ALJs along with newbies and not just all newbies. When SSA opened the Mount Pleasant, Michigan office almost all the positions were new ALJs and it led to a lot of issues for them in getting things up and running. Hence, the ability to have some experienced ALJs on board, in addition to newbies allows some continuity and less issues of getting things running smoothly.
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Post by futuressaalj on Apr 30, 2014 10:53:16 GMT -5
Funky, I would agree with your assesment if the timing was different. Why does this option exploration come almost a month after they notified folks that they had pulled a cert? If they wanted the option of existing ALJ judges they did not have to wait for the ALJ register to be published nor did they have to request a cert from the new register. Because of the timing, the cynic in me suspects that they do not like their cert and there is not a whole lot they can do about it--they cannot ask for another cert so they resorted to going to sitting ALJs as a possible escape option. Like I said because of the new testing process and the added points given to vets, their certs must have veterans taking up almost all of the top 5-6 positions and given their inability to three strike due to limited locations they are in a pickle Future, the Registers have always been top heavy with veterans due to preference points. It is the nature of the Federal Government testing process. So, it is not an unexpected development for OMHA. They knew going in that most of the people at the top would be veterans. I just think, as funky stated, they wanted to try all options prior to hiring all newbies. Perhaps, such as the Lakewood, Colorado new OMHA office they wanted to have a mix of established ALJs along with newbies and not just all newbies. When SSA opened the Mount Pleasant, Michigan office almost all the positions were new ALJs and it led to a lot of issues for them in getting things up and running. Hence, the ability to have some experienced ALJs on board, in addition to newbies allows some continuity and less issues of getting things running smoothly. I agree MPD--I am one of the vets on one of their locations. But the new office is not an option for newbies, they did not pull a cert for that location and my understnaing was that they would use existing ALJs to fill that location--granted they may not have had enough interest so they could have opened up the new office to existing ALJs but they are soliciting for all of their locations. They did not need to pull a cert if they wanted experienced ALJs at their other locations and the request coming a month after they pull their cert only seems to indicate they may not be happy with their candidates or they cannot reach any of their desireable candidates. Note that this comes after they asked the folks on the cert if they were interested. Another thing that troubles me is they are not paying relocation costs to existing ALJs? Does that mean that they are not going to pay new hires? If that is the case then I do not know how many folks are going to take them up on their job offers--I sure as heck would not and if they told me that, I would drop out of the race immediately.
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Post by futuressaalj on Apr 30, 2014 10:54:22 GMT -5
Funky, I would agree with your assesment if the timing was different. Why does this option exploration come almost a month after they notified folks that they had pulled a cert? If they wanted the option of existing ALJ judges they did not have to wait for the ALJ register to be published nor did they have to request a cert from the new register. Because of the timing, the cynic in me suspects that they do not like their cert and there is not a whole lot they can do about it--they cannot ask for another cert so they resorted to going to sitting ALJs as a possible escape option. Like I said because of the new testing process and the added points given to vets, their certs must have veterans taking up almost all of the top 5-6 positions and given their inability to three strike due to limited locations they are in a pickle You might be correct, although I hope not for anyone that wants a position with OMHA. It wouldn't be the first time an agency has done this. I wonder how many former OMHA attorneys turned ODAR ALJs exist in the universe? There are probably a few but they must really want to move back to the OMHA offices bad because they are not paying moving costs!
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