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Post by hopefalj on Apr 21, 2022 19:05:57 GMT -5
Insiderz rule, outsiderz drool!
The question isn’t what’s best, what makes the most sense, what would benefit the agency, etc., because anyone working for SSA or who has studied the information from insiders on the board know that SSA and common sense/best practices are not often aligned.
The question is what are they going to do ultimately? We won’t know until we see the job announcement and what level of experience, type of experience, etc. are sought. I’m of the mindset they’re going to design a process to target favored insiders, but then again, that would require a certain level of competence to be able to achieve it.
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Post by christina on Apr 21, 2022 20:22:17 GMT -5
So whose got a guess when the announcement will open?
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Post by tripper on Apr 21, 2022 20:25:00 GMT -5
Tomorrow is my guess.
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Post by rp on Apr 21, 2022 20:26:54 GMT -5
So whose got a guess when the announcement will open? Soon. Very soon. Perhaps tomorrow - but more likely sometime next week. Keep your eyes peeled. I have heard the announcement will close after 1,000 applications. |
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Post by pumpkin on Apr 21, 2022 20:55:50 GMT -5
Culture shock: for the first couple of months every time someone would walk past me and say, “Good Morning, Judge,” I looked behind me to see who they were talking to.
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Post by nylawyer on Apr 21, 2022 21:17:10 GMT -5
Insider/outsider can go either way. My hot take is that ALJ training should involve five days in a row of standing and walking on concrete for six hours in an eight hour work day. Just for one week. They can learn while they stand and walk! It’ll be good for everyone. A doctor’s note will excuse you. Cuts both ways. In my prior job I worked with an attorney (who is now a judge) who was a paraplegic. How'd you like to appear before him and have to argue about how you can't work due to your carpal tunnel? |
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Post by futuressaalj on Apr 22, 2022 5:48:20 GMT -5
I don’t really follow the logic, are you saying a paraplegic judge would somehow be less objective? I’m sure that is not what you are saying, so please elaborate. If I had untreatable carpal tunnel, personally, I’d get an assistive device such as dragon and then I would be able to do my job, which is skilled, sedentary and involves mostly reading and typing. That’s really all I can say on that scenario. The judge herself is disabled given that she has no use of any limb but working and a claimant is appearing saying they cannot work because of issues with hands |
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Post by trp888 on Apr 22, 2022 8:21:06 GMT -5
So whose got a guess when the announcement will open? My guess - tonight or tomorrow. SSA doesn’t want hundreds of their SSA employees to suddenly stop working to apply mid workday — makes sense to me… but SSA is not always sense based 😆😆 |
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Post by trp888 on Apr 22, 2022 8:25:45 GMT -5
So whose got a guess when the announcement will open? Soon. Very soon. Perhaps tomorrow - but more likely sometime next week. Keep your eyes peeled. I have heard the announcement will close after 1,000 applications. 1000 seems about right if they want a class of 25. The factor not discussed here though is location. I’m betting the announcement will be for specific locations only (unlike the broad postings of the past). They’ve worked the ALJ transfers and know exactly where the need is right now. If that’s the case, you may not like any of the city options listed …. |
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Post by johnthornton on Apr 22, 2022 8:29:21 GMT -5
Given that my office has been giving judges half dockets for the past nine months, it is hard to me to see why we need to hire at all. We have asked for cases from other areas with no success. However, given that they don't have mandatory transfers, I can understand that they need to hire for some offices with the return to in person hearings.
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Post by hillsarealive on Apr 22, 2022 9:46:31 GMT -5
A few questions occur to me.
1) Does USA Jobs post jobs in batches, e.g., at 12:00 am ET, or do the postings appear in ‘real time’? Based on the way that alerts work, I’m thinking jobs post in one big batch each day.
2) If SSA plans to pull the ALJ job posting after it gets 1,000 applications, or something like that, would SSA include this restriction in the posting? How would such a cut-off work? Does the job posting disappear when SSA gets the desired number of applications, or would SSA update the posting to say that it will not accept any further applications after a particular date/time?
3) This is more of a judgment call, but if someone got a good score in the last round of OPM ALJ testing, is there any downside to listing that score somewhere in her application materials? The old OPM process was pretty thorough and I feel like a good score might still carry a little weight with hypothetical hiring officials. I can’t think of any real downside to listing the information. Asking for a friend, as my one run through the OPM process did not end well.
Thanks!
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Post by everflowing on Apr 22, 2022 10:03:20 GMT -5
USAJOBS.gov says the following regarding applicant cut off:
“Some job announcements close when the hiring agency receives a certain number of applications. If the ‘cut-off’ number is reached during the day, the job announcement will usually close that night at midnight. For example, a job announcement may say it will close after the hiring agency receives 200 applications. If they receive 200 applications by 1:30 p.m. ET, the job will close that same day at 11:59 p.m. ET.”
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Post by lawyeredbylaws on Apr 22, 2022 10:07:38 GMT -5
I've done a bunch of applying on USAJobs lately so decently well-versed in it.
1. Job listings appear at any time of the day and not in big batches.
2. Once the max number of applications are submitted, USAJobs doesn't let anyone else apply. If the max number isn't reached, the listing closes on the end date chosen by SSA at midnight. I've seen jobs close within hours of posting.
3. At the USAJobs level they usually do a keyword search of resumes along with standardized multiple-choice questions. If you hit certain criteria you are referred to the hiring manager. So the question is will the person reviewing the file at SSA care about an OPM score from 5 years ago? I'm not even sure where I would put my score on my resume.
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Post by hillsarealive on Apr 22, 2022 10:40:04 GMT -5
Thank you everflowing and lawyeredbylaws for the quick responses. Sounds like we'll all be watching USA Jobs like hawks until the moment that the ALJ job announcement posts, and then--perhaps--rushing to get materials in before some arbitrary cut-off is reached.
Lawyeredbylaws--for question 3--my friend was thinking she would put the OPM score toward the bottom of the resume, where one puts the lower value information such as awards received. I have no idea whether people reviewing the file at SSA would value the score or not, but I think some people involved in the process might. My thought is that existing ALJs had to succeed in the OPM process, and ALJs will surely be part of any interview panels, so perhaps a good OPM score on one's resume might still carry a little weight. The only downside--it seems to me--would be that it takes up space on the resume that might be put to better use (depending on what other accomplishments you have to work with).
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Post by neufenland on Apr 22, 2022 11:06:13 GMT -5
Thank you everflowing and lawyeredbylaws for the quick responses. Sounds like we'll all be watching USA Jobs like hawks until the moment that the ALJ job announcement posts, and then--perhaps--rushing to get materials in before some arbitrary cut-off is reached. Lawyeredbylaws--for question 3--my friend was thinking she would put the OPM score toward the bottom of the resume, where one puts the lower value information such as awards received. I have no idea whether people reviewing the file at SSA would value the score or not, but I think some people involved in the process might. My thought is that existing ALJs had to succeed in the OPM process, and ALJs will surely be part of any interview panels, so perhaps a good OPM score on one's resume might still carry a little weight. The only downside--it seems to me--would be that it takes up space on the resume that might be put to better use (depending on what other accomplishments you have to work with). Or a sentence or two at the end of your cover letter. I doubt that it will matter much, but it likely can't hurt. |
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Post by christina on Apr 22, 2022 11:18:53 GMT -5
Thank you everflowing and lawyeredbylaws for the quick responses. Sounds like we'll all be watching USA Jobs like hawks until the moment that the ALJ job announcement posts, and then--perhaps--rushing to get materials in before some arbitrary cut-off is reached. Lawyeredbylaws--for question 3--my friend was thinking she would put the OPM score toward the bottom of the resume, where one puts the lower value information such as awards received. I have no idea whether people reviewing the file at SSA would value the score or not, but I think some people involved in the process might. My thought is that existing ALJs had to succeed in the OPM process, and ALJs will surely be part of any interview panels, so perhaps a good OPM score on one's resume might still carry a little weight. The only downside--it seems to me--would be that it takes up space on the resume that might be put to better use (depending on what other accomplishments you have to work with). I doubt opm score would matter to ssa. |
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Post by aa7 on Apr 22, 2022 12:17:11 GMT -5
I've done a bunch of applying on USAJobs lately so decently well-versed in it. 1. Job listings appear at any time of the day and not in big batches. 2. Once the max number of applications are submitted, USAJobs doesn't let anyone else apply. If the max number isn't reached, the listing closes on the end date chosen by SSA at midnight. I've seen jobs close within hours of posting. 3. At the USAJobs level they usually do a keyword search of resumes along with standardized multiple-choice questions. If you hit certain criteria you are referred to the hiring manager. So the question is will the person reviewing the file at SSA care about an OPM score from 5 years ago? I'm not even sure where I would put my score on my resume. I wonder if they would post on weekends? |
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Post by phoenixrisingALJ on Apr 22, 2022 16:06:36 GMT -5
While you can never say never… they aren’t trying to be tricky and post on a date and time that is difficult for folks to notice. I suspect it wil be posted during the week - normal business hours. Given chatter here from insiders - if it is accurate- it will post next week.
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Post by intothewild on Apr 22, 2022 16:31:28 GMT -5
Just curious. How soon will new judges be able to work at home? How many days a week can judges work from home? The answer used to be two days a week after one year and it needed to be within two hours of your duty station but everything is being renegotiated with Covid protocol. Really hope they offer fully remote telework positions. That would really make this position the icing on the cake. |
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Post by Gaidin on Apr 22, 2022 17:39:31 GMT -5
The answer used to be two days a week after one year and it needed to be within two hours of your duty station but everything is being renegotiated with Covid protocol. Really hope they offer fully remote telework positions. That would really make this position the icing on the cake. That isn't happening. I'm delighted by expanded telework and I hope we can negotiate it continuing after September 30. But there really are claimants who need in person hearings. There are folks that have been unable to access the program throughout the pandemic because they lack access to technology that we have been relying upon. We literally cannot serve all the people we need to serve without being able to hold some in person hearings. So that's not going to happen. |
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