ALJ Hiring in FY 09

[theoldmajor]

CALJ F. Cristaudo testimony to Ways and Means, today.
means.house.gov/hearings.asp?
formmode=detail&hearing=646

[odarite]

The link did not work for me, but I found the info at socsecnews.blogspot.com/ for today.

[deaddisco]

Approximately half the most recent ALJ class did not have a connection to ssa.

[southerner]

I must disagree with PF on 2 grounds.

The first is that the CALJ is an idiot. He is not and is quite capable in his job and we are fortunate to have him there.

Secondly, there are a number of SSA highly competent and worthy "insiders" who did not become ALJ's in the most recent classes. Moreover, in my class only about a third had any SSA connection.

[lurker]

Sept 17, 2008 15:00:53 GMT -5 southerner said:

I must disagree with PF on 2 grounds.

The first is that the CALJ is an idiot. He is not and is quite capable in his job and we are fortunate to have him there.

Secondly, there are a number of SSA highly competent and worthy "insiders" who did not become ALJ's in the most recent classes. Moreover, in my class only about a third had any SSA connection.

I understand frustration and disappointment at not being selected - but seriously, it is not right to assume that those of us who were selected had political connections. As southerner noted, only about 1/3 of our class had any connection to SSA (and that includes everything from backgrounds with appeals council, OGC, ODAR or just representing claimants for legal services). None of those folks seemed to have any more of a "political" connection than I had - as a person w/no SSA background whatsoever (and people like me made up about 2/3 of the class). Call us qualified. Or call us lucky. But don't assume political connections just because things did not work out for you this year.

I, for one, am still hoping that you will be joining the rest of us in the near future - with a position in one of those New England hearing offices.

[batboy]

Regardless of whether Frank C. is an idiot (a subject that has been on the plate for some time now), it is just refreshing to see southerner and lurker post something semi-intelligent that doesn't ramble on about $1 oysters, cheap beer at Peters, canoles and Afghan food.

[bettrlatethannevr]

I took the "broad pool of applicants" comment to mean interest in attracting people outside of SSA, rather than a slight about people on the present register. If there was anyone in my training class who got picked based on connections rather than merit, they fooled me. Then again, maybe I was just too busy consuming cheap beer and canoles.

[lurker]

It's cannoli, guys, not canoles. Clearly, you haven't spent enough time in Little Italy.

Batboy - was that a compliment? I'll take it as one.

[morgullord]

Judge Cristaudo is not an idiot by any measurement. He represented claimants effectively and ably for many years before becoming an ALJ. As an ALJ he put a great deal of effort into every case he had to ensure that his decisions were both factually and legally correct. As OCALJ he has been supportive, to the greatest extent possible, of agency attorneys. However, he is not all-powerful and he is answerable to higher levels of management at SSA. While I do not necessarily agree with everything he says or does, I know Chief Judge Cristaudo to be a dedicated professional. As I said, I am no apologist; however, I respect him as Chief Judge and as a fellow attorney, and I am proud to say that I work for him.

[morgullord]

BTW, I am an "insider" and it could be said that I have "political connections", but I am still on the register.

[batboy]

Yes Lurker, it was a compliment (but I just could not help commenting on the foodies in the August class). BTW, although I cannot spell Italian desserts properly, ironically I spend six years working in the Little Italy area in NYC, and ate most of my lunches at Italian joints. I probably should have spent more time studying the menu.

[pm]

I must say I am again amazed at how well the system works. Anyone who fails to get the score they think they deserve, or the ALJ position they think they deserve, and then comes to this board ranting and raving, clearly lacks any semblance of judicial temperament.

As for naiveté, anyone who thinks that political or personal connections are relevant only to the ALJ position, or only to Republican administrations, has cornered the market on naiveté.

Let me make this perfectly clear for those who are unfamiliar with the way the world works:

Personal or political connections ALWAYS matter, for ANY job, federal, state, or private, ANYWHERE, anytime, under ANY administration, Democrat or Republican.

That being said, it's also seems clear that most of those who have recently been hired as ALJs obtained their positions by getting good scores from OPM and then by interviewing well with ODAR.

By the way, one of the things they were looking for during the SI and during the ODAR interview, was judicial temperament.....

[deaddisco]

Sept 21, 2008 16:47:27 GMT -5 @patriotsfan said:

While clearly not every candidate selected on the last go round was politically connected, it is naive and factually inaccurate to suggest that politics was not a significant factor in the selection of at least 1/3 of the candidates. Don't assume your classmates do not have a connection to SSA or are not politically connected simply because they choose not to reveal it to you. For a number of the selections the "fix was in" and no amount of qualification was going to change that fact. As such, while no doubt the majority were selected based solely on their qualifications, there are a number of folks who have recently become ALJs simply for their connections and for no other reason. Its government, folks, and its the Bush Administration, who have little use for the rule of law, so lets take the blinders off on this one. As for the nice thoughts about me being included in some future class, it ain't going to happen. SSA twisted itself into a pretzel to avoid me on several openings, so I harbor no delusions that I will be among the future classes. My hope rests solely with the possibility that other agencies will be hiring off the register in 2009.

And for those selected, no offense is intended to your accomplishment, unless you got there by your connections, in which event you know who you are If you don't have an SSA or Republican connection, good for you!

I stand by my statements about the Chief Judge. If you don't have the ethics or integrity to stand up for the process, (and he doesn't answer to anyone with his lifetime appointment) you don't belong there. He sold his soul to the Administration on this one, and should not be given a free pass for his complacency as the system was abused. I lay the blame where it belongs. He should resign.

Just remember Patsfan, it's never your fault.

[tricia]

Patriot said: "This is a discussion place, and that debate is part of the discussion. It is important to the many who are awaiting their scores that they understand that no matter how well they score, there are factors at work that will likely prevent their selection that have nothing to do with their qualifications or "judicial temperament." "
I applied in May of '07 and have been coming to this board since shortly after that. I guess I started on the Old Board. I think that I recall that Patriot had an exceptionally high score, as well as great credentials, and we all expected him to be hired as an ALJ quickly.
I think he has a right to be frustrated that he has not been hired. I have my own frustrations with this process.
I think that it is helpful for all of us to share our experiences, and even our assumptions on how the process really works, since the process certainly lacks transparency.
Good luck, Patriot. Don't give up hope.

[sgl]

What is your current position at ODAR, patsfan? Just curious.

[nonamouse]

No process can prevent an applicant from falsely asserting that they would be happy to work in a particular city. It happened with the old register and it will likely continue to happen given the fact that attorneys are still flawed human beings regardless of the resume.

Along those same lines, another common human failing seems to be the ability to focus with laser-like precision on the perceived faults or failings of others while maintaining a certain level of blindness to our own issues.

Everyone who made the register was "qualified" according to OPM to become an ALJ and no one was entitled to a position with a particluar agency regardless of how high they scored. SSA was looking for different things than OPM did in their scoring process, so the best candidate for SSA is not always going to have the highest score on the register put together by OPM. The OPM score merely got candidates into the game. We all knew that only 1 in 3 could be hired. What kind of ego does it take to believe that the process was somehow flawed if we are not "the one" in the first year of the new register? Many people waited patiently for years on the old register before being hired because they limited their availability.

Widen your availability and widen your opportunities for FY2009. If you had "all" cities listed and SSA didn't want you, then suck it up and move on with different career options graciously. Don't try to poison the experience for those who are new applicants. We all make our choices and then we have to live with them, hopefully with as little complaining as possible.

[valkyrie]

Wow, people have gotten bitter.

While I will not defend the process as perfect by any means, I think the whole "political connections" thing is way off the mark. First of all, if any of the govt unions ever got the slightest whiff of political involvement in an OPM hiring process, all hell would break loose. (I don't count the judges' union as they seem hard pressed just to file a complaint). I think anyone else who is also working for the govt would agree.

As for personal contacts through working for, or with the agency, I'm sure that it was a factor. Someone else already pointed out that things work that way everywhere. My wife was a recruiting and hiring official for a large bank for a long time. She preferred hiring people that could be vouched for by people in, or close to the organization. Would you hire a babysitter for your kids based upon a great resume and interview alone, or would you take a similar candidate that has already worked for a close friend, and the friend has endorsed?

Also, please don't put any weight on the OPM scores. They are very arbitrary. I'm not saying that some of us didn't deserve the score than we got, but I'll be the first one to admit that either mine was inflated, or some other people that I know were completely screwed. You have to remember that what OPM values, and what ODAR wants can be two different things.

I think we should all give Patriotsfan a break and recognize this as misplaced aggression over the Pats/Fins game over the weekend.

[batboy]

If as someone said you had a very high score, my guess is you will eventually be offered a spot, unless there is something in your background (like a reputational/character issue, disciplinary issue or criminal matter) that would cause SSA to automatically pass you over. A lot of it depends on the particular interviewers, because some of them (SSA ALJs) are jackasses. But my point is that from what I've read about you and your scores, if you are patient the appointment will eventually come. I had to wait many years due to the Adzell litigation and other problems with the process, and I sort of felt the way you do. But all of a sudden I got an offer. I hope you didn't come off as negative in your interview as you do in your posts. That might cause you to be passed over. Stay calm and go with the flow. Also, while I can see them favoring certain "insiders," I don't think this process can accomodate political (Republican vs Dem) favoritism the way the Immigration Judge process worked, simply because when you get to the top of the list, it is then up to the ALJs who interview you.

[corrina]

Great post Patriotsfan. I'm so tired of the derision from those who are defending their selection despite the eradication of the ranking system.

[happy]

Personally, I don't feel the need to justify my selection to you or anyone else.