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Post by aljsouth on Oct 14, 2007 19:50:21 GMT -5
With confirmation that the agency is making offers from the transfer list the process in selection of ALJ's has taken a significant step forward.
After the transfers have been dealt with the next step will be the agency identifing the hearing sites to which new judges will be assigned. Meanwhile OPM should be finishing grading and the grades will be announced. Agency will ask OPM for candidates for the selected spots and some of you will be called to Falls
Church for agency interviews (if past practice prevails). This is a canned interview with all questions set in stone:
Q: Have you made your final selections about sites to which you will agree to serve?
A: Yes, I thought about it a lot in prison and asked around.
A lot of the inmates had lived in many of these places and were a great resource.
Q: Do you understand that you may be selected for any site you select?
Well, you get the picture.
Then phone calls and letters go out to those selected. In five months some of you will be in a training class if ODAR sticks to the March class idea.
One wild card is the VTC center site. Presumably only existing
ALJ's will be selected if the notice of the positions is followed.
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Post by chris on Oct 14, 2007 20:39:48 GMT -5
Does this next interview really have the same canned questions for everyone?
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Post by aljsouth on Oct 15, 2007 10:59:52 GMT -5
Does this next interview really have the same canned questions for everyone? Yes. One of my previous HOCALJ's was on two panels and he told me the questions were canned and no deviations were allowed. He also said they were told not to eliminate anyone. Some interview, huh? |
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Post by notafed on Oct 15, 2007 12:32:51 GMT -5
Does this mean yet another flight to DC at our own expense?
In the old ALJ Handbook, it said these interviews were conducted in the general vicinity of where you live, i.e. closest major city.
Do we know definitely that this has changed?
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Post by johnthornton on Oct 15, 2007 12:45:55 GMT -5
Does this mean yet another flight to DC at our own expense? quote] In the past, SSA has paid for this interview. |
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Post by ruonthelist on Oct 15, 2007 13:29:22 GMT -5
Does this mean yet another flight to DC at our own expense? In the old ALJ Handbook, it said these interviews were conducted in the general vicinity of where you live, i.e. closest major city. Do we know definitely that this has changed? When I interviewed they had rounds of interviews in two cities other than DC, one west coast and one in the middle of the country. Concerning the ALJ Handbook, it was invaluable in its day, and if Federal Reports ever publishes a new edition I would strongly urge any candidate to buy it. The most recent edition is still useful in certain areas, but be careful not to rely on it too strongly, because so much has changed in OPM's new test. For example, the sections on the WD and interviews are probably still helpful because those didn't change very much in the new exam system. But the old SQS does not correspond as closely to the new AR, so you want to be careful in how closely you rely on it there. In general I would guess that the Handbook is at this point a better guide to SSA's behavior than to OPM's, because SSA does not profess to have revamped its hiring procedures. |
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Post by zero on Oct 15, 2007 15:37:30 GMT -5
I'm sorry for the stupid question, but why do transfers have any impact on the pace of hiring?
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Post by kingfisher on Oct 15, 2007 15:52:33 GMT -5
I'm sorry for the stupid question, but why do transfers have any impact on the pace of hiring? Zero, Not to worry about the questions. Just ask and we will do our best to provide an accurate answer. According to the AALJ contract: "Prior to considering the assignment of newly hired Judges to a hearing office, the OHA will give first consideration for one reassignment to that hearing office to the incumbent Judge who is first on the reassignment register for that hearing office pursuant to these provisions. In the event OHA determines that an incumbent Judge’s reassignment pursuant to the provisions set forth herein results in a permanent opening in his or her former hearing office, OHA will give first consideration to the incumbent Judge who is first on the reassignment register for that hearing office and the provisions of this article shall cease to apply to any additional permanent openings created by the reassignment of those two Judges." In other words, once SSA has decided there is a need to hire new ALJs, they must determine which offices need more judges. Once that is done, they must offer transfers to those offices to the first incumbent judge on the Transfer List, etc. Thus, they must complete these processes before they can request a certification from OPM for ALJ Candidates. So, the transfers that are being offered right now are the first step in this lengthy process that will eventually lead to the hiring of new ALJs. Hang in there. |
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Post by judicature on Oct 15, 2007 16:03:13 GMT -5
kingfisher -
If I am reading the AALJ contract excerpt correctly, it sounds like SSA only has to conduct two levels of transfer offers - the initial transfers and then a second round of transfers for the openings created by the first round of transfers. After that, the merry go round stops on transfers and the openings as they exist after the second round are the ones that will be used for the new ALJ hires. Is this an accurate reading?
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Post by aljsouth on Oct 15, 2007 16:31:22 GMT -5
kingfisher - If I am reading the AALJ contract excerpt correctly, it sounds like SSA only has to conduct two levels of transfer offers - the initial transfers and then a second round of transfers for the openings created by the first round of transfers. After that, the merry go round stops on transfers and the openings as they exist after the second round are the ones that will be used for the new ALJ hires. Is this an accurate reading? This is what is in Article 20 of the CBA. But a couple of years back SSA through its chief judge agreed via letter to go down the entire list of transfers before offering a position to a new judge. I fully expect SSA to violate this agreement. |
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Post by privateatty on Oct 16, 2007 8:25:03 GMT -5
I believe Ms. Springer said that the new register would come out at the end of this month. Is it really going to be OPM doing "trick or treat" on 10/31? Any idea what kind of score you will need to get to the exalted top 450 for consideration by SSA--assuming you have a geographical preference that matches a need?? LASTLY, what's the transfer status of DC and Pittsburgh? Thanks kindly for any help...
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Post by cinderella on Oct 16, 2007 8:46:43 GMT -5
Also- (perhaps this has already been discussed), is the Register "posted" somewhere (ie, public?), or do eligible candidates just get their scores and hope to be on the Register, or how does that work? Thanks so much!
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Post by aljsouth on Oct 16, 2007 12:21:52 GMT -5
One has little chance of being selected for ODAR in D.C. Sorry. 9 judges want in and 0 want out. D.C. is THE most popular site. Other agencies may be different.
The national VTC center is looking for 7 judges and probably will want more in the future. It looks like they are going to hire existing ALJ's.
Pittsburg
0 to Pittsburg
3 judges want to transfer out
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Post by aljsouth on Oct 16, 2007 12:27:54 GMT -5
Also- (perhaps this has already been discussed), is the Register "posted" somewhere (ie, public?), or do eligible candidates just get their scores and hope to be on the Register, or how does that work? Thanks so much! When I went through OPM did not send a candidate a list. You did get some info on rankings such as (and I am making up the numbers) and grades: 96 candidates above a 93.1 grade, 232 candidates above 90.4 etc. I simply don't remember the exact details from 6 years ago. Maybe some others will have a better understanding of the current process. |
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Post by privateatty on Oct 16, 2007 13:12:01 GMT -5
Thank you ALJSouth. You made my day, even if I don't know my hopes have any basis in fact. Hope springs eternal...
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Post by odarite on Oct 16, 2007 13:26:36 GMT -5
My recollection (or lack thereof) is the same as ALJSouth.
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Post by chieftain on Oct 17, 2007 8:13:13 GMT -5
Does the agency really pay for 450 or so folks to come to DC for an interview with a couple of canned questions regarding geographical preference? Surely there must be more to it than that?
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Post by learnedhand on Oct 17, 2007 9:07:55 GMT -5
They probably also apply the "sit and squirm" test.
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Post by notafed on Oct 17, 2007 12:00:11 GMT -5
(1) So if the next interview for those that make the Certificate of 450 is in Falls Church, is there ever an interview at the ODAR where the candidate is being considered or is the candidate just hired, assigned, and shows up.
Alternatively stated, do you get to meet the folks you will work with before taking the job or do you have to agree to accept a pig in a poke?
(2) Just to clarify, at the Falls Church interview, there will be an opportunity to add/subtract locations from your preference list?
Thanks!
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Post by goodoleboy on Oct 17, 2007 12:19:06 GMT -5
There have been many postings about this from some insiders but, once again, you are buying a pig in a poke when you accept an ALJ position. You work where the agency tells you for as long as the agency tells you. Unless you are very lucky and live in the city of your appointment. you will have no knowledge of the office nor will you have time to inspect and meet before you either accept of reject an offer. The interview you had with the OPM "team" is nothing like the interview you will have with the SSA judges. It is the most important aspect of the process. If they think you're a poor choice, no matter how high your score, you will not be invited to join the party and there is really no way to prepare for the interview, whenever that may be.
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