So You Want to be an Administrative Law Judge?
The Office of Personnel Management put out a notice today that they'll be listing openings for Administrative Law Judge positions on USAJobs.gov shortly. The announcement was a warning to be quick if you want to be able to take the exams that qualify you for the jobs:
Due to the overwhelming volume of applications OPM expects to receive, the number of applications the agency will accept for processing will be determined on the basis of projected government-wide hiring needs. OPM will announce the limit at the time the examination opens to applicants. Completed applications will be accepted in the order they are received until 11:59 p.m. (EST) the day in which the limit has been reached.
In the last round, OPM got 600 applications in two days. So ready your resumes, folks. The starter's gun is cocked and ready to fire, even if we don't know exactly when it'll go off.
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Government Executive Staff Correspondent Alyssa Rosenberg takes a look at news affecting the management and operations of the massive federal bureaucracy.
Why? I you're not disabled or a veteran, you have absolutely no chance at getting any ALJ position, even in really undesirable locations (hello, South Dakota). Save yourself the emotional turmoil and stress, as well as dashed hopes, and avoid this process. You just really don't stand a chance.
Moreover, and for completely unknown reasons, the only federal agency that actually selects individuals from the OPM register is Social Security. Incredibly, there are lots of qualified candidates with pertinent adjudication experience presently languishing on the roster. It's unbelievable. Anyone know why other federal agencies don't select from the OPM register?
Wiliam Posted Thursday, October 29, 2009 9:20 AMInteresting, I always thought that the opposite was true. I thought if you are disabled you are less likely to be hired because agencies have budgetary restrictions and are less likely to have the funds to expend for accommodations. Nevertheless, if someone has a disability that is recognized by their agency and the agency provides accommodations, is there anything more required to satisfy the disability designation for an ALJ position.
Ren Posted Thursday, October 29, 2009 2:27 PMThe agencies try to promote from within. The good ol' people they already know. Nobody from outside...they might blow the whistle. Example SEC.
J MITCHELL Posted Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:20 PMThere are hundreds of competent attorneys already working for the ODAR offices where SSA ALJ's work. SSA regularly bypasses current employees to select attorneys from outside the organization who have minimal knowledge of SSA's regulations, mission, institutional history et. al. These appointments are real judicial appointments and are pretty much for life. Problems with the ODAR's performance and consistency are legendary. With deference to J Mitchell, the whistle has been blown by insiders, outsiders, and people just passing by on the street. A poor selection can haunt an office for decades. If SSA must continue to employ ALJ's in the unique ways that they do, they should at least give due consideration to the people who know how the ODAR's work. This also allows for SSA to know how potential ALJ's work. An attorney adviser has a track record that can be a good predictor of future performance.
greg keating Posted Sunday, November 1, 2009 1:07 PMSSA is the largest employer and has the most vacancies in any given year given the nature of their case workload. Positions in other agencies are relatively few vis a vis their workload. There will be a sea change as concerns alj positions in the other regualatory agencies within the next few years.
The larger question with the alj exam is the lack of importance given to the unique alj position vis a vis the dismantlement several years ago of a discrete alj office which administered the exam and deal with all issues alj; the lack of transparency with regard to the examination process overall; the lack of advance information as to the criteria to be reflected in the vacancy notice in advance of its posting; the manner in which and the weighting if any and the scoring of the several parts of the exam; and the the race to the computer engendered by the short filing window. These deficiences need to be cured now and before there is a further examination.
art nuvo Posted Monday, November 2, 2009 7:55 AM