Re: federal hiring process

Refreshing to hear an HR person feels the same way I do.
Many times it seems as though the HR folks feel a need to
defend the hiring process BECAUSE they are in HR. And, I too have seen several people retire and come right back to work. Another point of contention, retiring military officers coming right back to work in "newly" created billets as a higher level civil service worker. Had that happen here more than several times too. The CO takes care of his retiring buddies with "new" positions that no one ever knew there was a need for until the "chosen" one retired. Needless to say, there was no competition there!! Lastly, HR announced a vacancy in my building and management had already
put someone in the job!! Needless to say, people were mislead on that one and disappointed. And, the office where this happened? Next door to the HR office.

Re: federal hiring process

Dear HR Specialist,

It concerns me that you did not represent yourself better by checking for spelling errors before you submitted your comment. It takes away from your crediability as an HR Specialist. This is not a positive light to represent your organization if you are going to comment about it. If so, it stands to reason why there are many problems in USDA (not just with the hiring process)....

Re: federal hiring process

People in glass houses should not throw stones. We all need to learn how to spell...and it's not just a USDA problem DoD...

Re: federal hiring process

Now if we're going to discuss true nepotism, then I will bring up the "sacred cow" of Spouse Preference. And before anyone is foolish enough to ask that question, I am an Army Vet and yes, I saw combat. Time after time, I see a barely qualified (and I do mean barely) spouse applicant shove aside applicants with years of experience and degrees to snatch a GS-06/7 or higher from their grasp, only to leave the position after 2-4 years. This program is one of several reasons I have been unable to advance for over 20 years. This is true discrimination, based on marital status. If you're not married to a service member and are trying to advance on a medium to large military installation, you can forget advancement unless you are willing to bow to the "good ole boy" system.

Re: I think you're forgetting something

Someone once told me: If email had been invented first, the telephone would be the best thing since sliced bread.

If applicants who have struggled with the current electronic systems were to be offered a 171, they might thank their lucky stars! And by the way, the electronic version of the 171 makes it a whole lot easier than the clunky typewriters of yore.

Re: The Quiet Storm

Hmmm....Rural Development Manager at USDA with 15+ years of service. That narrows it down. You know you should practice what you preach. Once one gets up there, they should reach back to help others. I seem to be having a little of a problem identifying and sympathizing with your plight of not getting through the maze.

Re: The Quiet Storm

I have to fight my anger at this system every day. I have 24 years service, a BS degree in my field, 26 semester hours in graduate work and cannot get beyound a GS-05 Administrative Assistant. I have fought for two decades to try and advance with nothing but outstanding performance appraisals and performance awards, but always watch others climb up the ladder; many times on my back.

Re: job applications

Worse yet, is NEVER getting to the interviewing process because Spouse Preference applicants get the job with less education and experience. I caught my CPOC in a lie when they said I initially did not get referred for a position because "I was not in the highly qualified group." Further queries came back with a sudden change in the answer; "Spouse Preference applicant was selected." a068Like I said in previous post, "many have climbed up on my back."

Re: Agency Hiring and Promotion

That's pretty much what I'm doing, waiting it out. I had a real desire to make a significant contribution, but years of being treated like a second-class citizen have damped down the fires. Why don't "they" try the talent that's already there, being overlooked? Doing away with time-in-grade would be a big step forward. In the meantime, my best is now reserved for me, my friends and my family.

Re: Agency Hiring and Promotion

Dear Thorn in my Side - You know what they say, "Never Give Up!" If you believe it, you will achieve it. I agree that it is a challenge but until the system is fixed, work it. Keep putting out those applications, keep applying. Me - I am on a mission. I have a goal in mind. I am not retiring at a low grade and end of getting minimum in retirement pay. I don't want to HAVE to work after retirement.

Re: Agency Hiring and Promotion

Thorn in the side - having been in this business for quite a while, your comment about doing away with "time-in-grade" tells me that your enthusiasm to do great things probably disappeared in a short time. 1) the Witten Ammendment (time-in-grade) disappeared years ago, 2) the X-118 details quality and quantity of experience required at a minimum to qualify for a given position and is probably what you are thinking of, 3) doing away with the X-118 so you or anyone else could get about saving the world is laughable (good thing Mother Teressa didn't need sainthood before starting her works), 4) poor application and hiring tools REMAIN a problem; when I started in HR 31 years ago, the joke was that the government hiring process lead to "Hiring the best of the desperate". Unfortunately, I find that little has changed. As for you, if you truly want to do something significant, quit feeling sorry for yourself and do the job in front of you to the best of your ability.

Re: Agency Hiring and Promotion

I seem to have hit a nerve with HR Specialist, EPA, and I wasn't even trying! HRS makes a lot of assumptions, and most of them are unwarranted. Time-in-grade still regularly appears on announcements, regardless of the status of the X-118 or the Witten Amendment (note spelling); I have "been in this business" for almost as long as HRS, and in "other business" for a combined total of 38 years; and far from feeling sorry for myself, I am laughing because "There's a light at the end of the tunnel!" (Have you all noticed that in the last 20 years or so, the accusation of feeling sorry for one's self has become a kind of catch-all when the accuser doesn't like what someone says?) As for the world, if it wants to be saved, it can save itself. I do certainly agree about "poor hiring tools", though.

HRS is simply displaying foolishness in attacking someone about whom she or he is ignorant. It might hurt my feelings if I weren't so busy laughing.