On October 5, Krista Nowicki and Kathryn Troutman teamed together to present a program to encourage both supervisors to consider and hire more people with disabilities, and for the applicants to write a better federal resume for their Schedule A applications.
Krista Nowicki collects and manages the resumes of Schedule A applicants for this agency in Battle Creek, Michigan and serves as applicant advocate as well as supervisory consultant on hiring through the Schedule A hiring authority. Krista’s goal is to match the best qualified candidates with positions that will be a win-win for both the employee and the supervisor.
More than 100 supervisors, employees and applicants attended the workshop to learn more about why supervisors should be reviewing the resumes and considering candidates that are currently sitting in the Disabilities Program Manager’s folder of Targeted and Non-Targeted Disability candidates. In just the last 60 days, DLA Logistics Information System has hired five targeted employees with more candidates under consideration following this program.
The President’s Executive Order
The President has urged all federal agencies to embrace the federal hiring practices in a more user friendly way as the percent of hires and total workforce with disabilities are below 5%. The President has asked all federal agencies to step up to the plate to hiring more qualified individuals with disabilities including the war veterans. Please make this your status quo and your priority to making a difference in your hiring practices.
“Individuals with disabilities currently represent just over 5 percent of the nearly 2.5 million people in the Federal workforce, and individuals with targeted disabilities (as defined below) currently represent less than 1 percent of that workforce.” … As the Nation’s largest employer, the Federal Government must become a model for the employment of individuals with disabilities. My Administration is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in the Federal workforce through compliance with Executive Order 13163 and achievement of the goals set forth therein over 5 years, including specific goals for hiring individuals with targeted disabilities. Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-increasing-federal-employment-individuals-with-disabilities
+ Tip for Applicants
Follow the laws, executive orders, articles having to do with hiring people with disabilities. Stay in tune with the agencies that are hiring and writing about this topic. Pick up the names of Disability Coordinators in various agencies and write to them, sending your Schedule A package.
Supervisors have a very unique opportunity to hire high quality individuals who may have a disability.
These individuals have been screened through their respective Disabilities Coordinator and are well qualified to work. By going through you Disabilities Coordinator, you as a supervisor not only have a unique opportunity to hire an individual with a disability with skills, abilities and are qualified but are also very reliable and highly productive citizens.
+ Tip for Applicants with Targeted or Non-Targeted Disabilities
Write your federal resume toward one or two specific occupational series / positions in government. Research the government job titles and the agency’s mission to determine how you could best fit into an agency. Include a cover letter which states what kind of positions you are seeking, and your top 5 skills that you can offer this agency.
Your Disabilities Coordinator is your Schedule A Hiring Consultant.
Your Disabilities Coordinator will assist you in utilizing the Schedule A process which not only streamlines the hiring process to bring employees on board quickly and faster than the competitive process but also give you the opportunity to give back and to give others a chance and a opportunity to be working and pay taxes and not be reliant on public support as you and I are paying for out of our taxes. The more we can get these individuals who want to work and be productive citizens the less taxes we all pay.
+ Tip for Applicants
Be an advocate for yourself and others who are disabled. Share information about what you learn on social networking so that others can be educated about the Schedule A process. You will learn by communicating with your Disabilities Coordinator various lessons, tips and strategies to get your resume in front of supervisors in their agencies.
Hire faster!
When the hiring opportunity comes up in these circumstances that require quick turnaround time to fill your position(s). When you are given an opportunity to hire and at times it’s in a very short timeframe, your Disability Coordinator is an excellent resource to turn to on a monthly basis or as needed basis. Refer to Schedule A as your hiring resource as you don’t have to advertise your vacant position through the Schedule A process. By utilizing the Schedule A process, you will cut your hiring timeline process in half especially when u have a direct hiring and a hiring freeze in place.
+ Tip for Applicants
Send the resume and cover letter and Schedule A letter to the Disability Coordinator, but also apply for jobs online through USAJOBS. Just submit the same package applying for positions that are posted. Follow all the directions and apply for Schedule A positions online.
Get to know your friendly, hard-working Disability Coordinator.
By keeping your communications open on a regular basis (monthly) will also increase your chances of filling your positions not only in a timely manner but also making a difference for others whom will do the same once hired and off the public support roles.
+ Tip for Applicants
Get to know the agency’s Disability Coordinator. Send your resume and cover letter and follow up. Ask questions about the types of positions that are available and write your resume to include skills that will help the Disability Coordinator market your specialized experience. Follow-up once every 2 or 3 weeks, to see if there is any interest, or if the Disability Coordinator has had the chance to present your resume to any supervisors.
Photograph: Krista Nowicki is the People with Disabilities Program Manager for Defense Logistics Agency Logistics Information System in Battle Creek, Michigan. Kathryn Troutman is the author of Federal Resume Guidebook, 5th Edition which contains a new chapter on applying for federal positions with the Schedule A Hiring Authority.
You have all heard by now that the USAJOBS 3.0 transition did NOT go quite as well as we had hoped. The devastating result this has caused today for job seekers is that currently there are VERY FEW positions being posted.
If you applied for a federal job between late afternoon Sunday, August 7, 2011 and midday Tuesday, August 9, 2011 the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has some bad news for you and 70,000 of your closest friends: Your application is lost in cyberspace and it isn’t coming back. The USA Staffing system was unexpectedly taken offline on August 9th, according to a message first posted on a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) server. The error occurred during routine maintenance, but the only way to fix it was to take it entirely offline and restore it to its pre-glitch form. This means any work done during those two days was erased. Many more people who tried to apply for positions on August 10th found that they couldn’t. The result was a flurry of complaints posted on the USAJobs Facebook page. OPM has apologized for the problem.