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Posts Tagged ‘Federal Jobs’

Federal Disability Hiring — The Road is Paved with Good Intentions, but We’re Still Waiting for the Numbers

Posted in Federal Resume Writing
by Nicole Schultheis on October 5th, 2011 | No Comments - Make a comment »

Federal Disability Hiring — The Road is Paved with Good Intentions, but We’re Still Waiting for the Numbers

By Nicole Schultheis

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Let’s see where we are on this important subject.

On August 18, 2011, President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order* establishing a new, government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce. Reiterating the Federal Government’s commitment to equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion, President Obama reminded us of our government’s special obligation to lead by example.

The coordinated effort means that U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director John Berry and Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Jeff Zients are to work together with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien and the President’s Management Council (PMC) to establish a government-wide initiative promoting diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce. Under the Order, by mid-November of this year, a government-wide strategic plan with guidance for agency-specific plans must be in place, setting forth best practices and establishing a method for agencies to report on their progress. By mid-December, federal agencies are to issue their own, specific Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plans, addressing recruitment, hiring, promotion, retention, professional development and training.

The more recent initiative follows on the heels of Executive Order 13548, “Increasing Federal Employment of Individuals with Disabilities,”** issued July 26, 2010, which required agencies to designate senior-level officials to create programs for individuals with disabilities and targeted disabilities, to increase use of the Federal Government’s Schedule A excepted service hiring authority for persons with disabilities, and to increase participation of individuals with disabilities in internships, fellowships, and training and mentoring programs. The “targeted disabilities” are set forth on Standard Form 256, and include total deafness, blindness, missing extremities and paralysis, among others deemed severe. (See last year’s blog entry by Kathryn Troutman on this subject, http://www.resume-place.com/2010/10/its-national-disabilities-employment-awareness-month/.)

As part of the 2010 effort, OPM and OMB were to implement a system for regular reporting. The July 2010 Executive Order directed OPM to “compile and post on its website Government wide statistics on the hiring of individuals with disabilities.” Since then, although OPM has included on its “Federal Employment of People with Disabilities” site, http://www.opm.gov/disability/, a comprehensive list of links to federal agencies’ web pages dealing with disability employment as well as other organizations and publications related to the employment of people with disabilities—and among them appears a link to the US Census Bureau’s data on disability and employment nationally—it would appear neither EEOC nor OPM has published new statistics relating to the federal government’s own disability hiring numbers.

In FY 2009, the Federal Government reported a total work force of 2,811,277 employees, compared to 2,442,643 in FY 2000. The Annual Report on the Federal Work Force for Fiscal Year 2009 provided a 10- year retrospective on federal hiring statistics, compared to the overall civilian workforce. For this period EEOC reported little overall change in the composition of the federal workforce; indeed there was even a slight decline during that decade in targeted disability hiring, from 1.12% to 0.88% of the overall federal workforce. As of 2009, a total of approximately 25,000 persons with targeted disabilities held federal jobs. (Comparables in overall civilian workforce are not available.)

In August 2011, the Office of Disability Employment Policy reported a labor force participation rate of 21.0% for people with disabilities, compared to 69.9% of persons without reported disabilities. No comparable data was released by OPM or EEOC relative to the federal civilian workforce. Although the 2010 and 2011 Executive Orders relating to disability and diversity hiring are expected to significantly enhance opportunities for inclusion of persons with disabilities in the federal workforce, unfortunately it is still too soon to tell what impact these initiatives will have.

Perhaps we’ll know more by next year.

*The full text of “Establishing a Coordinated Government-Wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce,” is posted here.

**The full text of “Increasing Federal Employment of Individuals with Disabilities,” is posted here.

Nicole

USAJOBS 3.0 is Coming: Latest OPM Update

Posted in Federal Job Search, Federal Resume Writing, www.USAJOBS.gov
by Kathryn Troutman on September 30th, 2011 | 2 Comments - Make a comment »

Interruption in Service is slated for the Columbus Day Holiday Weekend

Are you ready for USAJOBS 3.0?

After I posted my blog two days ago about the USAJOBS 3.0 transition, I learned about some important updates regarding the USAJOBS 3.0 transition for another Resume Place, Inc. Blog. I am very glad to see these updates and would like you to share the dates, times and access to USAJOBS info with your colleagues and federal job-seeking friends.

During the transition to USAJOBS 3.0, please be aware that:

>> The transition will begin at 5:00 pm EDT on October 7 and extend through the Columbus Day Holiday Weekend. OPM has worked hard to compress the schedule to just the Columbus holiday weekend.

>> There will be announcements posted to USAJOBS prior to and even during the transition. OPM requested agencies close their announcements before October 6th. Many agencies chose, however, to leave announcements open over the transition period. So, during the transition, a listing of open announcements will be available on USAJOBS.gov, but not the robust search function.

>> The search and apply functions will continue to be available until 5:00 pm EDT on October 7, 2011, at which time the transition will begin.

>> Jobseekers can access USAJOBS during the transition. In fact, we suggest they visit USAJOBS.gov for daily status updates.

>> Jobseekers will NOT be able to upload/build a resume or check status during the transition, because the data is stabilized during the transition – nothing is added, deleted or changed until after the transition is complete.

>> Who’s doing the update: OPM has an IT staff (the Human Resources Tools and Technologies staff in Macon, GA) that focuses specifically on building and maintaining secure, scalable HRIT systems for OPM, as well as other Federal organizations. Different personnel within that organization work on the different systems HRTT builds and maintains. USAJOBS and USAStaffing are just two of the systems maintained by HRTT. The USAJOBS staff within HRTT will execute the transition of USAJOBS along with the USAJOBS program office staff. Note: USAStaffing is an OPM-owned Talent Acquisition System (TAS); Monster and other vendors also offer TASs. TASs interface with USAJOBS, but are the “back-end” systems used by HR specialists within the federal agencies.

>> OPM will extract, validate and convert five billion lines of data (not documents) before loading it into USAJOBS 3.0.

>> USAJOBS 3.0 will no longer capture social security numbers as previous versions did in the account profile. Some applications submitted through USAJOBS, however, may request SSN based on the hiring agency’s requirements.

>> Still a good idea: Before the search and apply functions are taken offline on Oct. 7, you may want to consider downloading and backing up the latest versions of your resumes posted in USAJOBS.

USAJOBS 3.0 is Coming = Interruption in Service

Posted in Federal Job Info, Federal Job Search, Federal Resume Writing, www.USAJOBS.gov
by Kathryn Troutman on September 26th, 2011 | No Comments - Make a comment »

During the transition to USAJOBS 3.0, please be aware that:

  • No new announcements will be posted Oct. 1, 2011 to Oct. 12, 2011.
  • No access to USAJOBS will be allowed Oct. 6 to Oct. 12, 2011.

Five billion documents are being reviewed and re-uploaded into a new USAJOBS system in Macon, Georgia by USAStaffing IT specialists. The USAJOBS IT specialists will be downloading, analyzing, and re-uploading over 5 billion documents from jobseekers who have their resumes and documents loaded into USAJOBS 2.0; eliminating your Social Security Numbers; doing something with passwords (you will probably have to reset your password with your same email account after the Oct. 12 reset); and set up parameters for Resume Mining by HR specialists.

There won’t be a totally new look and feel, but there will be some new features that are better for you and for the HR customers who post the positions.

Before the site is down on Oct. 6, you may want to consider downloading and backing up the latest versions of your resumes posted in USAJOBS.

What to do while USAJOBS is down

If you are an active federal jobseeker, what can you be doing while USAJOBS is down for six days, and there are no new announcements for almost two weeks?

Below is a list of suggested activities that will keep your federal job search moving forward and prepare you for when USAJOBS becomes available again:

Read the rest of this entry »

9/11 Inspired Ten Steps to a Federal Job

Posted in Federal Resume Writing
by Kathryn Troutman on September 11th, 2011 | 1 Comment - Make a comment »

First Edition

Ten Steps First Ed

Second Edition

Ten Steps 2nd Ed

Third Edition

Ten Steps 3rd Ed

Brian Moore designed Covers for First and Second Editions. Paulina Chen designed the cover for the Third Edition.

The first edition book won Best Careers Book of the Year, Ben Franklin Award.

Did you know that the idea for the book Ten Steps to a Federal Job was essentially started because of the events of 9/11?

Starting on the day after the attack, concerned US citizens were calling our office at The Resume Place, Inc. to ask for help with applying for federal positions. We saw that Americans needed a quick step-by-step guide to federal jobs in order to understand the complex application process and successfully apply for the anti-terrorism, emergency management, and law enforcement careers. I wrote and published the first edition of Ten Steps to a Federal Job within months after Sept. 11, 2001.

US citizens would call and say, “I want to have a job that will make a difference. I want to help protect our nation’s security. I don’t want to sell computers, or cars, or financial services anymore. I want a job with a federal agency that can make a difference for America. I don’t know anything about federal jobs, but I want a job where I can help make America more secure, somehow, some way.”

Jobseekers were in a hurry to land a job where they could make a difference in America against terrorism. They wanted jobs where they could contribute their skills to new careers in security, safety, disaster preparedness, analysis, data, and communications to increase information about and reduce terrorism toward America.

Financial job seekers from the New York City financial district were calling to find new careers using the financial background that they developed for many years in NYC. Their businesses were gone, many colleagues were lost during the attacks, and thousands of jobs were wiped away. We helped many financial analysts and financial specialists relocate and redirect their careers into financial services in government agencies. Hundreds of new public service job seekers were asking about first-time federal jobs where they could make a difference. Agencies and jobs that were of the most interest were:

  1. FBI – Police and law enforcement people wanted to help the FBI track terrorists.
  2. TSA – This agency was formed very soon after 9/11, and many police personnel retired and security and law enforcement personnel flocked to TSA.
  3. FEMA – Emergency preparedness, disaster preparedness, and EMT personnel were seeking positions to take care of emergencies that may occur in America following this day.
  4. CIA, NSA, NGA – People from all walks of life were interested in intelligence positions, including language specialists, especially Arabic language speakers.
  5. DHS, including CIS, CBP – People wanted to be part of change in immigration, customs and border work to help monitor those who came to the country safety.
  6. HHS, CDC – Public interest spiked in epidemiology, biology, and forensics as related to possible terrorism in America.
  7. Military services – Thousands of brave Americans volunteered for the active duty and reserves services and would deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan for many tours over these past 10 years to protect America.

Ten Steps to a Federal Job gave thousands of patriotic, public service-oriented Americans the steps they needed to try to begin a public service career that could help improve our watchful eye against terrorism, to serve expert skills in counter-terrorism; assist with emergency preparedness; design continuity plans; and help manage disasters that we hope won’t occur.

The Ten Steps to a Federal Job curriculum is still being taught in military bases around the world to military personnel and spouses who are currently serving America to ensure the safety and security of US Citizens.

A message of sincere appreciate also goes out to the military personnel who have served for the last 10 years and sacrificed SO MUCH to protect America in Iraq and Afghanistan. We at The Resume Place, Inc. are dedicated to helping the military and public servants continue to protect the security of Americans.

Sincerely, Kathryn Troutman, Author and Publisher, Ten Steps to a Federal Job, now in 3rd edition.

USAJOBS 3.0 is Coming October 13, 2011

Posted in Federal Job Search, Federal Resume Writing, www.USAJOBS.gov
by Kathryn Troutman on September 2nd, 2011 | 1 Comment - Make a comment »

USAJOBS will be shut down Oct. 6-13th for Upgrade!

USAJOBS-3.0If you find the USAJOBS federal job application system frustrating and difficult, there’s some good news coming your way. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is about to give the government jobs website a complete makeover. The newly redone website is set to make its debut on October 13th. Agencies will be closing all announcements by October 6th, so the old system can be taken off line and the new one set up, and all data moved over. OPM is promising a few new changes that job applicants should like.

First, according to OPM associate director of employee services Angela Bailey, OPM will be able to search resumes for specific applicant information. This is a process that currently takes months. The result will be quicker, more efficient, better-targeted recruiting efforts. Agency recruiters will be able to find and use data and information much more quickly.

In addition, the goal is to make the system more user-friendly. Job seekers will only have to enter personal information once. Users will also be able to expect improved search results with details about salaries, grade levels and job categories.

OPM is working on more changes to streamline the federal hiring process, including a skills testing tool, to replace the Knowledge Skills and Abilities (KSAs) statements that applicants are currently trying to squeeze into their resumes. Stay tuned. It looks like more change is on the way.

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