New site offers how-to guide for applying to Presidential Management Fellows program
October 8th, 2012 | OPM | Posted by Sean Reilly
Interested in one of those prestigious Presidential Management Fellowships? A newly launched web site hopes to answer all your questions about the selective program, which offers recent graduate students a paid, two-year stint with a federal agency, followed by the chance for a permanent career.
The interactive site is backed by the Robertson Foundation for Government, a nonprofit group that seeks to attract top grad students to federal careers in the foreign policy and national security arenas, and the online social network, GovLoop. The new site offers considerably more material than is available from the official site, including tips and insights for handling different stages of the application process.
Tags: GovLoop, Presidential Managment Fellows, Robertson Foundation for Government
VA career tool may be example for other agencies
July 23rd, 2012 | Agency Management Career Information Office of Personnel Management OPM Veterans Affairs Workplace | Posted by Oriana Pawlyk
Veterans Affairs Department employees have had access to one of the government’s best career-development tools since October.
Soon, you may see something like it coming to your agency.
Last week, top VA officials demonstrated the tool — called MyCareer@VA — at a meeting of administration and union leaders.
“When you think about your own career, there are times that you want to figure out how to get ahead, but there are also times that you may feel like you’re stuck and want to do something else,” said VA Deputy Secretary Scott Gould as he presented the website July 18 to a meeting of the National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations, led by Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry.
Gould and Alice Muellerweiss, dean of the VA Learning University, said the website helps employees hurdle common career setbacks.
“We know that the number one reason people leave their organizations is because they cannot see their path, they cannot chart their path, they can’t set their goals, and they don’t set up their development plan,” Muellerweiss said.
The website, MyCareerAtVA.va.gov, prompts employees to plug in their skills and experience and then provides them a variety of jobs throughout the department that — with some additional training and education — could be a fit for them down the road.
Among the website’s key features:
- MyCareer Mapping Tool. This searches for jobs across multiple occupational families and outlines what competencies, knowledge areas and skills are needed to reach an employee’s career goal.
- MyCareer Fit Tool. This helps match specific jobs to an employee’s self-identified career interests and work environment preferences.
- VA Career Guides. This offers employees detailed profiles of suggested jobs and offices they might consider as future steps on their career paths. For each job, it outlines what education, licensing, recommended training, and developmental experiences are recommended, based on the user’s profile.
The website is still growing and developing. Its searchable jobs inventory is about 75 percent complete and VA managers aim to get that figure to 100 percent of mission-critical jobs by next April.
OPM’s Berry said some agencies are looking at adopting similar career-development tools and looking specifically at the VA tool as a possible role model.
To learn more about MyCareer@VA, view the video below:
Taps for the National Security Personnel System
December 28th, 2011 | Defense OPM | Posted by Sean Reilly
As of this Sunday, the National Security Personnel System is officially defunct.
In a Federal Register notice published today, the Office of Personnel Management and the Defense Department report that they are repealing the regulations accompanying the controversial pay-for-performance system effective Jan. 1. The repeal is basically just housekeeping; the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act ended the legal authority for the NSPS and declared that any existing regs would be toast by the beginning of 2012.
Should anyone need a refresher on what the very long-running flap was about, incidentally, this Federal Times article offers a good recap.
Tags: Defense Department, National Security Personnel System, Office of Personnel Management
Some federal buildings closed after 5.9-magnitude earthquake, OPM grants excused absence, telework
August 24th, 2011 | OPM | Posted by Nicole Johnson
UPDATED 9:55 a.m.: More than a dozen federal buildings in the Washington area, including the Interior Department’s headquarters on C Street, are closed today following the 5.9- magnitude earthquake that rocked the east coast Tuesday afternoon.
“Emergency employees are expected to report for work on time,” regardless of their building being closed, according to an update posted on the Office of Personnel Management’s website, which includes a list of all building closures as of 1:50 a.m. (A list of building closures is also included below).
Employees working at buildings that are open will have the option of unscheduled leave and unscheduled telework, OPM said.
Here are guidelines for non-emergency employees if your building is closed:
- Non-emergency employees (including employees on pre-approved paid leave) will be granted excused absence (administrative leave) for the number of hours they were scheduled to work, unless–
- The employee is required to telework by his or her agency’s official policy as reflected in his or her written telework agreement;
- The employee works or is on official travel outside of the Washington, DC area;
- The employee is on leave without pay (LWOP); or
- The employee is on an alternative work schedule (AWS) day off.
OPM has directed workers to check with their supervisors and on agency websites to see if their building has been opened and for further guidance.
Building closures:
- U.S. DRUG ADMINISTRATION
- FOREST SERVICE, USDA YATES BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC
- FOREST SERVICE, USDA YATES BUILDING
- INDEPENDENT US GOVERNMENT OFFICES
- NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM
5TH & F STREETS, NW
WASHINGTON, DC
- NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM
- DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
- AGRICULTURE SOUTH
14TH & INDEPENDENCE AVE SW
WASHINGTON, DC
- AGRICULTURE SOUTH
- DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
- NEBRASKA AVENUE COMPLEX
BLDG 1
WASHINGTON, DC - NEBRASKA AVENUE COMPLEX
BLDG 19
WASHINGTON, DC
- NEBRASKA AVENUE COMPLEX
- DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
- DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HQ
1849 C. ST, NW
WASHINGTON, DC - DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SOUTH
1951 CONSTITUTION AVE, NW
WASHINGTON, DC
- DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HQ
VIRGINIA
- DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
- BUILDING A, 6810
FRANCONIA, VA
- BUILDING A, 6810
MARYLAND
- OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
- ONE WHITE FLINT NORTH
11555 ROCKVILLE PIKE
BETHESDA, MD
- ONE WHITE FLINT NORTH
- ARCHIVES
- WASH NAT RECORDS CT
4205 SUITLAND RD
SUITLAND, MD
- WASH NAT RECORDS CT
- DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
- HUBERT HUMPHREY BLDG
200 INDEPENDENCE AVE
WASHINGTON, DC
- HUBERT HUMPHREY BLDG
- DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
- FRANCES PERKINS BLDG
200 CONSTITUTION AVE NW
WASHINGTON, DC
- FRANCES PERKINS BLDG
- NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS
- POST OFFICE OLD
1100 PENNSYLVANIA AVE, NW
WASHINGTON, DC
- POST OFFICE OLD
- DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
- 8401 MUIRKIRK RD
LAUREL, MD
- 8401 MUIRKIRK RD
Tags: earthquake, telework
OPM establishes new IT career paths
June 10th, 2011 | Information Technology OPM | Posted by Nicole Johnson
The Office of Personnel Management has established a formal career path for information technology program managers and IT project managers, according to a recent memo.
In a memo last month, OPM encouragesd agencies to use the new title as soon as possible “to recruit, select and develop a cadre of high-performing IT program managers,” the memo said. Agencies have a year to align their standards with those provided by OPM.
Under the administration’s IT reform plan, OPM was charged with designing a career path by this month.
According to OPM’s definitions, a program manager is responsible for managing one or more major, multi-year IT initiatives and is accountable for the overall success of the program. An IT project manager directly manages a project to provide a unique service of product. Both are included in the IT management series. Agencies have a year to align their standards with those provided by OPM’s.
Tags: IT program manager
USPS pension puzzle (revisited)
March 18th, 2011 | 2012 Budget OPM Postal Service Uncategorized | Posted by Sean Reilly
Attentive (and we mean really attentive) Fedline readers might remember a post from last month about the apparent disconnect of the Office of Personnel Management’s charging the U.S. Postal Service more for its current pension contributions at the same time the Obama administration is proposing a big refund to the Postal Service on past contributions. We’d asked OPM for comment and finally received an answer yesterday. So, in the interest of thoroughness, we’re rerunning the original Feb. 22 post, with the OPM response appended verbatim.
Here’s an intriguing nugget from the U.S. Postal Service’s latest quarterly report: Even as the Obama administration agrees that the Postal Service is owed a huge refund on past payments to its pension program, the Office of Personnel Management—headed by Obama appointee John Berry—is requiring it to shell out more for current payments.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2011, the Postal Service’s contributions to the Federal Employees Retirement System, or FERS, rose by $24 million—from $1,469 million to $1,493 million—versus the same period in fiscal 2010, even though the USPS workforce continued to shrink, the report says. The reason, according to the Postal Service, is that its employer contribution rate increased from 11.2 percent to 11.7 percent of eligible payroll. The agency is appealing that boost to a federal board of actuaries on the grounds that its FERS obligation is already overfunded to the tune of some $6.9 billion.
In its newly released 2012 budget request, the White House proposed refunding the Postal Service that money over 30 years, starting with a $550 million down payment this year.
At least to non-actuarial minds, it seems contradictory to be giving with one hand and taking away with the other. In an email, OPM spokeswoman Brittney Manchester offered the following explanation:
“Under current law, the Postal FERS ongoing contributions and the Postal FERS surplus are subject to different provisions of law that are independent of each other. Without specific legal authority, the Office of Personnel Management cannot make adjustments to Postal’s ongoing contributions despite the fact that there is a surplus in the retirement fund attributable to Postal employees.
“The October 1, 2010, increase in the FERS employer contribution rate applied not just to the Postal Service, but to all other agencies as well. Under FERS, all agencies pay the same contribution rate. Different provisions apply to the overall funding situation. Retirement funding is a long-term matter, and estimates have to be made covering economic and other factors that are many years distant. Over the past quarter century, Postal Service FERS funding has grown gradually to exceed projected future liabilities by approximately $6.9 billion.”
“The President’s 2012 Budget provides short-term financial relief through a sensible and fair restructuring of key retiree liabilities, while seeking to work with Congress and stakeholders to secure needed reforms to modernize its business model.”
Tags: John Berry, Office of Personnel Management, U.S. Postal Service
USPS pension puzzle
February 22nd, 2011 | 2012 Budget OPM Postal Service | Posted by Sean Reilly
Here’s an intriguing nugget from the U.S. Postal Service’s latest quarterly report: Even as the Obama administration agrees that the Postal Service is owed a huge refund on past payments to its pension program, the Office of Personnel Management—headed by Obama appointee John Berry—is requiring it to shell out more for current payments.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2011, the Postal Service’s contributions to the Federal Employees Retirement System, or FERS, rose by $24 million—from $1,469 million to $1.493 million—versus the same period in fiscal 2010, even though the USPS workforce continued to shrink, the report says. The reason, according to the Postal Service, is that its employer contribution rate increased from 11.2 percent to 11.7 percent of eligible payroll. The agency is appealing that boost to a federal board of actuaries on the grounds that its FERS obligation is already overfunded to the tune of some $6.9 billion.
In its newly released 2012 budget request, the White House proposed refunding the Postal Service that money over 30 years, starting with a $550 million down payment this year.
At least to non-actuarial minds, it seems contradictory to be giving with one hand and taking away with the other. We’ve asked OPM for an explanation; if we get one, we’ll post it here.
Tags: Federal Employees, John Berry, Office of Personnel Management
OPM and CIO Council to launch IT workforce survey
January 14th, 2011 | OMB OPM | Posted by Nicole Johnson
The Office of Personnel Management is conducting yet another workforce-related survey, this time with the CIO Council.
Under the administration’s IT reform plan, OPM is taking the lead on creating a specialized career path for program managers. The survey, in part, will aid OPM in the process and provide strategies “to recruit, retain, develop, and manage a fully trained and qualified IT workforce,” according to information posted on CIO.gov.
From Jan. 18 to Feb. 25, all federal civilian information technology workers will have access to the 2011 IT Workforce Capability Assessment via CIO.gov.
Results will help agencies:
- Identify the existing IT expertise across the Government workforce.
- Determine where resources should be focused to improve or sustain IT competencies and skills.
- Assess progress in closing competency and skill gaps.
The voluntary survey will take about 40 to 60 minutes to complete, and results will be released this spring within each agency.
Tags: IT survey
Cybersecurity…what is it?
October 26th, 2010 | HR Management Information Technology OPM | Posted by Nicole Johnson
Top government officials agree that far more cybersecurity professionals are needed to defend the nations networks and solve one of its most pressing issues: hiring and retaining a qualified cyber workforce.
But defining exactly what those roles are and what skills are needed is the challenging part.
“That’s really the issues,” said Nancy Kichak, associate director of strategic human resource policy at the Office of Personnel Management at the Executive Leadership Conference on Tuesday. “Despite the fact that we all use the terminology cybersecurity, just what does it mean? And how do you definite it, and how do you identify these special skills that the cyber workforce has?
Kichak said the government is still determining whether it can hire cyber professionals under the current pay structure and what job positions comprise the cybersecurity workforce.
OPM hopes a recent cybersecurity survey, which wrapped up this month, will help answer those questions. The survey looked at critical tasks and competencies for cybersecurity workers. The agency also led focus groups for human resource managers.
“A lot of people want to be cyber security, but do they have the right training and skills to claim the right occupation, Kichak said.”
Short term, agencies need to offer job training for the current workforce and hone their skills, said David Wennergren, assistant deputy chief management officer in the Secretary of Defense’s office.
Agencies must also attract and invest in younger talent early on by offering scholarship programs and internship opportunities, Wennergren said.
Tags: ELC 2010
OPM leads cyber workforce focus groups
October 18th, 2010 | HR Management Information Technology Office of Personnel Management OPM | Posted by Nicole Johnson
The Office of Personnel Management is hosting a series of focus groups to garner solutions for beefing up the government’s cybersecurity workforce.
Starting today, OPM called on dozens of cybersecurity professionals and hiring managers to discuss strategies and best pratices for recruiting and retaining highly skilled workers. During the three-hour sessions, participants were given a list of potential solutions and asked to rank them as being the best or worst options for attracting cybersecurity workers.
Possible areas of focus include:
-Establishing a governmentwide cybersecurity certification process
-Mapping a governmentwide cybersecurity career path
-Create a new occupation definition, classification, qualification and standards
-Invest more in students
- Boost pay and use flexibilities
The focus groups are an extension of OPM’s work under the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE). The goal is to “ensure that federal agencies can attract, recruit and retain cybersecurity employees,” according to the NICE website.
Sessions will continue on Wednesday morning.