1. Pres ents:
Understanding
tHE
NEW am
r ogr
way sP
P ath
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing regulations to
implement the Pathways Programs established by E.O. 13562, signed
December 27, 2010, to provide clear paths to Federal internships and
potential careers in Government for students and recent graduates. As
directed by the President, the Pathways Programs consist of:
Internship Presidential Recent Grad
Program Management Program
Fellows
Prospects: Prospects: Prospects:
Students (high school, vocational / Advanced Degree Candidates Graduates (must apply within 2
technical, undergraduate, and (graduated within past 2 years). years of educational program
graduate level). completion - exceptions for veterans
who have up to 6 years).
Previous: Previous: Previous:
For more than three decades the This one is brand new.
Consolidate provisions of the Stu-
Presidential Management Fellows
dent Educational Employment
(PMF) Program has been the
Program (SEEP) into a new
Federal Government’s premier
student internship program.
leadership development program.
Program: Program: Program:
Expose students to the work of
Work in a 2-year developmental Place qualified grads in a 2-year
Government through Federal intern-
program. Expanded the eligibility career development program.
ship and attract the interest of
window, made it more "student
students enrolled in a wide variety
friendly" and aligned it with aca-
of educational institutions. Partici-
demic calendars.
pants get paid to work in agencies
and explore Federal careers while
still going to school.
}
}
Promotion:
Agencies may convert Pathways participants who successfully complete their program and academic
requirements to any competitive service position for which the individual is qualified (but they aren’t required
to do so). Even if an agency does not convert an individual, it increases the likelihood that the person will
consider applying for a Federal position at some point in the future.
5 Core Pathways Principles
1 2 3 4 5
Transparency Limited Fairness OPM Agency
Scope to Veterans Oversight Investment
Helps prospects Provides agencies a Honors veterans’ Requires agencies to Gets beyond excepted
discover internships supplemental authority preference when enter into a memoran- service hiring, encour-
through to use as part of an selecting from among dum of understanding ages agencies to
USAJOBS.gov. overall workforce qualified applicants, (MOU) with OPM create cohorts with
planning strategy with and creates more before using any of common training and
oversight from OPM flexibility for veterans the Pathways developmental experi-
that could include caps than non-veterans. Programs as well as ences, and requires
on competitive service annual reporting on meaningful participant
conversion. usage. assessments.
Pathways: A Brief History
Aug
2009
Convened an interagency team consisting of Federal employees
from six organizations – State, Education, Housing and
Urban Development (HUD), Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Oct OPM, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
2009 Hosted a “Roundtable Discussion on Federal Recruitment and Hiring Worked for 90 days to examine the
at Colleges and Universities” (hereafter “OPM Roundtable”) to explore barriers current Federal recruiting and
to hiring students and recent graduates hiring process of students
& recent grads.
Included representatives from nine different academic and good government organi-
zations
Jun
Convened a public hearing to consider issues connected to hiring students 2010
and recent graduates and issued a Federal Register notice inviting the
public to submit comments on three issues:
whether normal, competitive hiring is an effective avenue for bringing recent college
1 graduates into the Federal workforce and, if so, why;
if not, whether this presents a problem for the Federal Government that is sufficiently
2 significant to warrant action or changes to policy; and
Additional Assessments 3 if action or changes in policy are warranted, what changes should be effected and who
should effect them
Heard testimony from three panels of experts:
Gathered and reviewed relevant literature on topics agency Chief Human Capital Officers
such as entry-level hiring, recruiting and hiring students representatives from Federal employee unions and
and recent graduates, and the Federal Career Intern veterans’ service organizations
Program (FCIP). representatives from good gov’t and academic groups.
Received information from OPM’s qualifications and assessment
Posted the hearing transcript and issued a Federal
experts regarding the process for overhauling the currently
Register notice inviting the public to make
predominant training- and experience-based approach to qualifi-
any additional comments.
cations and assessments.
Posted materials that OPM considered as part of its review and
available for comment at www.opm.gov/open.
Conclusions
There’s a “strong match” which government There are barriers to hiring students and recent
offers and students want, but students are’t considering graduates that can only be addressed through effective
government as a viable option and/or lack the experience to excepted service internship programs.
compete for available positions.
Government needs to recruit and appoint Internship programs are essential to
more expeditiously, negating a significant disadvantage in addressing these issues by exposing students and recent gradu-
competing with the private sector for high-potential candi- ates to jobs in the Federal civil service at the beginning of their
dates emerging from educational institutions. careers.
Current and former interns will become Give agencies “a low-risk means to assess
our best recruiting sources, whicih translatesinto a potential employees on the job.” through an extended “on-the-
benefit to the country and the taxpayers. job tryout,” which is a relatively high indicator of future
success on the job. EPA OPM
NASA
SSA
State FBI
GSA
HUD
USAF
HHS
Submit Your Comments by October 4, 2011!
Web: http://1.usa.gov/pathwaysregs
Email: employ@opm.gov
Subject Line: “RIN 3206-AM34, Excepted Service, Career and Career-Conditional Employment; and
Pathways Programs”
Fax: (202) 606-4430
Mail: Angela Bailey, Associate Director for Employee Services,
U.S. Office of Personnel Management,
Room 6566, 1900 E Street NW,
Washington, DC 20415-9700.
For More Information
Gale Perryman, 202-606-1143, Fax: 202-606-4430 by TTY: 202-418-2532, or email:
gale.perryman@opm.gov.
Sources:
Official Pathways Page:
http://www.opm.gov/hiringreform/pathways/
Pathways Regulations Page:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-08-05/pdf/2011-19623.pdf www.govloop.com