2014 PMF: Application Cycle Open Thread

Well, it's that time of year again.  The 2014 PMF Program will start accepting applications tomorrow.

Something new for this year: there are two tracks, a regular PMF track and a PMF STEM track for those of you who have degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.

More info on the PMF Program is here: http://www.pmf.gov/opportunity/index.aspx

The PMF STEM track here: http://www.pmf.gov/the-opportunity/pmf-stem.aspx

And you can stay connected via PMF's official Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/PMFProgram?hc_location=stream

[Update 10/7/2013] Finally, don't forget about GovLoop's Path to PMF guide: http://pathtopmf.com/download/

As always, this is the place you hang out if you want to talk semi-anonymously about your experiences.  Good luck!

State and USAID Google+ Hangout

If you are attending or did attend the Google+ Hangout conducted by the PMF Advisory Council at State and USAID, you are welcome to post your thoughts in this thread.

During the event, this page will hopefully have the hangout embedded, but since I've never tried it before, it may not work as expected. If it doesn't, check out the original post for the event information.

[Just a note that the viewer window has been removed as per the request of the hangout organizers. Refer to the original posting on this topic for more information. Please feel free to discuss the event.]

2013 PMF: Virtual Job Fair Open Thread

[Update 4/30/2013: The PMF Program Office has updated its Job Fair page with new information, including preparation details for the Virtual Job Fair: http://www.pmf.gov/become-a-pmf/find-a-job/job-fair.aspx]

Because this year's PMF job fair is virtual, I hadn't felt any urgency in posting about it. Given some of the confusion surrounding it, though, perhaps it's time for some discussion.

I was going to refer you to the PMF Program Office's Job Fair page, but as of this posting, it contains mostly information for the 2012 class. This is not relevant to you, obviously, but I can understand how it might cause some confusion.

Unfortunately, I don't see any good documentation on what to expect from the job fair this year. All we know is that it's virtual and that additional details are forthcoming. The following from the page does pertain to you:

NOTE: The content on this webpage will be updated once additional details become available for the 2013 Job Fair event. All Class of 2013 Finalists will receive an email containing login properties for this event within the next few days.

The PMF Program hosts a Job Fair event for all current class Finalists and participating agencies. This event is by invitation only to 2013 Finalists and participating agencies. Most PMF appointments are a result of the Job Fair.

I am sure the rest of this community would be interested to know when this page changes. If you notice new information before I do, please point it out in the comments.

In the mean time, feel free to discuss your hopes and plans for the virtual job fair.

Interested in State and/or USAID?

The PMF Advisory Council at the State Department and USAID is hosting a Google+ Hangout for 2013 PMF finalists on Monday, Apr 29, from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM EST.

You can see the event listing and RSVP here: http://bit.ly/2013PMFGoogleHangout

From the G+ event listing:

Calling all 2013 PMF Finalists interested in State and USAID!

The Presidential Management Fellows Advisory Council (PMFAC) at State and USAID will host a Google+ Hangout for Class of 2013 PMF Finalists interested in learning more about State and USAID. This "virtual panel" will include a diverse group of past and present State/USAID PMFs to provide Finalists with perspectives on common questions about getting a job at State, life as a PMF at State, etc.

Submit any questions you have for panelists and vote for other questions by 12 PM EST on April 29, 2013 here: http://goo.gl/mod/vTlK

View the panel live Path to PMF (www.PathtoPMF.org) or PMF Info (pmfellow.blogspot.com). The session will not be recorded.

Disclaimer: Current and former PMFs participating in the Google+ Hangout are speaking in their personal capacity and not on behalf of the Department of State or USAID or the PMF Programs at State and USAID. We are not hiring managers and cannot make job offers to PMFs. Participation in this Google+ Hangout session is an opportunity offered by PMFs for PMFs for information only, and has no bearing on your ability to secure a job offer from the State Department.

I think this is a fantastic idea. If you have even a slight interest in these agencies, you should attend.

I plan to embed the hangout in a new post so you can see it here, but GovLoop will also have it, and of course you can always go to the original event page. (Note: Since the hangout is not being recorded, there will not be an archived video after the event is over. If you have any interest whatsoever in State or USAID, please attend this! Doing so will encourage other agencies to do similar things in the future.)

Agencies: If you have specific events similar in nature to this, I'm sure the community here would love to hear about them.

PMFs (finalists, current, former): If you are aware of other such events, pass the word along.

Exploring 2013 PMF Finalist Data

Just for fun, I've been playing with the finalist data. Here are some ways of visualizing it, using Google Fusion Tables, which seems to have gained some features and lost others since I began playing with it a couple years ago.

If you don't see anything below, it might be your browser. Based on what I've seen in my Google Analytics stats for the site, though, most of you should be fine.

First let's look at top 10 degrees:



Second, top 10 Universities:



One of the newer features is one where we can explore the links between data elements. This one is for the link between University and Degree:



Next up, we can map out the locations of the schools, in case anyone wants to explore that way.



And last, but not least, your breakdown of Veterans' Preference.



Anything else you'd like to see?

2013 PMF: Congratulations

663 of you were selected as finalists.  Congratulations, and good luck securing an appointment!

About 1/3 of you have veterans' preference, which is higher than I've seen in the past.  While it's not a guarantee of a job, it does give you an advantage.

In the past, some of your enterprising fellow PMFs have started and maintained a community spreadsheet for listing positions and such.  If you happen to do the same, let me know and I will make sure it's linked somewhere.

Also in the past, I had operated some polls to get a sense of the usefulness of the job fair.  In light of this year's virtual job fair, I'd be interested to compare with other years.  I'm also especially interested in how the sequester and ongoing budget issues affect you all, so I will take suggestions on how best to conduct that survey as well, if all of you are interested.

Finally, I have to say I am incredibly pleased about the way the PMF site is displaying the 2013 finalists list.  I was able to copy it and paste it into a spreadsheet, which means I don't have to spend gobs of time cleaning up the data.  However, I don't have the applicant and semifinalist data in the same state.  Would anyone like to do this?  For now, I don't care about normalizing the school names (for instance, Harvard University versus Harvard Law School; both are Harvard), just getting them into my database.  In fact, I probably have data from other years that I just haven't had the time to clean up, if anyone is interested.

2013 PMF: Awaiting Results, Continued

This is a post to help you continue the discussion.  It seems 200+ comments begins to get burdensome on this theme.  Once this is over, I might try something else or do some investigation on how to streamline the comments.

2013 PMF: Awaiting Results

It seems there hasn't been a great deal of information coming out of the PMF Program Office recently, but I guess everyone is waiting for the results to be posted.  I figure you might want a thread to discuss it.  Be sure to let us know if you hear anything, good or bad.

2013 PMF: Post-Application Thread

Now that the application period for the 2013 PMF program has closed, it's time to talk details.  I wanted to keep discussions of assessment details to a minimum during the application period to preserve the integrity of the assessment itself.  There's no guarantee that any of the materials used this year will be used again, but the principles should be roughly the same.  So here's your opportunity to talk about your experiences with the assessment.  How do you think you did?  What kinds of questions were asked, and how effective do you think they are in determining sutiability for federal employment?  What was your experience with the online assessment?  How many people do you think applied?  New for this year: given that most applicants are on the East Coast, how did the hurricane impact your ability to complete the assessment?  And, are you sweating the impending fiscal cliff at all?

From my perspective, I have to say I am very pleased with the communication coming out of the PMF Program Office for this application cycle.  They have taken to Facebook pretty well and seem to be communicating better than at any time I remember.  For those who don't know, that's one of the reasons I started this blog, because there wasn't any real communication.  Even so, though, I hope people who find their way here still find use for this blog as a means of expression outside the official channels.

2013 PMF Program Application: Open Thread

The 2013 PMF program is officially accepting applications as of today.  Let us know if you are/have submitted your assessment, but please don't discuss the contents of the assessment.  Fair warning: I will delete any comments that include substantive information about the assessment.  There will be a separate open thread after the application deadline for you to discuss that portion.

Application and on-line assessment are in the same step this year, so keep that in mind as you submit your materials.  The PMF Program Office has also released an updated preparation guide to get you started.  The deadline for application submission is 19 November.  Good luck, everyone!

Preparing for the 2013 PMF Application

Hello to all the PMF hopefuls! 

As we near the opening period for the PMF 2013 round (and, as I have the day off due to Hurricane Sandy,) I wanted to take time to provide a few comments that I hope will be helpful.

First, it's a wonderful opportunity to be a part of this blog.  As this is my premiere post, I'll introduce myself: I'm pmfellow2! 

I'm hopping on the bandwagon as another voice from the PMF program.  I'll also attempt to assist pmfellow continue the wonderful work with this blog, both as an open space for discussion and for information sharing about the PMF program.   I am working within the government now in Washington, DC, having just recently come on-board as a 2012 PMF.  I'm also a veteran, a fact which does play a role in the process of the fellowship.

Of course, the disclaimer: I am NOT representative of the beliefs of the government or the OPM officials that run the PMF program.  I can only speak for myself, and I hope that, in sharing some of my personal experiences, the upcoming PMF class will gain more insight into the program and the process.

Want some important tips? Here goes:
1)  Collect all your paperwork NOW.  Vets:  Make sure to have a scanned copy of your DD-214 handy.  Everyone: Start scanning in your docs so you have the e-copies ready to go when the application period begins.
* NOTE: The following restrictions apply to files submitted during the application process (e.g., resume, transcript, and supporting documents for claiming veterans' preference and/or requesting reasonable accommodations):

• File format must be in GIF, JPG, PNG, RTF, DOC, DOCX, WPD, or PDF
• File size must not exceed 3 megabytes per file

2) You don't need letters of recommendation, so don't waste your time.

3)  FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS TO THE LETTER during the application process. I cannot stress how important this is.  When completing the online assessment, you MUST follow the directions precisely.  For example, (and yes, I'm making this up for purposes of explanation): If they say "Write 1000 words about the solar system" and you write 998 words about the solar system, you didn't cut the mustard, and your application will not make it further.  Read AND follow the directions.

4) In the government, a six or seven page resume is typical.  I'm a writer, and therefore, I'm all for the Strunk/White philosophy of getting your point across in as few words as possible. I believe this to be true of resumes as well (both government and civilian); however, in government work, they truly WANT to know every internship and professional place that you worked.  Don't scrimp on your resume size during the initial application.  (You can cut your resume to a more palatable length during the Job Fair if you make it to that stage.)

5)  Good luck!  At this stage of the game, it's all about following directions and telling the truth.  I know it's a nerve-wracking process, but I wish you the best of luck.

Cheers-
pmfellow2

New Resource for PMF Hopefuls

This is a quick update to let you know about a new resource you can take advantage of.  Path to PMF is a new site sponsored by the Robertson Foundation for Government and put together by GovLoop.  In their words:

PathtoPMF.com is an interactive online resource designed to serve as the “go-to” guide for prospective applicants in navigating the PMF process from application to job placement.  The guide shares advice with applicants based on video and podcast interviews with more than 60 current and past PMFs, nearly a dozen career advisors, and several federal agency program coordinators. The site also hosts discussion forums where prospects can ask questions and support one another throughout the application process.

GovLoop has put a ton of work into past PMF guides, and this year the guide has been released on the Path to PMF website.  It's available now and highly recommended.

Path to PMF launch announcement.

PMF Guide

Robertson Foundation for Government

PMF Website

2013 PMF Application and Assessment

Just saw this via the PMF Facebook page:

Mark your calendar! The Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Application will launch Monday, November 5, 2012 on USAJOBS.gov and the PMF Website, pmf.gov. The streamlined application will include a three-part online assessment. The online application and assessments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, November 19, 2012. Anyone that received an advanced degree in the past two years, or current students that will receive an advanced degree by August 31, 2013 are eligible to apply; and a nomination form is no longer required. Please join the PMF email listserv (http://listserv.opm.gov/wa.exe?SUBED1=PMF&A=1) so you can be notified when the PMF Assessment Study Guide is available, and receive application reminders. All the best! -PMF Program Office

So you have between November 5 and November 19, 2012 to complete both the online application AND the assessment.  That's what they mean by streamlined.  It's good to finally get some idea of that.

It's also worth noting the eligibility window for applicants.  If you have completed an advanced degree within the last two years OR you are a current student who will complete an advanced degree by August 31, 2013, you are eligible.  It's good to get confirmation of that as well.  In reality, this means the eligibility window for application to the PMF program is three years.  If you are a current student now, and you will complete a degree by next year's deadline, it looke like you will be able to apply for 2013, 2014, and 2015 before you're out of chances.  Just something to keep in mind.  Not too shabby, I think.

Oh, and one more thing, also via the PMF Facebook page.  If you become a finalist and you otherwise qualify, you can be considered for the Technology Fellows program as well.

What do you all think?  Is this good timing?  What do you think about combining the application and assessment into one step?  This is your open thread for the 2013 PMF application process.  I will probably open another thread to talk about your thoughts on the assessment itself, but I think it's best if we wait until after the application/assessment period closes to discuss particulars.

Announcement

I started this particular blog in February of 2010, while I was still a new PMF, largely to distance the blog from me personally, and to protect the agency from anything that happened on here.  However, I have been blogging about the PMF program since late 2008 and early 2009 as a way to inform and facilitate the kind of discussion I saw as missing from the program.  During this time, I have gladly dedicated myself to providing what information I could about the program for those of you considering it and for those of you who are working your way through it, regardless of the stage (applicant, finalist, current or former fellow).  To date, this blog has been a one man operation, but it's also occasionally time-consuming.  I was only half joking when I made a comment in the past about establishing PMFellow as a sort of institution, a bit like the Dread Pirate Roberts, but...

Today I would like to introduce the newest member of the PMF Info team.  She is a 2012 PMF in the Washington, DC, area and so she's dialed in to the current PMF scene.  She's excited to be a part of the blog.  Watch for her postings over the coming PMF season and be sure to welcome her aboard.  In addition to posting her own thoughts, she is also interested in continuing work on the PMF Job Fair spreadsheet in order to create a more dynamic experience here and provide high quality information to all of you.

So with that, welcome PMFellow2 :)

2013 PMF Preparation

It's been quiet lately in PMF land.  That doesn't mean nothing is going on, though.  Two bits of information that will eventually affect you, potential 2013 class, deal with the Pathways program and, by extension, the new application system that should be available for this application period.

If you recall, the Pathways program was an attempt to streamline entry into federal service.  The biggest changes were 1) the dropping of the nomination requirement, so you no longer have to be nominated by your school, and 2) a change in the eligibility window such that you need only have completed a graduate degree within the last two years to be eligible to apply.  These changes are now in effect.

According to what OPM published on the Federal Register in July, the new application system is intended to field some 25,000 applicants this year (and the application process is estimated at 13 minutes).  Keep in mind this is nearly triple the highest applicant pool they've dealt with in the past.  This should be interesting.

As I did last year, I had hoped to round up a quick count of hires by this point by way of comparison.  I didn't manage to get the numbers, though, but will try to update this post in the next day or two to include them.  At some point, I know I owe the community the data from 2012's class, but wouldn't you know I've been too busy to sit down and play with it?

Finally, about the application period.  I don't really know when it will start this year.  It usually starts after people have gotten back to school from summer break, so they'll have time to chase down nominating officials.  Since that's no longer part of the process, I'm guessing you all know as much as I do.  Stay tuned, I guess.  In the mean time, chime in if you're planning to apply this year.  I suspect this is going to be an interesting ride.

Oh, and if you're a newcomer (most of you will be), please familiarize yourself with the Comments Policy.

2012 PMF Survey

Here is the promised survey for the 2012 PMF class.  I want to stress that I am not associated with the program, it is unlikely that anyone from the program will even ask for this, and I have no plans to reveal any information except through aggregation.  It is intended to benefit future classes.  Please respond as thoroughly as you are comfortable.  If you have any concerns, you can email me at pmfellow AT gmail DOT com or reply in the comments.

I will keep this form open from now until around April 1, 2013, so please feel free to provide updates whenever you have them.  If you are a returning visitor to the form (i.e., you've already submitted answers once), choose the Returning Visitor option and make sure to put in the same name you used initially.

The direct link to the form is here.

2012 PMF Survey Development

Based on a suggestion in the previous comments thread, I am looking for questions to put on a survey for this year's job fair. If we can collect good, honest data about your experiences and how you approached the job fair and whether it met your expectations or not, I think we can present future applicants an accurate picture that can help them determine whether the job fair was worthwhile or not. I do have last year's survey, which was generating responses pretty regularly through September of 2011, with the last response in February of 2012. As soon as I get a chance, I will see what the data says.

Here are last year's questions:

• What is your name (first and last or pseudonym)?
• What school did/will you graduate from?
• Do you have a veteran's preference?
• Did you attend the job fair?
• How many interviews did you have BEFORE the job fair?
• How many interviews did you have DURING the job fair?
• How many interviews did you have AFTER the job fair?
• Have you received an offer?
• How many offers have you received?
• What agencies made you offers?
• Did you accept an offer?
• If you accepted an offer, what agency, location, and position did you accept?
• If you accepted an offer, was this offer a result of the job fair?
• What is your area of study?
• Notes/Comments

These are a start, but I think we can do better. The first thing that's apparent is that we will want to handle returning responders.  I didn't have adequate provision for that in the original form, but will be able to work that into the next iteration of it.  Beyond that, at a minimum, I think we want to know:

• Are you a new or returning visitor to this survey?  (Yes/No)  (Conditional branch)
• What is your name (first and last or pseudonym)?  (Free Text)
• Did you attend the job fair?  (Yes/No)  (Conditional Branch?)
• If not, why not?  (Free text)
• How many interviews did you have before the job fair?  (Number 0+)
• How many interviews did you have during the job fair?  (Number 0+)
• How many interviews have you had since the job fair?  (Number 0+)
• Have you received any offers?  (Yes/No)
• If so, how many?  (Number 0+ or N/A?)
• Did you accept any offers?  (Yes/No)
• Do you feel that these offers were a result of the job fair?  (Yes/No)
• What is your area of graduate study?  (Free Text)
• What is your area of undergraduate study?  (Free Text)

Are there other questions we should ask?  It might be worthwhile to develop the conditional branches a bit more so that we can capture a wider range of responses, but I don't currently have any questions in mind.  I'll take your suggestions.

2012 PMF Job Fair Recap + Updates

Today is the last day of the 2012 PMF job fair. I see on the PMF site that at least a few of the 2012 class have secured appointments. How are the rest of you doing? Any promising leads as a result of the job fair? Exciting experiences? Anyone get appointments without going to the job fair?

I don't have any new updates beyond this. There hasn't been a great deal of newsworthy information. One thing that I saw earlier this month, and which probably won't go anywhere, is a letter from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform [PDF] to OPM director John Berry regarding communications issues with finalists. While the commenters on the original WaPo article reporting on this were quick to suggest that the Committee is wasting its time over some email glitches, I'm not sure it's quite that simple. I guess we'll see if anything comes of it.

I am still planning to do some data analysis on this year's applicants and finalists. Due to work constraints, though, I haven't really had the time. (I might not even have all of the data; once I find out I can follow up with another post) If someone is interested in doing this and has free time and ability, let me know and I can help you get started.

2012 PMF Finalist Results Day

[Update 1: There seems to be a notification issue again this year. I'm hearing reports of rejection letters followed by congratulation letters. If you received both of these, be sure to let us know. Original text is also appreciated. I would like to note that in cases where this happens, you might just have to wait until the list is received to be sure.]

[Update 2: I'm sure many of you know by now, having seen the Facebook page, that the earlier incidents with emails were the result of some kind of system problem. The real results should go out sometime later, I guess.]

[Update 3: The 2012 finalist list has now been released (PDF), and the notifications are still trickling out. If you haven't heard anything yet, check the official list for your name. This year there were 628 finalists, which is considerably lower than previous years. A permanently archived version of the list is here.]

According to the official information channels, the 2012 PMF finalist results are supposed to be out "on or around" January 24th. Unofficial word on the street is that they're going out now. In the past, these notifications have taken a while to process, so if you haven't heard anything yet, be patient.

But if you have heard anything...

Let us know if you made it or not.

If so, congratulations. Now it's time to find a position :) Let us know if you have any particular agencies or job fields in mind. Also, are you going to attend the job fair?

If not, just remember that the process was competitive, and lots of otherwise good, well-qualified semifinalists are also being sent away. Finally, given the recent structural changes to the program, I think applying again next year is in your best interest, so go for it! Be sure and let us know whether you plan to try again next year.

Once the finalist list is published, I will make a new post linking to it.

2012 PMF In-Person Assessments: Reactions

The PMF Program should have completed the in-person assessments today. Up to this point, I've been mostly silent on the issue because I didn't want to risk influencing the assessment process. Now that it's finished, I think it's fine for everyone to share their experiences and talk more freely about how they think they did. Include as few or as many details as you are comfortable sharing.

The next update, the one where we find out who is a finalist, will be sometime in January. In the mean time, let's hear from you all.