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: 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!

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.