So, what did you think?

[barkley]

Any speculation about the new process?

I saw several things which seem to favor agency attorneys.  Allowing seven years "litigation OR administrative law" experience as an initial qualifier is a good first step.  I found the six questions part rather difficult because on several the answer is "DUH!  I do this every day!" but it may be difficult for outside attorneys to relate to the judicial management.  The next step, the written portion, should really help most of us.  Being given five hours to analyze and write an administrative decision should be simple for anyone with agency experience.  I wonder how many "outside" attorneys have the typing skills necessary to do very well - I know several who do not type at all.

Kind of angered me though that after waiting 10 years to apply, they pull this two-week window or 1,250 apps received.  This is important and to feel rushed in getting the application was a cheat.  I was paranoid about getting it in the first day, as I would have hated myself if I took the extra time to really fine-tune it, only to find it was too late to send.

Best of luck to everyone.  And be sure to post as you begin to get results, negative and positive.

[jrh83]

The 1250 limit may in itself help us, since it probably cut out some of the traditional absurdly high scored people with no Social Security experience.  The fact the application process was on line probably helped us too.  Hopefully vet's points will be worth 5 & 10% again instead of 17 & 33%.

If I had to do it over again, I'd have told everyone in ODAR to apply early.

While our PC prowess may help us in the written test, I'm still worried about getting past the first cut.  If OPM scores like they have in the past, we will never get to that step.