OPM's success with the Presidential Management Intern (PMI) program leads way to the innovation and creation of new programs to meet the continued and crucial demand of recruiting and hiring high quality candidates for mission-critical occupations. One such program is the Career Intern Program for entry-level hiring primarily at the GS-5 and 7 levels. In FY 1999, OPM began implementation of this model program for hiring within the agency. By FY 2000, we will offer this program to other agencies to implement, on a pilot basis, for Governmentwide mission-critical occupations. Since the program will be in a pilot testing stage, continued agency feedback for improvements will be an integral component. Agency representatives will be identified to provide such feedback.

The Career Intern Program will focus on recruiting individuals with diverse backgrounds, specifically work and educational experiences that demonstrate their potential to excel in specific Federal career fields. Recruitment strategies effectively used in the PMI program will also be used in the Career Intern Program as well as other agency intern programs. ES will develop cost-effective and valid assessment tools to identify the competencies needed for mission-critical occupations covered by the pilot program. Additional funding will be requested to support the development of such tools, as well as funding obtained from external stakeholders. ES also intends to develop a wide variety of marketing tools to promote this new program (e.g., brochures, information on OPM's Web site, and specific recruiting tools).

In addition to the Career Intern Program, OPM intends to collaborate with other agencies in identifying additional recruitment programs needed (e.g., selecting and developing outstanding college graduates and those with equivalent education and background).

		Establish an agency working group (in FY 1999, continuing in FY 2000) to review results of model Career Intern Program and other agency intern programs.
		Design and implement Governmentwide pilot programs in selected agencies and/or for selected mission-critical occupations.
		Develop cost-effective and valid assessment tools to identify competencies needed for mission-critical occupations covered by the pilot programs.
		Design and develop targeted recruitment programs, including high quality recruiting tools to promote new programs (e.g., brochures, information on OPM's Web site, and other specific recruiting tools).
		Plan evaluation of first year implementation of programs, including recruitment strategies and assessment tools, to be conducted in FY 2001.
		Work with agency advisory groups to review needs and develop and/or maintain special recruitment programs to attract the high quality, diverse candidates needed to accomplish Federal Government business (e.g., Presidential Management Intern Program, new programs to select for specific occupations such as IT professionals).
		Begin initial outreach programs with high schools, colleges, and universities to promote the Cyber Corps, a program designed to develop a cadre of IT professionals who will help ensure that Federal agencies are in the forefront of computer security technology and critical infrastructure protection.
		Utilize USAJOBS, the Governmentwide automated employment information system, to provide entry/intern program information and application forms to a wide audience of potential candidates.
		Agency satisfaction with program design and their involvement in the process, will be measured using the OPM Customer Satisfaction Survey, focus groups and other qualitative analysis efforts. Because this is an FY 1999/2000 initiative, there were no data to report from the FY 1998 baseline survey.
		Agency satisfaction with speed of the hiring process and the quality of hires made through the program, assessed through focus groups and other qualitative analysis efforts.
		External stakeholders satisfaction with effectiveness of policies and programs available to recruit and select a high quality workforce, as measured by the results of studies conducted by such independent organizations as the Merit Systems Protection Board and General Accounting Office.

Additional Information Available on the Next Page

• To Employment Services Index
• To Budget Web Pages Home Page
• To OPM Web Site Index
• To OPM Home Page

Page Created April 12, 1999