New Pathways to Federal Service

The White House last week issued an executive order ending the controversial Federal Career Intern Program and replacing it with a more streamlined, transparent and uniform hiring process for students and recent college graduates.

The order authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to consolidate a variety of federal internship programs into a single system, and creates the new Recent Graduates Program, which will place qualifying applicants into federal jobs within their first two years of graduation. The order also beefs up the current Presidential Management Fellows Program by making the selection process more applicant friendly and helping agencies to better select candidates.

"The federal government took a significant step in opening the door to a new generation of public servants," said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service. "The president's executive order prioritized students and recent graduates as key talent sources for entry-level government jobs."

OPM is expected to issue proposed rules implementing the order in the coming months.

What impact will the new rules have on recruiting and retaining a new generation of public servants, particularly those in tech and cybersecurity jobs who have traditionally been lured by the private sector's more streamlined hiring processes?