Hiring Reform Will Help IT Majors

The process for hiring current or recent information technology college graduates just got a whole lot easier for job applicants and hiring managers, thanks to a new program that creates more uniform and transparent pathways to federal service.

The Pathways Program, part of President Obama’s hiring reform initiative, will make it easier for students and recent graduates to find job opportunities and gain experience working in the federal government. Final regulations establishing the program were published in the Federal Register on Friday and are slated to go into effect on July 10.

The program includes three tracks for students in high school, undergraduate or graduate programs as well as recent graduates. Participants will be hired under a newly created Schedule D of the excepted service, allowing for more flexibility in hiringwhile still preserving veterans' preference. The program also requires agencies to make meaningful assessments of participants before converting them to permanent positions in the competitive service.

“These new pathways will place a welcome sign on federal service for students and recent graduates,” said Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry. “The aim is to enable student and recent graduates to more effectively compete for federal service. Over the summer, we will continue to work with federal agencies to implement these regulations and to identify specific opportunities for students and recent graduates.”

While the new programs are not specifically geared towards IT graduates, there is little doubt that they will help give agencies more of an edge in competing with the private sector for highly skilled, in-demand IT talent, particularly if the reforms are combined with competitive pay and a more streamlined federal application process.

OPM said it worked with agencies, unions, schools, students, good government groups and veterans’ service organizations in crafting the program. The agency also studied the need for such a program and concluded that students and recent graduates do not fare well under the traditional federal hiring process because they lack experience.

Berry stressed the Pathways programs are not only designed for young, inexperienced students, but rather members of any generation who have gone back to school. “They might be recent vets using the new GI bill, moms going back to school after raising kids, workers who’ve gone to night school, or even long-term unemployed folks who sought out a new trade or degree,” he said.

Agencies have 60 days to implement the new regulations, meaning actual job opportunities under the program will not be available until late summer or early fall.

What are your thoughts on the new Pathways programs? Will they help your agency recruit and retain IT talent now and in thefuture