OPM woos prospective presidential management fellows

The Office of Personnel Management on Monday welcomed to Washington 700 finalists for a prestigious two-year federal internship program, recently revamped and named the Presidential Management Fellowship program.

At the recruiting event, which lasts through Wednesday, April 7, the finalists, selected from a pool of 2,503 graduate students with exceptional academic records and demonstrated leadership skills, will have an opportunity to shop around for a federal job that interests them. Under a directive from President Bush, OPM is overhauling the 27-year-old program, designed to attract young talent to the government and formerly known as the Presidential Management Intern program.

In a November 2003 executive order, Bush asked OPM to refer to the program as a fellowship rather than an internship. The order also makes more substantial changes to the program. For instance, it eliminates an annual hiring cap of 400, allows excepted service agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency and Securities and Exchange Commission to participate, and establishes a more flexible pay scale for fellows.

"The executive order reflects the president's interest in increasing the stature of the program and providing for a more modern range of pay to attract people to the program," said OPM director Kay Coles James.

In January, OPM published a draft plan for implementing Bush's executive order in the Federal Register. Under that plan, OPM would allow agencies to appoint fellows at the GS-12 level, depending on the candidates' qualifications. Formerly, interns entered at the GS-9 level and had an opportunity to work up to the GS-12 level.

In 2004, GS-12 base salaries range from $52,899 per year to $68,766 per year, whereas GS-9 annual base salaries run from $36,478 to $47,422.

Under the executive order, OPM will also establish a senior fellows program for mid-career professionals. The agency is still working out the details, and is not yet accepting applications. It has proposed allowing senior fellows to start at the GS-13 to GS-15 salary level.

OPM has received comments on the draft guidelines, and is hammering out the final details, said Stephen Benowitz, associate director of OPM's division for human resources products and services. He could not provide a timeline for the senior fellows program.

To improve the new fellows program, OPM is focusing on outreach to colleges and universities and managers at federal agencies, Benowitz said. In addition, OPM will enhance training for managers who supervise fellows.

Agencies compete with one another to attract the most qualified fellows, and therefore have some incentive to make improvements without any prompting from OPM, he added. For example, if agencies see that candidates are looking for opportunities to rotate to different positions, agencies will likely start offering more such opportunities, he said.

Of the 700 candidates participating in this week's recruiting events, roughly 90 percent will receive job offers, and about 80 percent will enter the program, Benowitz said.

In addition to helping the government attract the "best and the brightest," the fellowships offer unparalleled opportunities to graduates, said OPM Deputy Director Dan Blair in a speech welcoming the candidates. "Yes, there are other jobs that pay more," he said, "but I bet you won't find any other employer that can offer you the kind of career opportunities combined with the pride of serving and protecting the public."

Max Stier, president of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service based in Washington, urged current participants to tell their stories to candidates and to the public. "By and large, the American people do not understand what our federal civil servants do to the same extent . . . that they understand the work of the federal military service," he said in a speech. "And that's a problem, and that's something that we need to change."

Elizabeth Gabor, a prospective fellow finishing a degree in government administration at the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute of Government, said she sees the program as a "doorway" to a federal job. She and classmate Allison McConomy said they feel the program would train them well for federal management positions. Though the pay does not necessarily beat the private sector, the fellowship would offer more job security and decent benefits, they said.

Courtenay Daum, who is finishing up a doctorate in American government and women's studies at Georgetown, said she decided to attend because the fellowship would provide a unique opportunity to enter government at a fairly high level. She said she sees public service as a way of applying what she has learned in graduate school and giving back to the community.

President Carter created the PMI program in 1977 to attract job seekers with "exceptional management potential who have received special training in planning and managing public programs and policies." A 1982 executive order from President Reagan expanded the program. The two-year program has groomed more than 6,000 graduates with management potential for federal jobs. Each year, graduate schools nominate students. In January and February, nominees take day-long tests to assess writing and speaking skills. OPM sends acceptance letters in March, and agencies then have the opportunity to choose interns for specific job openings.