ALJ Register To Reopen

An announcement from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM):

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management today announced it will open the Administrative Law Judge Examination to interested applicants in the near future by posting a notice on USAJOBS (www.usajobs.gov).

Due to the overwhelming volume of applications OPM expects to receive, the number of applications the agency will accept for processing will be determined on the basis of projected government-wide hiring needs. OPM will announce the limit at the time the examination opens to applicants. Completed applications will be accepted in the order they are received until 11:59 p.m. (EST) the day in which the limit has been reached.

Individuals who are interested in applying are urged to closely monitor the USAJOBS web site in the coming weeks. When OPM last opened the ALJ Examination in July 2008, it received its target of 600 completed applications within two days.

I urge those who want to become Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) to study this notice carefully and to monitor the OPM website closely. The last time the register was opened, it only stayed open for a few days. Many who were interested in becoming ALJs failed to apply in time. Many people were bitter because they thought the system was set up to exclude them since they did not hear about the register opening in time to apply.