I. The dilemma
This page outlines resources that explain federal law and regulations concerning american natives and disabled veterans, that you can use to research veteran's employment discrimination and budget practices by:
- You are assigned a Counselor by the VA, to assist you with federal agencies. Yet, the counselor lacks the authority to find out why you were passed over, or even any answers from the God like HR personnel, who answer to no one but their agency, as to the status of your application even thought there is the so called Presidential policy for veterans.
- OPM (not checking on federal agencies delegated hiring authority rules as they are supposed to)
- Veterans Affairs of all agencies (giving preference to unions over federal veterans preference and regulations)
- HR personnel who do not understand federal rules (preference veterans can apply after job closed, and these HR don't answer to anyone)
- Federal, State, and Local government HR employees that do not follow presidential orders concerning disabled veterans
- Congress list of Representatives and Senators who don't really care about the law and their disabled veteran's
With 26 years of federal service completed, 10 point preference disabled veteran, a Master's degree,
20 experience in several computer fields:
- Information Systems Management (MIS): Managemet of Local Area Management (HP, MS, IBM)(Command line scripting)
- Computer and Information Science (CMIS): Management of Web Servers and Web application development (Middleware)
- Computer Information Systems (EGC CIS): Software Development (Macromedia visual studio and ms visual studio .NET IDEs)
- Information Systems (IS): Software Engineering Management (C, C++, C#, Enterprise Architectures, others)
- and Small Business Administration: (Non-profit, volunteering, Small Business, International Trade / Consulting)
I am told I do not meet the minimum qualification requirements for GS 7, 8, nor 9; by the Veterans Affairs HR (of all agencies) and other federal agencies as well.
To clarify this statement, I must submit related issues.
II. The issues
How can I tell young people to serve their country, go to school, or trust our federal employment system? When I know, position selection is made based on imprecise questions (you can fill all the wrong information) and a 5 page limit(since the depth of the question is not determined and you have several requirements you may miss important details or put the wrong ones) is not exact leaving this open when you have many applications to fill.
Why is the Vocational Rehabilitation section of the Veterans Affairs Agency spending billions on education when experience is more important than education not a determining factor in federal hiring?
If education is not a hiring factors, federal employees should be send to school after the acquire experience on entry level positions. How can one apply for entry level when positions posted start at GS 11 on certain agencies? Does the HR clerk knows the difference between Information Technology labor, technical, and professional positions? Is anyone keeping and eye on the budget and assuring personnel is paid according to level of duties for IT positions?
According to federal HR clerks, Graduates of Universities should begin as the lowest echelon, why go to school? Should Military Academy graduates begins their service as privates? According to HR, they would have to if you apply the same rules they are using now. If we replace education by union membership and on the job experience, why we spend billions on education? How do we know if a veteran has been rehabilitated when the very government discriminates against them?
How do we know the difference between labor, technical, and professional positions, when HR clerks who make determinations don't understand the difference between them? How can a veteran make it to the selection phase (final 10) when their are discriminated at the HR clerk qualification level?
a. Following decision factors in technology
- Labor: Position in which the employee does not need long term training to perform his duties
- Technical: Position where the training is equivalent to an associate or bachelor's degree
- Professional: Position where in either the employee has to make decisions that affect more than a 5 to 30 people or a section. Decisions that affect tactics, strategy, or policy
- Experience: Related to the level of position held as in, basic to specialist level employee, team or section first line supervisor or leader, middle management leader, top management leader.
Why do we pay more one employee with only a year of technical training one with 16 or training in administrative and professional education? Why teacher makes less than a computer technician?
Demand?Who determines demand?
b. Why are we in a deficit?
If we don't have control over the distribution to agency or government budget, how can we have control on the deficit?
It should be x number of $ per agency, y number of $ per department and so on, as well as how much personnel gets. Why would I pay less to someone who can complete 6 years of specialize education over someone with a one year certified personnel?
Why is certification important and how it relates to employment?
Certification has to do with the technology employed to perform in a certain position. If I am certified in on brand, this certification is not going to help in another since on the opposite may ask me to follow the wrong rules at the wrong time.
Formal education, while general in kind, allows to know about the different technologies and brands, and much more possible answers than those known by a specific brand. This leads to the question concerning decision making positions (i.e. GS 7, 9, or 11), the pay / responsibility difference and so on. Who should get paid more, the technician in charge of the building air conditioning (affecting all employee) or the supervisor in charge of the automation section or the finance section, moreover, how much should the shift manager should get paid?
Currently, preference is only mandatory for custodian and guard positions. Preference can only be adjudicated to jobs with an examination. Preference is only a suggestion for middle and better federal jobs, even if you have education and experience, which really means the hiring authority can not be question on whether he has taken you preference on candidate selection. According to the EEO official at the VA, if an HR clerk rejects every candidate the opportunity to present their credentials or any other paperwork critical to the determination process, she has not committed discrimination for everyone is left out of the loop. Further more, the HR clerk has to deal with too many applications and can not look at every application for obvious issues (credentials did not upload to the system appropriately) nor has the clerk the automation tools to assist them in the qualification process. Who is checking security, when the HR Clerk does not even has the time to look at the applications paperwork? How many applicants can present education that can not be checked only after the fact?
Not to mention new security and top security clearance requirements on many disabled veterans, that are not a national security clearance risk management issue. Why don't we just require everyone living in D. C. a top security clearance just to walk about the the city, since there is so many federal headquarters there?
What is the requirements to possess a top security clearance that only the CIA and very selective personnel had? When we look at those who have violated security clearance issues, we find that they had passed the security checks. They have forgotten the there are three levels or more of security clearance. Personnel on IT positions also have different levels of security, otherwise, who is keeping and eye on those working in the IT sector? How can an HR clerk determine who needs a top security clearance, when they can not even keep track on the application paperwork? SINCE THEY HAVE NO TIME TO CHECK FOR UPLOAD ISSUES?
Soon, you will need a security clearance to visit the national museums. We spend billions on security on our own people when we know Al qaida is not of American origin. As matter of fact, we have become a nation of paranoid fearful people and forsaked our freedoms because the very agents who have to keep us safe and have failed to do their jobs. We are talking billions of dollars instead of just firing the incompetent and go after persons of interest instead of the whole population, like our transportation issues are minor. Hell, we already have an emergency alert system on our phones, we have technology to deal with Al qaida or terrorists, don't we?
III. Looking at resolution
I am calling for an investigation on the demographics of all hired personnel to stamp out discrimination, the creation of a ranking for federal applicants, and a roster of outcome for those hired so applicants not only can see how they placed and the budget related issues of pay proportional to not only demand but available resources.
I called the OPM to find out, how can I get a security clearance. It turn out that my tax money only allows for government agencies to do such checks, that since 1969 this service has been privatized. I was told to call USIS.com but it turns out that only account holders (agencies or companies) can be provided this service. So what is disabled veterans to do? We are left out of the loop, specially if you work on IT where this secret clearance is required in many jobs. Number one item during this time of economic challenges, a bad credit will put you way out of the loop. So, let's look a those who have violated security rules and references for disabled veterans concerning preference in federal employment. From this government attitude, it seem as if is us the one that has given part of their bodies for the security of the nation, are the ones who are traitors and spies.