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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Academia

Advising Students

Placement Opportunities

More than 80 Federal agencies currently partner with the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program Office to hire Fellows annually. Fellows engage in solving domestic and international issues including, but not limited to:

  • Public Administration
  • Engineering
  • Foreign Policy
  • Technology
  • Science
  • Criminal Justice
  • Health
  • Financial Management

Eligibility

Based on current PMF Program regulations, students who will complete a graduate degree (master's, law, or doctoral-level degree) during the 2011-2011 academic year (September 1, 2011 - August 31, 2012) from a qualifying college or university are eligible to apply to the program. NOTE: Dates and times are subject to change; deadlines for the application cycle can be found in the Become a PMF section of this webpage.

Generally, a qualifying college or university is an institution that is accredited or has acquired "pre-accreditation status" or "candidate for accreditation status" by an accrediting body recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. For more information on the "Acceptability of Higher Education for Meeting Minimum Qualification Requirements", please visit: www.opm.gov/qualifications/policy/ApplicationOfStds-04.asp External Link Icon .

Selection Process

The Presidential Management Fellows Program selection process is straightforward and consists of four parts:

1. Application

The PMF Program uses USAJOBS External Link Icon and USAStaffing for its application process. Students will be able to apply to the PMF Program via the USAJOBS website or via a link to the job announcement posted on the PMF website. During the application process, students create an on-line account in Application Manager (a USAStaffing system). The application for the PMF Program is open annually in the fall.

2. Nomination

In addition to applying to become a PMF, students must be officially nominated by the Dean, Chairperson, or Academic Program Director (known as the Nomination Official) of their accredited degree-granting college or university. The Nomination Official is responsible for overseeing the nomination processes for the school. Each school is required to design and implement a competitive process to determine which students will be nominated for the PMF Program. Schools should review the Nomination Overview for additional information about the nomination process.

3. Assessment and Finalist Selection

There are two phases to the assessment process. In the first phase, students who are nominated and found to be eligible will be invited by email to take an online, un-proctored assessment. The invitation will include specific instructions on how to complete the assessment. Individuals will be required to take it without the help of others and it is timed.

The second phase is an in-person assessment. If the student scores sufficiently high on the online assessment, he or she will be invited to one of the assessment center locations to participate in an in-person assessment. The invitation will contain detailed information on the date, time, and location of the in-person assessment. An "Assessment Preparation Guide" is available under the "Become A PMF\Assessment Process" section on this website.

This year, we expect to host the in-person assessments from min-November to mid December, 2011 (excluding the week of Thanksgiving). The tentative locations are:

  • Atlanta, GA
  • Boston, MA
  • Chicago, IL
  • Denver, CO
  • San Francisco, CA
  • Washington, DC

The final locations will be listed in the announcement for applicants to choose their preferred in-person assessment center location.

Students who are among the highest scoring on the in-person assessment will become "Finalists" and move to the next phase of the process.

4. Agency Placement as a Fellow

Finalists can apply to openings at specific Federal Agencies as a Presidential Management Fellow. Finalists who receive a job offer from an agency, subject to a background investigation, must be appointed within twelve months of the official announcement of their selection as a Finalist.

A complete breakdown of the application process is available on the Application Process section of this website.

UPDATED: 09-01-2011