Become a PMF
Find a Job
As a Finalist, you are in the
final stages of becoming a PMF. Now, with your Finalist status,
you're eligible to be appointed to a PMF appointment in a
participating Federal agency after:
- You complete all advanced degree requirements before starting a
PMF position,
- You meet the qualifications of the PMF position, and
- You complete any background investigation required by the
hiring agency.
The Finalist's appointment eligibility period expires 12 months
after the date Finalists are officially announced. For example,
Finalists for the PMF Class of 2017 were selected on January 11,
2017, and they have until January 11, 2018, to be appointed to a
PMF position. This means the Finalist must have accepted and
started a PMF appointment by the appointment eligibility deadline.
See additional information on extensions below under Appointment
Eligibility Extensions.
Placement Eligibility
To be eligible for placement as a Fellow with a participating
Federal agency, Finalists must complete all advanced degree
requirements (including any required thesis/dissertation) by August
31st of the year following the application period, or earlier, to
start a PMF appointment. If a Finalist does not complete their
advanced degree requirements on or before August 31st, he/she will
be ineligible for placement as a PMF and will lose their status as
a Finalist.
Hiring agencies have the responsibility to confirm placement
eligibility and may request a transcript.
Eligibility for a PMF appointment will end 12 months from the
date that Finalists are officially announced. The PMF Program does
not allow for extensions/deferrals when a Finalist does not
complete the degree requirements (including the successful
completion/defense of any required thesis/dissertation) by the
deadline.
Throughout the appointment eligibility period, we will send
broadcast emails to all current Finalists to check their status and
ensure our records are up to date. The Finalists' Status Email will
ask if they: (1) accepted a tentative PMF appointment offer
from an agency, (2) have already accepted a PMF appointment and
physically onboarded with the appointing agency, or (3) requesting
withdrawal from further consideration.
Next
Steps
You now have to get hired into a PMF position, pass a
background investigation, and go through the agency's on-boarding
process. It can take several weeks to pass a Federal background
investigation and/or obtain a security clearance (if applicable).
Because you'll want to have as much control as possible over when
you start your PMF position, it is important to plan ahead.
Finalists should:
- Review this entire webpage and FAQs.
- Start collecting information for the background investigation
(see additional information below).
- Check for PMF appointment opportunities in the PMF TMS (Talent
Management System). Participating Federal agencies
will post appointment opportunities when available.
Please check the PMF TMS often for any new opportunities (see
below).
Typically a number of
appointment opportunities are posted around the time Finalists are
selected and officially announced. Finalists should monitor the PMF
TMS for new appointment opportunities and contact Agency PMF
Coordinators for any future appointment opportunities and
questions.
Since many agencies typically
hire towards the end of a fiscal year or beginning of a new one
(October 1st), additional appointment opportunities may
become available.
Finalists should log into
their applicant user account under the Apply Site of the PMF TMS at
https://apply.pmf.gov to search for appointment
opportunities. Only current Finalists can access and view
appointment opportunities. Finalists should not confuse appointment
opportunities with rotational opportunities. Rotational
opportunities are intended for current Fellows only.
See Upon Appointment below for
additional steps.
Agency PMF Coordinators
Each participating Federal agency identifies an Agency PMF
Coordinator who manages the PMF Program at the agency level and who
serves as a liaison between the agency and the PMF Program Office;
not all Federal agencies participate in the PMF Program.
If you do not see an Agency PMF Coordinator for a sub-agency,
contact the Agency PMF Coordinator at the agency (headquarters)
level.
To view the current list of Agency PMF Coordinators, go to the
Apply Site at https://apply.pmf.gov and
click on the "Coordinators" button.
Updating Your
Contact Info
All communications are conducted by
email. Both current Finalists and Fellows maintain
their current contact information by logging into their applicant
user account under the Apply Site of the PMF TMS (Talent Management
System). Upon appointment as a Fellow, the Agency PMF Coordinator
from the appointing agency must update your appointment and work
contact information. The PMF Program Office may record appointment
information on behalf of any Agency PMF Coordinator.
Updating
Your Resume and Application Documents
Once the application period closes, the applicant cannot update
or upload any additional documents (e.g., revised resume).
Finalists may send updated resumes and/or new supporting documents
directly to the contact identified in the appointment opportunity.
Finalists should follow the instructions in the appointment
opportunity on what documents to submit to the posting agency for
consideration.
Since the original resume and application documents are used to
determine eligibility until selection of Finalists, these remain
intact. Federal agencies will be able to search by several
criteria collected during the application process (e.g., languages,
degrees/disciplines, type of degree, academic institution,
veterans' preference, skills, and preferred geographic
location).
If a Finalist has a change to their claim for veterans'
preference (e.g., updated supporting documentation), he/she should
send an email to the PMF Program Office via pmfapplication@opm.gov,
along with a copy of the updated documents. We will review and
re-adjudicate accordingly.
When a Finalist accepts a PMF appointment offer, the appointing
agency's Human Resources Office is responsible for validating a
Finalists' transcript to ensure all degree requirements have been
met before the Finalist can physically start their appointment as a
PMF (commonly referred to as onboarding).
Preparing for a Background
Investigation
These investigations can be lengthy and may require you to
provide extensive information regarding your background. The most
common Standard Form (SF) used by Federal agencies is the
SF 85, Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions. You are
highly encouraged to review this form and start collecting the
requested data ahead of time so that you are prepared just in
case. Some Federal agencies require agency-specific
forms for this purpose; if this is the case, they will inform you.
Common forms used for background investigations can be found under
the Resources
section.
All new hires into the Federal Government must complete some
level of a background investigation before being issued government
identification and/or starting employment (e.g., the Personal
Identity Verification (PIV) Smart Card Program, commonly used by
agencies as identification issued to access the building and
networks). If you are offered an appointment, the appointing
agency's human resources office will send you the necessary
paperwork and instructions. The PMF Program Office does not
initiate or perform such investigations.
It is common for background investigations to be longer than
normal for those with any overseas activity (e.g., attended school
overseas, resided overseas, relatives overseas, military stationed
overseas, etc.).
Depending upon the circumstance, it is possible that prior
background investigations will not transfer from one Federal agency
to another and many agencies have unique requirements.
The background investigation process can be lengthy and
expensive for the hiring agency. If a Finalist changes their mind
after accepting a PMF appointment offer, he/she should immediately
notify the Agency PMF Coordinator and contact identified in the
appointment opportunity.
The PMF Program Office is not involved in the background
investigation process and cannot answer any questions in this
regard. Finalists should contact the Agency PMF Coordinator for
questions and the status of their background investigation.
Upon Appointment
Once a Finalist accepts a tentative PMF appointment offer,
he/she should complete the OPM Form 1306, PMF Appointment Intake
Form. This optional form is used by Finalists, Fellows, and Agency
PMF Coordinators upon Finalists accepting a tentative PMF
appointment offer for their initial appointment or
Finalists/Fellows needing to update their appointment information.
The form collects basic appointment information for updating the
PMF TMS (e.g., anticipated start date, position title, job series,
grade level, agency/sub-agency, or name and email address of
supervisor).
Finalists are encouraged to immediately fill out the form and
submit to the PMF Program Office and Agency PMF Coordinator of the
appointing agency upon formal acceptance of a PMF appointment job
offer. Ultimately it is the Agency PMF Coordinator of the
appointing agency who is responsible for entering appointment
information in the PMF TMS; however, the PMF Program Office may
enter such information to assist Coordinators. The form can be
found under the Become A PMF\Resources section.
Based on this information, the Finalist's status will be updated
in the PMF TMS. Your status as a Finalist changes to a Fellow once
you accept or start your appointment and/or when the appointment
information is recorded in the PMF TMS. Once a Finalist is recorded
as accepting a PMF appointment offer, he/she will no longer have
access to search for "appointment" opportunities and their status
changes to "Appointed". Once a Finalist onboards as a Fellow,
he/she would log into the Apply Site of the PMF TMS to search for
rotational opportunities. The 2-year fellowship begins on the first
day of onboarding as a PMF.
Appointment Eligibility Extensions
Hiring agencies may formally request an appointment eligibility
extension for a Finalist has either (1) been made a tentative
PMF appointment offer AND accepted the offer, but cannot onboard as
a PMF by the applicable appointment eligibility deadline, or (2) to
a Finalist who applied for an advertised PMF appointment
opportunity and the agency has not conducted interviews and/or made
tentative job offers prior to the appointment eligibility period
deadline.
If the PMF Program Office approves such a request, the extension
is only valid for that Finalist and the Federal agency making the
request. If, for whatever reason, the requesting agency rescinds
the offer, the extended Finalist will lose further consideration if
the appointment eligibility deadline has passed. The Finalist must
still meet eligibility and the position's qualifications. Only one
approved extension is allowed per Finalist.
A Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) on this topic for Finalists
appears under the Become a PMF\FAQs section and for agencies under
the Agencies\FAQs section. The OPM Form 1305, PMF
Appointment Eligibility Extension Request Form, can be found under
the Agencies\Resources section.
The Agency PMF Coordinator for the appointing agency is
responsible for submitting requests and keeping all parties
informed on the status. The Agency PMF Coordinator must submit a
new request for additional time if the initial extension is about
to or has expired. Extensions are not granted for a Finalist to
complete degree requirements prior to starting their PMF
appointment.
Visit the next section to view information on the Hiring Event.
UPDATED: 08-14-2017