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 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 2016 were selected on February 24,
2016, and they have until February 24, 2017, to be appointed to a
PMF position. 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.
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 in an agency 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 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 PMF appointment from an agency,
(2) have already accepted a PMF appointment and physically onboard
with the appointing agency, or (3) requesting withdrawal from
further consideration.
For the PMF Class of 2016, PMF STEM Finalists are only eligible
for PMF STEM positions (as determined by the hiring agency) and PMF
Finalists are only eligible for PMF Finalist positions (not those
positions designated as PMF STEM). Effective with the selection of
2017 Finalists, the PMF Program Office has discontinued the PMF STEM Track
Pilot.
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 (see below).
Typically a number of
opportunities are posted around the time Finalists are selected and
officially announced. Finalists should monitor the PMF TMS for new
opportunities and contact Agency PMF Coordinators for any
opportunities.
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 and training opportunities.
Rotational and training opportunities are intended for current
Fellows only.
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.
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.
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 respective Agency PMF Coordinators or 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)
once the function becomes available.
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, 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 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 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, 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.
Upon Appointment
Once a Finalist accepts an appointment, he/she is encouraged to
complete the OPM Form 1306, PMF Appointment Intake Form. This
optional form is used by Finalists, Fellows, and Agency PMF
Coordinators upon Finalists accepting 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. 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 hiring agency
records your appointment in the PMF TMS. Once a Finalist is
recorded as accepting a PMF appointment and the appointment
information is recorded in the PMF TMS, he/she will no longer have
access to search for "appointment" opportunities.
Appointment Eligibility Extensions
Hiring agencies may formally request an appointment eligibility
extension for a specific Finalist they are interested in hiring and
cannot bring onboard by the 12 month deadline (commonly referred to
as the appointment eligibility period); this is typically a result
of a lengthy background investigation.
An agency can ONLY make a request, via its designated Agency PMF
Coordinator, if it has made an official appointment offer to the
Finalist, the Finalist has accepted the offer, it is anticipated
the Finalist will not start his/her PMF appointment by the
appointment eligibility deadline, and the extension request is
submitted to the PMF Program Office prior to the appointment
eligibility deadline.
If the PMF Program Office approves such a request, the extension
is only valid for that Finalist and the 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.
Visit the next section to view information on the Hiring Event.
UPDATED: 01-11-2017