Job Fair Atlanta

Where is my equal opportunity?

My name is Christin Pool and I am unable to be hired for a job that I spent over four years successfully performing as a S.T.E.P (Student Temporary Employment Program) employee with the National Park Service at Canaveral National Seashore because I am not a veteran. The fact that I received awards, above average performance evaluations and letters of praise while working as a park guide GS-4 means nothing. My Associate in Arts degree, Magna Cum Laude Bachelor of Science degree and a 3.9 GPA Masters in Public Administration degree are useless when compared to a 10 point veteran. On April 24, 2009 I received an email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Atlanta Services Branch stating that only 10 point veterans would be referred for the vacancy pertaining to the park ranger GS-5 position at Canaveral National Seashore vacancy #247859. The one job in the world that I am without a doubt completely qualified for and I will never have it. Veterans’ preference is a discriminatory hiring practice because it renders federal employment impossible for those who have not served in the military and given the current hiring atmosphere being a veteran is a requirement. Given the fact that I have scoliosis (top curve 53˚, bottom curve 30˚) and cannot serve per the Department of Defense 6130.4 Instructions which state that the top curve must not be greater than 30˚ and the bottom curve must not be greater than 20˚, I am automatically excluded from federal employment. The National Park Service is not hiring the best possible applicants for available positions. Supervisors are forced to settle for what the OPM gives them based on an antiquated and discriminatory law. The chance of anyone who is not a veteran being employed grows slimmer each day. Alternative hiring practices such as the Federal Career Intern Program and the Outstanding Scholar Program have been virtually outlawed by the OPM following lawsuits files by veterans who claimed these programs violated the concept of hiring based on fair and open competition. What competition? To be truly fair and competitive, jobs would have to be based solely on a person’s qualifications without regard for any other factor. Where is my equal employment opportunity?

Public Comments

1. Welcome to governmental work! Jobs are given based on every factor EXCEPT actual qualifications.
2. Veterans preference is not necessarily discrimanatory. How do you know that the veteran is unqualified for that job? Maybe they were ncos or cos and performed many administratively supportive duties. The other thing is veterans are welcome in federal gov't because the gov't is the only entity that understands them. If for example they were called to duty, their job would be secured for them while they were overseas. In the private sector being a veteran is a liability because nobody wants to deal with someone who can be called to duty at any moment. It is true that this law might be a little unfair to you and you alone beciase you can't enlist even of you wanted to, but then again, in order to hire you, I have to shun a seeminingly qualified veteran.
3. Yes, it is discrimination. It is also legal. All veterans get 10 points toward all federal jobs, not just the one you want. It's been this way since 1946. And usually, those 10 points put them above others who don't have the points. If it helps at all, the people who get the jobs may be somewhat less qualified than you, but they are at least in the same ballpark. So if you scored a 90, and a vet scored 85, then yes, the 10 points gives them a 95 and puts them ahead of you. But someone who scores 79 or below will never rise above you on the list. And by the way, "equal opportunity" means that you can APPLY for the job. It doesn't mean that you are guaranteed to get it.
4. Join the military and fight for it, like those 'lucky' veterans had to. Those who survive deserve all the preferential treatment they can get.