Lawmakers propose improvements to intern hiring process

House lawmakers are asking agencies to better manage the process for hiring current interns for federal jobs.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., on Thursday introduced the 2011 Federal Internship Improvement Act (H.R. 914) to increase the number of government interns who are converted to full-time employees. This legislation would establish reporting requirements so that the Office of Personnel Management could evaluate agencies' implementation of intern programs based on conversion rates, as well as determine the quality of those programs through exit interviews. It also would also establish a central clearinghouse so that agencies can recruit qualified candidates who interned for another agency.

"To maintain and improve the efficiency of the federal government it is essential that federal agencies have the tools to recruit and retain highly qualified employees," Connolly wrote in a letter to lawmakers. "Internship programs can be a useful recruiting tool because they allow federal agencies to gauge the quality of prospective new employees, while allowing interns to gain valuable work experience. Unfortunately, federal agencies do not have consistently strong intern programs."

Connolly expressed concern that agencies convert just 6.6 percent of interns to full-time employees compared with more than 50 percent in the private sector. Government will have to fill more than 200,000 mission-critical jobs in the next three years, he wrote.

"At a time when the federal government faces an upcoming wave of retirements within their ranks, a more effective and efficient internship program will improve our ability to recruit young, motivated and highly skilled employees," said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., one of the bill's co-sponsors.

Other co-sponsors include Reps. John Sarbanes, D-Md.; Elijah Cummings, D-Md.; Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.; David Price, D-N.C.; Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.; Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., and Del. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, D-D.C.

Tim McManus, vice president for education and outreach at the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, said the bill might not change the number of interns offered full-time positions, but it would ensure that agencies have enough information to make the right hiring decisions.

"Federal internship programs are really at the heart of smart and cost-effective ways to get top talent into government," McManus said. "This is about ensuring that we know how many interns are converting to full-time employment, and if they're not, why. It could drive the hiring of future interns."

Connolly introduced a similar bill in 2009. The proposal passed the House as an amendment to the fiscal 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, but Congress stripped the provisions from the final version of the legislation.

Federal agencies currently are overhauling the process for bringing students and recent graduates into government service. President Obama on Dec. 27, 2010, issued an executive order scrapping the controversial Federal Career Internship Program. The directive also established three pathways for young talent to enter the federal workplace. OPM Director John Berry in January outlined how agencies should convert FCIP participants to competitive service, along with the steps for continuing use of current internship programs while regulations are finalized.