Applicants overwhelm virtual IT job fair site

The Office of Personnel Management is adding computing power to its online IT job fair Web site because an overwhelming number of people are trying to apply for technology jobs.

OPM on Monday night devoted two additional computers to the first-of-its-kind job fair, through which 23 federal agencies are trying to fill about 230 computer specialist jobs.

Applicants submit resumes and answer 150-question skills assessments on the job fair site, which was launched Monday and runs through Friday.

An OPM spokesman didn't know how many computers had been processing applications during the day on Monday, but applicants reported being frozen out of the system as they tried to complete the skills assessments. "The server was so busy, it would take over a half hour to get from one screen to the next," one applicant reported. "I could get no further than Question 30."

Some applicants received the following message when they tried to reach the job fair: "Due to the unusually high volume for the IT Virtual Job Fair, all servers are busy at this time. Please try again later."

Despite the overwhelming number of applicants, 3,000 people successfully submitted their resumes and 2,000 completed the skills assessments, an OPM spokesman said.

The virtual job fair is serving as an experiment for future hiring efforts. Rarely do federal agencies work together to hire employees, and substantial online hiring has taken a hold at only a few agencies. Federal agencies often take three to nine months to hire people. Officials hope candidates will be hired through the virtual IT job fair within 45 days.

Job openings include computer specialist positions throughout the country and around the world, with salaries ranging from $43,230 to $84,990 (GS-7 through GS-13 on the federal pay scale). One hundred of the positions are with the State Department, a department announcement said. Between 30 and 40 positions are with the Agriculture Department, said Ira Hobbs, acting chief information officer at the Department and co-chairman of the federal CIO Council's workforce subcommittee.

OPM and the CIO Council are co-sponsoring the virtual IT job fair.