My husband and I moved to West Point in early June to begin his three year tour teaching at USMA. Before I married in to the Army six years ago, I worked in the student affairs division at a large state university. So I was very excited to be moving back to a “college campus” with hopes of working again in the career field that I love.

I have been combing the jobs websites since December, but as we got settled in our new home I realized that I had a lot more research to do. A friend mentioned that military spouses can now register with the Priority Placement Program (PPP) through the Civilian Personnel Advisory Center (CPAC). I could not find any information on this program on the CPAC website, so I then called to make an appointment with CPAC to learn more about PPP.

A week later, I spoke with someone who told me that it would be another week before we could schedule an appointment (TDY got in the way). She asked me a few questions to see if I qualified for the program and asked that I email her my resume. She said that I would also need a copy of my husband’s orders and a copy of our marriage certificate. In the meantime, she emailed me a link to the DoD’s Civilian Personnel Management Services PPP website.

At this point, I still knew very little about the program because no one would answer the simple questions… What is this? How does a spouse fit in the puzzle? So I was tasked with doing my own research. I read the fact sheet and pamphlet thinking that would give me enough information to ask intelligent questions once I was face-to-face with someone at CPAC. And to be honest, I was not really comfortable with what I read. It appeared to me that I would be registered in this system and someone in the CPAC office would hire me for a job if I was “matched” in the system. So I could be hired by a person I would not work for without an interview? It just doesn’t seem right…

It was finally time for my appointment (2.5 weeks after I tried to schedule it with the first phone call – frustrating!). I arrived at CPAC with all of the necessary documents hoping to receive a brief overview of the PPP. Instead, I received a brief on their evaluation of my resume and how they planned to register my education and experience in the system (ASARS).

The registration began with personal and contact information and then moved in to what I qualify for in the GS system. I was told that my Master’s degree qualified me at the GS-7 level. This was different from the information I found online indicating I should be a GS-9. So I politely asked her to show me the chart so that I could see if I was looking in the wrong place. The chart was not handy and took her a few minutes to find online which tells me that it was not referenced when my resume was being evaluated. Sure enough… when the chart appeared on her monitor, it showed that I should be classified at the GS-9 level.

At this point, I was pretty skeptical of the rest of my assigned “classifications.” With my 6.5 years of higher education administration experience and 1 year of teaching experience, I was told that 2 series best matched my experience: 1702 (Education Technician) and 303 (General Clerical). I asked for examples of jobs within these series and was told that 1702 was working with cadets “like their grades and registering them for classes” and 303 was administrative assistant and clerical work. Clearly she did not thoroughly review my resume if this is all I’m qualified for. She also recommended that I register at the GS-5 level through GS-7 for 303 and GS-9 for 1702.

During the meeting, she asked whether I would accept a temporary job (yes) or part-time work (no). Then she told me that I had to answer the next question about whether I could be a supervisor as ‘no’ because in order to do so I “must have previously been a government employee.” At no time was I told about or shown other series options for me to match my experience with. I felt very rushed through the process and sort of ushered through as if I didn’t need any more information.

To finalize registration, I needed to sign a form agreeing to what she entered. Oops… computer glitch and the form couldn’t be printed. So I was told to call her on Monday morning to see if my registration went through so I could sign the form. During the meeting, I asked for clarification on the selection and hiring process. I was told that after registration and once a job was posted that matched my ‘registered qualifications’, then there would be a “hit” on my resume. Then the HR Specialist (in CPAC) assigned to that job posting would look at my resume and the job description to determine if my experience really matched the job qualifications. If so, I would be offered the job. If I accepted, great and I would meet my new boss on the first day of my new job. If I declined, then I was out of the PPP system (unless I declined because I felt I wasn’t qualified and I could prove it to this HR Specialist). What’s wrong with this picture??? I left this meeting incredibly frustrated and determined to spend the weekend researching all I could with this new information I gathered.