Draft Regulations Seek to Improve Federal Hiring of Students and Recent Grads

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has released draft regulations that aim to offer students and recent graduates an easier route to federal employment. The proposed program, the Pathways Program, will replace several existing federal hiring programs that have run into problems in recent years. The draft regulations provide for 60 days of public comment before OPM works to write them into final rules, and they are based on a December 2010 executive order in which the president called for OPM to streamline federal hiring for aspiring interns and entry-level workers.