Executive Order 13562
President Obama signed Executive Order 13562, Recruiting and Hiring Students and Recent Graduates, on December 27, 2010. This order established new pathways for students and recent graduates to enter the federal workplace through a streamlined, transparent, and more uniform hiring process. The goal was to offer a faster path through the cumbersome federal hiring process for students and recent graduates, and to provide mentoring for them as they worked to become successful potential federal employees.
NOTE: As explained in the proposed regulations, the President is authorized by statute to provide for "necessary exceptions of positions from the competitive service" whenever warranted by "conditions of good administration." (5 U.S.C. 3302). In Executive Order 13562, the President found that "conditions of good administration (specifically, the need to promote employment opportunities for students and recent graduates in the Federal workforce) make necessary an exception to the competitive hiring rules for certain positions in the Federal civil service," i.e., those to be filled through the Pathways Programs. (Exec. Order No. 13562, 75 FR 82585 (Dec. 27. 2010)).
