Personnel Advice for Obama

Folks at The Washington Post sometimes refer to a main competitor as “the other paper.”

Well the other paper, aka The New York Times, has an interesting op-ed article today by Thomas A. Schweich, who teaches law at Washington University in St. Louis. A Bush administration appointee, he provides good personnel advice for the incoming Obama administration.

Here is an excerpt from his article. To read the full piece, go here

“You know you have arrived when you get interviewed by the 29-year-old instead of the 22-year-old,” the 57-year-old foreign service officer said to me with a laugh. It was late 2005, and this three-time ambassador had just been interviewed for a top post at the Department of State.

Her interviewer was part of a large corps of 20-somethings — some were in their early 30s — who ran the Office of Presidential Personnel. Many of them were sons or daughters of supporters of President George W. Bush. Others had connections through congressmen. With few exceptions, they had one thing in common: very little experience and a very big attitude....

But if our new president wants to make an important change to how government works, he should fill the [Office of Presidential Personnel] — and the liaison offices to the White House at the various executive branch departments — with a combination of veteran government employees and human resources experts. That’s the way to ensure that the best people get the jobs that will shape our country for the next four years.”

--Joe Davidson

By Steven E. Levingston  |  December 12, 2008; 2:45 PM ET  | Category:  Hiring
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