Pennsylvania Expands Pathways to Careers with the Commonwealth

You can count Pennsylvania as one of the states leading the charge toward more skills-based hiring in the public sector.

In early 2023, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order—on his first full day in office—that eliminated four-year degree requirements for more than 90% of its state government jobs.

“I want to make it clear to all Pennsylvanians, whether they went to college or they gained experience through work, job training or an apprenticeship program: we value your skills and talents, and we want you to apply for a job with the Commonwealth,” Shapiro said at a February 2023 press briefing announcing the order.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor has been instrumental in the state’s shift toward focusing more on proven skills and knowledge than on academics when making government hiring decisions.

Soon after being sworn in as auditor general in 2019, DeFoor “set out to make a change” in how the Commonwealth evaluates job candidates’ qualifications, the Pottstown Mercury’s Donna Rovins recently wrote.

As Rovins reported in a Sept. 16 piece for the Pottstown, Pa.-based paper, DeFoor recently paid a visit to Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) in Blue Bell, Pa., to talk about some of those changes, and to talk with students about opportunities in his department for graduates of accredited associate degree programs.

In the past, applicants were required to hold a bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance, and complete 12 credits of accounting as part of their coursework in order to be considered for a position within Pennsylvania’s Department of the Auditor General.

That’s not the case anymore. As Rovins reported, DeFoor announced in February of this year that the department was expanding its career pathways to include graduates of associate degree programs in specific areas, such as accounting, business, data analytics, finance, economics, math or another closely related field.

DeFoor, who earned an associate’s degree from Harrisburg Area Community College before pursuing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, told MCCC students it was encouragement from one of his community college professors that changed his academic fortunes, and, ultimately, his career trajectory.

“I wasn’t a good student in high school, not a good student when I first went to HACC,” he said, recalling his professor telling him that he could succeed at HACC or anywhere else.

“That was a message I never forgot. For the first time in my life, I was challenged academically and I did succeed. Though I didn’t know how, I knew I was meant to give back to my community college,” DeFoor said.

DeFoor certainly remembered that message when he took office as Pennsylvania Auditor General, where “he got to work on creating different opportunities for community college grads,” Rovins wrote.

DeFoor, who has also made stops at Reading Area Community College and Delaware County Community College in recent months, talked to MCCC students about his department’s Intern to Hire program. That initiative has expanded to include those who have earned an associate’s degree within the last six months, and who would like to go to earn a bachelor’s degree.

The program offers full-time roles in the Department of Auditor General to candidates upon their completion of an undergraduate or graduate program, provided they have either worked 900 hours or served six months in the department with positive performance reviews.

And, the department plans to make every effort to forge long-term employment relationships with those who come through the program.

“We’re going to do everything possible to keep you,” he told MCCC students. “Once you come in, we will give you all the resources you need to advance your career.”