ASEM jobs: how to apply at Puerto Rico's Medical Center

Where you apply: a separate portal

Applications for jobs at the Puerto Rico Medical Services Administration are filed online at **empleos.asem.pr.gov**. It is not the same site as empleos.pr.gov, the government's Central Registry of Announcements: ASEM runs its own portal, with its own account and its own register of eligibles.

ASEM is the agency that runs the Puerto Rico Medical Center in Barrio Monacillos, San Juan, the complex that includes the Trauma Hospital, the Adult University Hospital and the Pediatric Hospital. It is a large employer with both clinical and non-clinical jobs: technicians, administration, finance, IT, maintenance and facilities, plus the health professions.

Current announcements are posted under **Administrativo → Oportunidades de Empleo** on the ASEM site, with a start date, a closing date and the announcement document in PDF. That document is what governs: it carries the minimum requirements for the class of position and the details of that particular job.

Read «internal» before you lose an afternoon

This is the first thing to check on every announcement and the part almost nobody explains. Many ASEM announcements are marked **«Internal, Executive Branch employees only»**. If you are not an employee of the Executive Branch of the Government of Puerto Rico, that job is not open to you no matter how well you qualify.

Many are also posted as an **examination announcement**, which means there is a test involved and not only a review of your paperwork.

The practical advice: before gathering documents, open the announcement PDF and look for those two things, internal or external, and whether it goes to examination. It saves you assembling a full file for a job you cannot compete for.

The documents it asks for, and in what format

ASEM publishes the exact list. Along with your application you must include, in PDF:

• Your resume.
• Evidence of academic preparation: a copy of the diploma, degree certification or transcript.
• **An employment certification** from every private company or government agency where you have worked. And here is the detail that sinks applications: it must state the position held, the salary earned, the exact dates worked (**day, month and year**) and a description of the duties you performed. A letter that only says «worked here from 2019 to 2022» does not comply.
• Evidence of the professional licenses or professional-association memberships the position requires.
• Evidence for the **bonus points**, if they apply to you: veterans, armed forces members, persons with disabilities, or beneficiaries of government programs.

The technical rules that get applications rejected

Three system limits, published by the agency itself, worth knowing beforehand rather than afterward:

**PDF only, up to 5MB per document.** The system **does not accept photos of documents**. Snapping your diploma with a phone and uploading the JPG will not work; it has to be converted to PDF first.

**The deadline is the deadline**, but the announcement can also close earlier. ASEM warns that applications submitted after the closing date **or once the established maximum number of applications has been reached** will not be considered. Meaning: an announcement can fill up before its closing date. Applying early is not generic advice here, it is arithmetic.

**Incomplete documentation means out.** Applications that do not contain the required documentation are not considered. There is no window to complete them afterward.

If the system gives you trouble, ASEM's Human Resources Office answers at **(787) 777-3535, extension 2581**.

What your application status means

Inside the portal, under **My Applications**, each application carries a status column. ASEM's user manual defines all four, and knowing what they mean tells you exactly where you stand:

• **Applicant**, your application was received and is waiting to be evaluated. Nobody has looked at it yet.
• **In the Eligible Registry**; it was evaluated favorably and you entered the Register of Eligibles for that class of position. This is the good status: it means you qualify and you are in line.
• **Not Eligible**; it was evaluated and you were found not to meet the minimum requirements of the class of position or the announcement. The **Reason** column tells you why, and it is worth reading: often it is a missing document, not a lack of qualifications.
• **Register Remove**; you were in the register and were taken out, for one of two reasons: the application was filed **more than a year ago**, or the Administration determined it needed to identify new candidates. In that case you must file a new application if you are still interested.

How they decide who gets called first

Being in the Register of Eligibles is not being hired: candidates are called to interview **according to the turn assigned in the register**. And the turn is neither random nor first-come. ASEM publishes it this way:

First, **descending order by the score** obtained in evaluating three criteria: experience, education, and the award of the bonus points established by law. Second, if two candidates tie on that score, the order is decided **by the application's filing date**. That is the second concrete reason not to leave it for the last day.

And there is a third layer that explains a lot of frustration. For **unionized positions**, the collective bargaining agreement requires separate registers of eligibles, exhausted in this order: Relocation, Promotion, Transfers and/or Demotions, Transitory Employees, Re-entry and, **last, New Entry**.

«New entry» is the register for people coming from outside. If you apply off the street to a unionized position, you are in the last of six registers, and the five ahead of you are people who already work there. That does not mean it is not worth it; it means non-unionized positions and those posted as external are where an outside candidate competes on even ground, and that is where to look first.

How to use the portal, in brief

ASEM's user manual describes the flow. You go to empleos.asem.pr.gov and select **Register** at the top right to create your account; you enter the information the system asks for, check the terms-of-use box and submit. Once the account is created, you sign in with **Login** using your username and password.

Inside, the left-hand menu has four options: **My Profile** to record your personal, academic and professional information and attach your documents; **My Applications** to see the jobs you applied for and their status; **Job Search** to see available positions; and **My Account** to update your email, security question or password.

The order that saves time: fill out the complete profile and upload every document **before** the announcement you want comes out. When the clock is running against a closing date that can also be moved up by an application cap, that is not the moment to be scanning diplomas.

The controlled substances test

ASEM says it plainly: controlled substance tests will be administered **to all candidates who are selected** for positions at the agency. Not to a sample, not to certain classes of position, to those selected.

The agency publishes its Controlled Substances Testing Program Regulation on its own site, and that is the document governing the procedure. If you are selected, count on that step as part of the process.