Posted by: Recently, the Obama Administration announced an effort to reform the federal hiring system. Under the new proposal, all applicants for federal government positions will now apply by resume and cover letter through USAJobs.gov rather than get mired in a process driven by the submission of detailed essays on KSAs (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities). Other changes included dropping the “Rule of Three” practice that has limited managers’ discretion in the hiring process since it was adopted in 1871. This may sound like a no-brainer, but in a system based on a series of laws dating back to the middle 1940’s and practices brought forward from the 19th Century, this reform is a significant (and much lauded) step in the right direction.
Late Tuesday, the Senate joined the Hiring Reform battle in unanimously approving the Federal Hiring Process Improvement Act of 2010. This legislation, which still must be approved by the House, would allow applicants to apply using cover letters and résumés, as is the practice in the private sector.
To get a better understanding of some of these developments and the implications for the Federal Government, we spoke with Ed Powell, Director of Strategic Business Development for Monster Government Solutions.
Q. What is the most significant aspect of the Administration’s announcement to reform the federal hiring practice?
A. First and foremost, Office of Personnel management (OPM) is making agencies recognize that a job seeker is a taxpayer and also a “stockholder” in the federal government. Today’s federal job announcements are overly complex, obscured in “fed-speak” and not in plain language. As a result, it’s nearly impossible for an individual to determine, in advance, whether it could be worthwhile to apply for a job.
Under the new reforms, an agency could use a “multi-hurdle apply” system for applicants that will eliminate that painful choice and greatly reduce the effort of getting a job. The applicant under the new system would be able to submit a cover letter and the same resume to the universe of jobs. After an initial eligibility, qualifications and assessment “hurdle” by a staffing expert or SME (subject-matter-expert), only the highest potential candidates would be invited to the second “hurdle” which could require KSA essays or some other assessment.
Q: By focusing on the resumes, how will recruiters benefit from technology?
A: The new focus on resumes in a multi-hurdle apply system opens up the recruitment process to a number of other recruitment options that are very common in private industry and still very rare in the federal government. These include resume sharing and resume search.
Resume sharing
The ultimate goal for recruiters is to ensure that the hiring manager has a rich supply of highly qualified candidates. However, once a selection is made, what happens to those other high quality applicants? In the past, there may have been some informal sharing of top candidates among specialists and even some reuse of selection certificates for other vacancies. However, in most cases, resumes and applicant packages were filed in case folders and disposed of according to NARA guidelines . Under the President’s memorandum, that practice will change and OPM will put in place mechanisms for sharing those quality candidates between and among agencies and departments who could then be invited to apply for a suitable agency job.
Resume search
Old resume search technology was based on Boolean expression but a new and better technology became available in 2010. As many of you already know, Monster 6SenseTM Search technology powers the first intuitive, intelligent semantic search engine specifically for employment professionals and job seekers alike. This precision matching technology generates precise, relevant results by contextually interpreting the meaning behind words and concepts rather than relying on the narrow, literal meaning of keywords. Best of all, it greatly increased recruiter productivity, in some situations by a factor of 10!
Q. What more can be done to increase efficiency in hiring?
A. We really need more accurate and suitable position descriptions to serve as cornerstones of the hiring process as well as a professionally developed and high quality assessment regime that provides suitable differentiation as it identifies potential high performers for selection.
Each and every federal hiring decision is potentially a million dollar investment in the career of a new employee. Recognizing that fact in process, participation and due diligence will go far in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the hiring process.
About the author: Edward Powell has been with Monster Worldwide since 2004 providing strategic business development as well as technical project and program management of a variety of current initiatives. He has more than 40 years of experience in Human Resources and, in that time, has worked in Compensation Management, Employee Relations, Labor Relations, Recruiting, Executive Staffing, Position Classification and Management, and Equal Employment Opportunity. He is a former federal government executive who retired after managing and directing the Department of the Treasury’s HR and payroll systems for 20 years. Mr. Powell received an MBA from the University of Maryland.
MonsterThinking.com originally published this post.
Thu, May 27, 2010
Federal