Under the memo, agencies are to have the hiring reforms in place by November 1, but many of the steps necessary to carry out the changes already have been taken, OPM director John Berry said in announcing the changes. For example, the service provider behind the USAJobs website already has made changes to adapt to a resume-based application system.
For many applicants, one major change is eliminating the requirement to respond to essay-style questions on applications as an initial screening tool, mostly putting an end to the cumbersome knowledge, skills and abilities assessments that have become a mainstay of applying for a federal job, and replacing them with cover letters and resumes.
KSAs still will be allowable at later stages of the screening process, but the change relieves applicants of that burden until that point.
Berry said that the revamped system will address another common complaint of applicants, the use of short open vacancy periods that in some cases require an interested person to submit an application within a day or two of closing. There’s widespread suspicion among applicants that such short periods are designed to pave the way for a pre-selected candidate, although Berry suggested that agencies use short periods in order to prevent being overwhelmed by applicants and that using simplified applications will remove some of that motivation.
He said the revised USAJobs site also will more clearly delineate between positions available to all applicants versus those open only to those with current federal employee status or reinstatement rights, although he did not say that agencies would reduce the number of positions set aside for “status” candidates, whose prevalence is another common complaint from outside applicants.
