Agencies could use subject matter experts to develop position-specific technical assessments. Image: PowerART/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe Senate has passed S-59, aiming to broaden the potential pool of federal job candidates by downplaying the role of educational credentials in job qualifications, one of the relatively few changes to federal personnel policies on which there has been bipartisan agreement of late.
The bill, passed on a shortcut procedure, also downplays the role of self-evaluations in assessing candidates. It largely mirrors one the House passed on a bipartisan vote last year, raising the prospect that the measure might yet find a path to final enactment before the current Congress adjourns and the process would have to start anew next year.
It would expand and put into law several changes to hiring policy that started during the Trump administration that are among that administration’s few policies that the Biden administration continued. A 2020 executive order initially required agencies to put many similar policies in place, and guidance issued in 2021 and 2022 told agencies to continue pursuing those policies.
The bill provides that a qualifying examination includes a résumé review that is conducted by a subject matter expert and prohibits examinations from consisting solely of a self-assessment from an automated examination, a résumé review that is not conducted by a subject matter expert, or any other method of assessing an applicant’s experience or education.
Agencies could use subject matter experts to develop position-specific technical assessments that allow applicants to demonstrate job-related skills, abilities, and knowledge; assessments may include structured interviews, work-related exercises, procedures to measure career-related qualifications and interests, or other similar assessments. The bill also allows agencies to establish talent teams to support and improve hiring practices.
OPM would have to create online platforms through which agencies may share and customize technical assessments and share the résumés of qualifying applicants; it also would have to create online platforms with information about the types of assessments used and hiring outcomes.
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