Hiring Process Improvements Promised

The Office of Personnel Management and three dozen agencies have joined in issuing a pledge to make the federal job application process more user-friendly, an initiative designed primarily to help the government recruit from the outside but which could also aid current employees seeking other jobs. The pledge includes a promise for more clear and understandable job announcements and instructions for applying and making the application process less burdensome and faster moving. The current job application process, which at times includes highly detailed position descriptions that to many applicants seem targeted to allow only pre-selected candidates to be considered, has been blamed for dissuading those outside an agency-including federal employees working at another agency looking to advance-from even applying. Meanwhile, OPM has told agencies to speed up the process of filling senior executive vacancies, most of which are filled by current employees, from the current six-month average to less than 30 days.