New Challenges Face Federal Agencies with Hiring Reform
We’ve blogged in the past about the major federal hiring reforms underway, most importantly getting rid of KSA essays in favor of a more traditional resume and cover letter application format, and accelerating the hiring process. Last week, Government Executive had a really good article explaining a lot of the challenges that are facing agencies and OPM as they all move forward on these reforms. For example, one reason hiring moves really slowly right now is because the process “can involve as many as 40 steps and 19 signatures,” according to John Berry, Director of OPM. As agencies determine which of these steps are necessary and which can be eliminated, things will move forward, but the article also stresses the need for a focus on quality rather than mere speed.
Another interesting tidbit from the article may come in handy for anybody looking to apply for federal jobs in the near future – you won’t be able to just submit your standard resume:
Agencies also will run up against the challenge of marrying a common-sense resume-based system with current automated processes. “There’s a dirty little secret about this resume business,” Desenberg says. “People at the agencies would tell their friends and family that even if they just ask for a resume, you must redo your resume to echo the position description, literally sometimes word for word. The sense that ‘Oh, I can just hand in my resume,’ that is not at all the reality.”
Desenberg says automated resume screeners are looking for key words from the job announcement and resumes without those words are likely to get thrown out early in the process. “You may have gotten away from some of the mechanical cranking out of essays, but you’re still requiring people to mold whatever they send in around the position description,” he says.