Transition Insight

How has the Federal Hiring Process Really Changed?

By Barbara Adams, CPRW, CEIP, CMRC, CFRW
www.militaryresumewriters.com and www.careerproplus.com

Officials have eased off the President's hiring reform deadline of November 1, 2010, stating that only some agencies are ready to change—such as the Departments of Commerce, Defense, and Veterans Affairs (DOC, DoD, VA). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has also moved toward the change, while other agencies have begun the lengthy conversion process, which could take years to complete the transformation, according to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Most agency's are currently pursuing hiring reform efforts and although KSAs have not gone away, we see less and less vacancy announcements that require KSAs. Additionally, the average time of vacancy posting to actual hire has been reduced to an average of 105 days.

CATEGORY RATING
One of the major changes in federal hiring resulting from hiring reform is the implementation of category rating. In the past, applicants' resumes were scored with a numerical rating; a hiring manager could select from only among the top three highest-scoring applicants and could not "pass over" a veteran to select a non-veteran. This was known as "traditional" rating and ranking and the "Rule of 3".

Under category rating, applicants are put into categories and do not receive a specific numeric score. Hiring managers may select anyone in the top category as long as they do not select a non-veteran if there are veterans in the same category. The purpose of category rating is to increase the number of qualified applicants while preserving Veterans' Preference rights. The category rating approach gives agencies the flexibility to assess and select from among applicants in the highest quality category without regard to the "Rule of 3".

"The Presidential Memorandum – Improving the Federal Recruitment and Hiring Process," issued on May 11, 2010, requires agencies to use the category rating approach to assess and select job applicants for positions filled through competitive examining. Agencies are required to evaluate candidates' applications and place them into two or more predetermined quality categories. Quality categories are defined by Human Resources (HR) with the assistance of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) through job analysis prior to the posting of an announcement. The categories are written to reflect the requirements to perform the job successfully and to distinguish differences in the quality of candidates' job-related competencies or Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). Some factors considered when creating categories include:

• Breadth and scope of competencies/KSAs;
• Increased levels of difficulty of complexity of competencies/KSAs;
• Successful performances on the job; and
• Level of job

The highest quality category definition is written to identify the "Best Qualified" individuals for the position. Example: Agency uses two quality categories: Highly Qualified and Qualified. In filling an HR Specialist, GS-201-14 policy position, the agency might define the Highly Qualified category as experience in a senior-level HR position, writing regulations or agency policy or providing guidance to an agency on staffing, downsizing, realignment, classification, or compensation. The Qualified category might include senior-level HR operations experience in staffing, downsizing, realignments, classification, or compensation.

The quality categories are defined prior to a position being posted. The announcement will contain information about how many categories an agency is using and how Veterans' Preference is applied; however, the announcement will not disclose scoring keys or define the quality categories.

Preference eligibles that meet the qualification requirements for the position and have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% are listed in the highest quality category (except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 level or higher). Preference eligibles receive Veterans' Preference by being listed ahead of non-preference eligibles within the same quality category in which they are placed. No preference points (e.g., 5 or 10 points) are added to the preference eligibles' rating, and any preference eligible may be selected.

Hiring managers select from within the highest quality category, regardless of the number of candidates (i.e., the Rule of 3 does not apply). However, preference eligibles receive absolute preference within each category. If a preference eligible is in the category, an agency may not select a non-preference eligible unless the agency requests to pass over the preference eligible and the request is approved.

Additionally, hiring managers are not required to interview everyone within a category. All candidates within a category are considered equally qualified. However, the hiring manager may interview one or more applicants.

As was the case before hiring reform, you may request reconsideration of your rating. The agency must explain to you, upon request, why you were placed in a particular category. Contact the person listed on the announcement for additional information about requesting reconsideration.

Barbara Adams, President and CEO of CareerPro Global (CPG), the parent company of www.careerproplus.com and www.militaryresumewriters.com, has been a member of the careers community for the past 20 years. Ms. Adams holds four prestigious industry certifications. CareerPro Global is the only ISO 9001-2008 Certified Career Service in the industry, as well as one of the fastest-growing Military, Federal, and Civilian Resume-Writing and Careers-Coaching companies. The team of Certified Professional Federal and Military Resume Writers at CPG assist thousands of clients in applying for and gaining employment each year. We can help you land your military to civilian job.

Wall Street Banks Unite to Support Veterans of the United States Armed Forces

The world's largest financial institutions this week announced the launch of the first annual Veterans on Wall Street (VOWS) conference. The conference, representing an unprecedented collaborative effort among the participating institutions, seeks to bring the very best of Wall Street together to support and honor our service members of the United States Armed Forces. The focus of the conference is to raise awareness of the value of veterans in the workforce.

The consortium of banks, also recognized as founding members sponsoring the effort includes Bank of America, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.

The one-day conference will be held on Thursday, June 23, 2011, on the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City, convening Wall Street firms, industry participants, transitioning service members, recent veterans and their families, military and government leaders, military support organizations and others who have a shared interest in veterans employment opportunities. The conference seeks to raise the profile of veterans on Wall Street and highlight the financial services industry as a veteran-friendly employer.

As part of the VOWS conference on June 23, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will hold a hiring fair on Pier 86 alongside the Intrepid from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. The hiring fair is part of the Chamber's recent launch of Hiring our Heroes, a nationwide public-private partnership to help veterans and their spouses find employment in their local communities, and it will be just one of 100 such hiring fairs across the country. The event will be co-hosted by the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.

"The U.S. Department of Labor's VETS is transforming many of its current programs and launching new initiatives to address the veterans' unemployment rate," said Raymond Jefferson, Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training Service, Department of Labor. "Veterans have an ideal combination of training, skills and qualities that prepares them to be peak performers. We're excited about working with the Veterans on Wall Street consortium to raise awareness of this issue and help increase the number of veterans in the workforce."

The conference agenda will include breakout sessions for industry-wide sharing of best practices, information sessions for recent military veterans, and an evening reception and fundraising dinner event.

For additional information, or to register for the Hiring our Heroes event in New York City, please visit www.regonline.com/vows or e-mail HiringOurHeroes@USChamber.com.

New bill would boost job-finding help for vets

By Rick Maze, Navy Times

The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee chairwoman is pushing for a dramatic expansion of government programs aimed at helping separating service members find jobs.

With an unemployment rate of as high as 27 percent for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans ages 20 to 24, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the committee chairwoman and a member of the Senate Democratic Party leadership, worries the government isn't providing the kind of help or follow-up service members need as they separate or retire from the service.

Her new plan, called the Hiring Heroes Act of 2011, would try to improve what the government already is doing — and do more.

For example, Murray wants transition assistance courses — aimed at preparing service members for civilian life — to be mandatory, a policy not now uniformly applied. In addition to set courses for everyone, she also wants each veteran to get an individualized assessment of the civilian jobs that best relate to his experience and education.

Defense Department and Labor Department officials have talked of an upcoming overhaul in transition workshops that would incorporate some of the changes Murray would mandate in her bill.

Once veterans leave the service, additional help in finding a job typically comes only to those who ask for it. Murray wants the government to be more aggressive. Her bill calls for the Labor Department, which has a veterans' employment service, to periodically contact veterans to see if they are employed and if they need more help.

For disabled veterans, Murray proposes providing an additional 24 months of vocational rehabilitation and employment services for those who have exhausted their unemployment benefits and already received prior vocational and rehabilitative help.

Murray's plan is endorsed by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and the Military Officers Association of America, and is co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. Mark Begich of Alaska, Chris Coons of Delaware and Jon Tester of Montana.

"I have talked to veteran after veteran who has said they did not have to go through the [Transition Assistance Program] or that it just wasn't taken seriously when they did," she said. She also has spoken to employers who have told her they don't understand how military experience translates into skills they can use in their businesses.

"We can no longer afford for TAP to be seen as the last step in a service member's enlistment. It has to be seen as the first step in their successful career," she said. "We also need to improve efforts to translate skills from the battlefield onto a résumé and into an interview with a prospective employer."

Murray introduced a similar, comprehensive veterans' employment bill last year, and some parts of it — like having the Post-9/11 GI Bill cover on-the-job training, apprenticeships and vocational training — became law. The GI Bill change takes effect Aug. 1.

A price tag for her new bill, likely to be a key factor in its chances for enactment, is not yet available.

April unemployment data is mixed news for vets

The employment picture for veterans improved in April — a sign that efforts to encourage employers to hire veterans may be working — but jobs seem to remain elusive for young, male combat veterans.

Overall, the nation's unemployment rate for April was 9 percent, up from 8.8 percent in March, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 13.7 million Americans were unemployed, roughly the same number as in March despite the addition of 244,000 jobs in the retail, hospitality, professional and business services, and health care industries.

For veterans, the overall unemployment rate dropped in April to 7.7 percent, down from 9 percent the previous month.

But for younger veterans — those who served on active-duty since the 2001 terrorist attacks — the unemployment rate remained unchanged, at 10.9 percent, with a large gap between men and women. For women veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan era, the unemployment rate is 6.9 percent for April. For men of the same era, the unemployment rate is 11.7 percent.