Depending on whether or not you’ve applied to work for the federal government, you may or may not know of the hiring practices that take place for potential employees. Potential hires were required to write essays about the job they were applying for. Then for every job applied for, a new essay was required. After Obama’s memo is put into effect; calling for new guidelines in federal hiring practices the process looks to be better streamlined.

Director of Office of Personnel Management, John Berry and Jeffrey Zients, a private business specialist were assigned to provide President Obama with ideas on how to speed up and improve the hiring process. The new policy approved by Obama looks to cut the processing time for new hires from 140 to 80 days or less.

The biggest changes being implemented are the abolishment of the essay system, and instead of requiring new hires to apply for separate jobs they are pooled together. Then hiring managers can pull applicants from a wider selection source.

Here are some of the changes, straight from Obama’s memo:

(1) eliminate any requirement that applicants respond to essay-style questions when submitting their initial application materials for any Federal job

(2) allow individuals to apply for Federal employment by submitting resumes and cover letters or completing simple, plain language applications, and assess applicants using valid, reliable tools; and

(3) provide for selection from among a larger number of qualified applicants by using the “category rating” approach (as authorized by section 3319 of title 5, United States Code), rather than the “rule of 3″ approach, under which managers may only select from among the three highest scoring applicants

(b) require that managers and supervisors with responsibility for hiring are:

(1) more fully involved in the hiring process, including planning current and future workforce requirements, identifying the skills required for the job, and engaging actively in the recruitment and, when applicable, the interviewing process; and

(2) accountable for recruiting and hiring highly qualified employees and supporting their successful transition into Federal service, beginning with the first performance review cycle starting after November 1, 2010

It looks like hiring managers will be put under a bit more pressure for their performance in hiring well qualified recruits. Of course, with the elimination of the essays, managers will be better equipped to process more applications.

It’s refreshing to see the federal government catch up to the private sector in hiring practices. Just like in all businesses, the system won’t be perfect but with what is likely a high influx of applicants, efficiency is the key.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 9:56 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About the Author: John is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.