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Easier Federal Job Applications? Yes!
Monday, July 6, 2009
If you are planning to apply for a job with the Federal government, you can start doing your happy dance now.
From the Federal Times, the dreaded knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) questionnaires will be phased out. The Office of Personnel Management plans to ask agencies in September to stop requiring job seekers to fill out the time-consuming questionnaires.
What are KSA questionnaires?
The Federal Times explains, "KSA questionnaires can contain dozens of questions requiring applicants to write essays describing their work experience or qualifications. HR specialists and subject matter experts then read through those responses — or use software to search for key words — and assign point values to KSA responses that help determine which applications will be reviewed further. But KSA questions are sometimes repetitive and require lengthy responses, and critics say they discourage some people from applying for federal jobs."
Yes, they do. When I initially reviewed the announcement to apply for my current position, I read it, put it away and thought, maybe even said aloud, "no job is worth this." I eventually did apply and it took the better part of a day. To me, this was not a normal application process.
What is normal?
Funny you should ask. Of the societal norm, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry said in the article,
"Our society operates on a résumé-based approach, and for years, the government has had its own approach separate from that. What I’m hoping we can accomplish is a culture shift to have the federal government rely upon what the societal norm is.”
Federal HR benchmarking against the societal norm – now that’s COOL and something I can get behind. I hired people without KSAs before working in federal HR and I'd like to do that again.I started dancing in my office (almost) as I read on.
What is going on here?
I continued to read and then my dancing slowed and disbelief started creeping in. Some bucky Federal HR mangers were quoted in the article saying:
If we do away with KSAs, we’ll be moving away from information we need to properly evaluate people. I’m not sure this is going to work.
Switching to a pure résumé system isn’t the right idea. Without KSAs, HR offices will have to ask job seekers more follow-up questions, which will just end up slowing the hiring process further.
Let’s not create the illusion that because the process will be easier on the front end, it will also be easier on the back end. If this bogs down the hiring process, then we won’t achieve the result we’re looking for.
Hokey Spitballs! Get out from under your regulations and take a look around. We can hire without KSAs. The private sector does it every single day. The U.S Army and U.S. Customs Service do it.
Step Up Your Game
John Palguta of the Partnership for Public Service said, "some HR offices and reviewers who have been relying on KSAs, they’ll have to step up their game and be more creative in terms of how they evaluate people."
Yes! Let's be creative. Eliminating KSAs is the right thing to do and those not willing to consider that maybe there is a better approach to assessing applicants will need to step out of the way for others to try.
It's time for a change and streamling the federal job application is a change in the right direction.
Photocredit iStockphoto
Reader Comments (8)
Yes, this is a very interesting article and quite troubling as well - no, not because I am losing my sleep over the elimination of KSA; rather wondering what is the new system going to be. First of all, there is a heaven and hell difference between job hiring and job duties in public sector vs. that of private sector. Well that does not justify why the two hiring processes should not be the same, but calls for a different tactic of evaluation to see if the person fits in (not meaning bureaucracy).
The hiring process in fed is excruciatingly painful now. I have started applying and don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. As a matter of fact, while I am applying in the IT Specialist jobs, if and when I land one, my salary will be cut in half if not more. Now, one would ask why I would want to join fed. I will keep that to myself for now.
What is bothering about fed hiring is that the system is institutionally biased in some sense. Anybody with a military background is given preference over a a civilian in a civilian job. That is bad! I have full respect to the people serving honorably for our country. But that does not make me biased.
Another beef. The dreaded KSA questions and their match with resume is all they care about apparently. Therefore, a dumb fellow, who would score half of what I would in an aptitude test (just assume, I am not a superman) but has a smart match and descriptions in the KSA section and has no degree will win the position over me even though I have a master's degree and worked very hard for it paying from my own pocket while working and sustaining my family. To me this is a biased system.
Therefore, if the system needs to change, let us have a fair game. Additionally, there needs to be more objectivity in the hiring process and it should be faster. I am out of job now and how long do I have to wait for a federal job? 2 months? 8 months? Those are the boundaries. Is it it not atrocious? What is the problem in administering a bunch of aptitude tests and a straight interview from that shortlist? The less the human intervention, the faster the process.
Thanks.
@Lance and @ Rachel - I am thrilled to see the energy behind revising the hiring process. It was built on sound merit principles but there are parts to it that have outlived their usefulness and parts that have not changed with the times (and technology).