Recruit

As a partnership between HR and the hiring manager, develop a recruitment strategy to identify sources for recruitment taking into consideration the skills required for the position, skills on hand, and any skills gaps and imbalances. Recruitment is an ongoing process requiring attention even at times when the agency is not “actively” seeking to fill jobs. Posting a job opportunity announcement is not a substitute for the broader and more persistent recruiting that agencies must undertake to be in a position to fill positions with the best possible applicants, once a vacancy arises. It is essential that agencies use the appropriate hiring tools available to produce a sufficient pool of qualified and diverse applicants.

Things to Consider

• Develop a recruitment strategy that will support your agency talent acquisition process from initial job seeker interest through onboarding.
• Use USAJOBS’ Agency Talent Portal to search for job seekers and invite them to apply to job opportunities.
• As part of an overall recruitment strategy, engage and partner with diverse organizations, including, but not limited to educational institutions, as potential sources of talent.
• Once the appointment process is complete, review applicant flow data for mission critical occupations to evaluate recruitment effectiveness and talent pool diversity.

Plays for Recruitment

• Utilize non-competitive special hiring authorities such as Veterans Recruiting Authority, the hiring authority for 30% or more disabled Veterans, the military spouse hiring authority, and the Schedule A authority for individuals with certain disabilities.
• Enhance recruitment and branding efforts by producing videos of agency employees, providing a realistic preview for advertised positions.
• Market potential workplace flexibilities such as telework, remote work, and flexible and compressed work schedules.
• Market comprehensive compensation and benefits package.
• Use Resume Mining on USAJOBS to reach active job seekers for specialized needs and special hiring authorities.
• Expand use of applicant flow data and analytics about the use of data to inform future outreach and recruitment decisions.
• Utilize available recruitment flexibilities such as recruitment and relocation incentives strategically to attract new hires.

Recruitment and Branding: Develop an agency “brand” and branding strategies to build credibility with employees and potential applicants. Large agencies may want to develop an agency brand in addition to brands for bureaus and component agencies. Generally, the brand showcases the agency mission. Create recruitment materials that reflect the brand.

Plays for Outreach

• Develop an agency outreach and recruitment plan with appropriate resources to enable agencies to reach underserved and under-represented communities, as part of a comprehensive recruitment program.
• Conduct outreach to specific communities (e.g., Veterans and Military Spouses, students, persons with disabilities), utilizing data-driven methods and incorporating promising practices.
• Leverage opportunities to recruit in the local commuting areas, including attending or hosting virtual information events, conducting campus recruitment, and conducting outreach to relevant communities.
• Use Department of Defense – Operation Warfighter (OWF) and Skill-bridge Program, as well as the Department of Veterans Affairs – Non-paid Work Experience Program (NPWE) and Disabled Veterans in a Training Program (OJT), as appropriate, to help meet mission critical occupations need.