The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has announced a new “Talent Pools” tool on the USAJOBS website that provides Federal agencies an easier way to share certificates of job candidates across government.
OPM announced the “Talent Pools” option in a Dec. 1 memo sent to agency human resources directors, in which it said the tool aims to reduce applicant burden and speed up the hiring process for agencies.
“Through pooled hiring, more candidates are hired from each certificate, reducing the need for agencies to post multiple hiring actions throughout the year for the same positions,” the memo explains. “For this to be successful, agencies need to populate the Talent Pools with available delegated examining certificates of eligibles.”
OPM said the certificates are lists of qualified job applicants. In other words, they have applied to an open job posting, have been assessed, and are now available for agencies’ consideration.
However, OPM reminded Federal agencies that in order to share certificates with another agency they must follow the requirements of the Competitive Service Act (CSA). This means they need to notify the applicants and allow them to opt-in to have their names and application information shared with other agencies.
By improving the sharing of these certificates through pooled hiring, the agency said it is working to advance the President’s Management Agenda. Specifically, OPM said it is advancing the PMA’s first priority to strengthen the Federal workforce “by improving the hiring process for all applicants, hiring managers, and human resources (HR) specialists.”
“Talent pools give your agency access to qualified candidates who are already on a hiring certificate and interested in similar jobs at any agency,” OPM concluded. “You can quickly review their resumes and speed up the hiring process if the hiring certificate matches your positions. If you want to hire a candidate from the talent pool, work with your shared certificate coordinator to complete the action using your talent acquisition system.”
