U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

Many steps in the hiring process occur before an agency even posts a job. During this critical front-end period, collaboration between the HR team and the hiring manager is vital. The HR team elicits important details about the job’s requirements and the hiring manager communicates his or her expectations about the ideal candidate. Together, they discuss how to best market the position beyond the job posting, especially for hard-to-fill positions. These kinds of coordinated efforts direct the success of an agency’s recruiting efforts and, ultimately, the quality of candidates hired.

To improve this internal portion of your hiring process that happens before the 45-day clock starts, use these tools:

• Hiring / Recruitment Video Library
  Access this library to learn about various hiring flexibilites such as Category Rating, Veterans' Appointing Authorities, Direct Hire and Excepted Service to recruit and hire top talent.

• Job Analysis [30 kb]
  Assess the specific duties and requirements associated with a position.

• Strategic Conversation [123 kb]
  Interview hiring managers about their particular job openings. See these before-and-after versions of a worksheet to guide the conversation between a hiring manager and an HR practitioner to inform the recruitment, assessment, and selection of job candidates. Use the "after" version of the Strategic Conversation template!

• Sample Contract between HR and Hiring
  Managers [213 kb]
  Establish expectations at the outset of your hiring action.

• Hiring Flexibilities Resource Center
  Tools and strategies to help you effectively leverage hiring flexibilities.

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