Washington, D.C. - The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Deputy Director Dan G. Blair laid out the approach OPM is taking to make agencies more competitive when recruiting talent to the Federal government. Speaking at the opening of the Federal Agency Recruiting Summit sponsored by the Partnership for Public Service, Blair defined the challenge and OPM's response.

"Converging trends--the coming retirement wave, stiff competition where demand is outstripping supply, a traditional government employment model that is not attractive to a new generation of job seekers, and an unwieldy hiring process--make savvy recruitment an imperative," Blair stressed. "OPM is taking aggressive steps in each area."

OPM's innovative and groundbreaking advertising campaign is aimed at people entering the workforce and those who are mid-career. The ads have aired in a dozen media markets since their rollout in May 2006. Federal Career Days is a vehicle used to reach out to a new generation of talent. Four career days will be held this fall at colleges with strong academic programs in mission-critical occupations. Each school has shown a strong commitment to Federal employment as a premier career choice.

The second prong of OPM's response is its Career Patterns initiative that identifies segments of the labor market and the preferred work environment of each segment. Career Patterns information is available on the OPM website at http://www.opm.gov/hcaaf_resource_center/careerPatterns/index.asp.

Improving the hiring process is the third prong of OPM's concerted efforts. OPM initiatives include:

• A Federal Hiring Flexibilities Resource Center
• An HR Flexibilities and Authorities Handbook
• Streamlined vacancy notices for USAJOBS.gov, the official job site of the Federal government
• An applicant and hiring manager satisfaction survey linked to USAJOBS