A new study of federal hiring patterns conducted by the Merit Systems Protection Board - an independent, quasi-judicial agency in the Executive branch - revealed a number of interesting trends.  At the top of the OhMyGov! list was the finding that a third of those hired by the government admitted to not applying for other federal jobs they wanted because they did not want to spend more time writing new essays or revising existing essays describing their knowledge, skills and abilities.  Additionally, one out of every four new hires stated they did not apply to other jobs because they would have needed to rewrite or reformat their résumé.

For those unfamiliar with federal recruitment practices, many agencies require candidates to submit lengthy applications for jobs that include essays, dozens of multiple choice questions, and up to a dozen short answer responses.  And since most agencies operate their own online job application system, candidates can't simply resubmit their applications electronically to multiple jobs unless they are targeting a single agency.

Each application takes anywhere from one to three hours to complete, so it's no surprise the work involved in producing multiple applications would turn some people off to the process.  But the fact that the one out of every three people opts not to apply for multiple positions reflects a tremendous barrier to attracting outside talent that agencies must correct to remain competitive with the private sector and to replace the coming wave of federal retirees. 

Another interesting discovery buried inside the 69-page report was the fact that over a third of GS-12 level federal employees hired from outside of government did not have a bachelor's degree.  GS-12 employees earn salaries ranging from $56,000 to $91,000 per year excluding benefits.  The actual salary depends on the employee's location and the "step" or salary sub-level they have attained. 

As the study reported, many of the upper-level jobs filled by new hires were in occupations involving information technology, homeland security, and national defense. While only 25 percent of Americans hold a bachelor's degree, it's a bit surprising that one out of three of the mostly white collar federal employees hired to fill such positions and earning that much money a year wouldn't have a bachelor's. 

Since the study only focused on new hires from outside the executive branch of government, these individuals did not gain their GS-12 positions by moving up the federal system from lower GS wage levels by longevity and promotion.  They were recruited from outside of the executive branch, and roughly half of all new hires at the GS-12 level or above had experience as a government contractor or military member. 

Other interesting tidbits reported by the study included the following:

• Although agencies relied on USAJOBS to advertise job vacancies, this was not the survey respondents’ primary source of job information.  More new hires relied on their network of friends, their relatives, and their new Federal supervisors and co-workers to learn about job opportunities.  
  
  
• Assessment methods were sometimes used that unnecessarily limited who can qualify for vacant jobs. 
  
  
• Former military members achieved the greatest increase in representation as new hires within the executive branch of government, according to the Merit System Protection Board report.  Since the implementation of the Veterans Employment Opportunity Act of 2000 - which granted preferential hiring treatment to veterans - the number of veterans represented as new upper level employees increased from 6 percent to 26 percent in FY 2005.   Parts of this increase stems from the fact that the Department of Defense accounted for almost half of the new hires in 2005.
  
  
• When asked to compare their agency to their last employer in 17 discrete areas, the new hires rated their new agency better, not worse, in almost all areas except in dealing effectively with poor performers. 
  
  
• More than half of the upper level new hires said they were not informed of the status of their applications until being called for interviews or offered their jobs. 

In response to their findings, the Merit Systems Protection Board offered a number of hiring best practices for federal agencies.  At the top of the list was the recommendation not to limit public notice of vacant positions to USAJOBS.com.  Instead, the Board suggested that vacancies should be advertised on a number of job boards, be well written, and should emphasize the positives of the agency's own mission and accomplishments to attract more passionate candidates.  They also advised against the use of restrictive selective factors that do not enhance minimum qualification requirements to screen applicants, using lengthy application questionnaires, and relying on candidate raters without double-checking the work of those raters for accuracy.