By Natalie Alms
Jan 28, 2021
The General Services Administration is digging into hiring data to find out why agencies struggle to fill positions.
According to GSA’s Hiring Assessment and Selection Outcome Dashboard, 90% of federal hiring decisions are based on an applicant’s resume and self-assessment, and only 53% of those candidates were offered a job. Even when another type of assessment, like a multiple choice exam, is part of the review, the percentage ending in a job offer being made still sits at 53%.
Self-assessments are exactly what they sound like: asking applicants if they think they're qualified for the job they're applying for. The use of these self-evaluations and long resumes can sometimes result in qualified job-seekers being eliminated from the process and a less diverse final pool of new hires, said Amy Paris, a product manager and digital service expert at United States Digital Service (USDS) who helped collect the data for the new interactive report.