Person applying for a job ()

On Dec. 1, USAJOBS announced the release of their new feature, “Talent Pools.” According to the memorandum released, these pools will:

“advertise” available shared certificates of candidates across government. These certificates, issued under delegated examining procedures through the Competitive Service Act (CSA) or an OPM-run cross government hiring action, contain candidates who have applied to an open announcement, have been assessed, and are available for agencies’ consideration.

Essentially, Talent Pools will create a database of qualified job applicants who were passed over for positions with other agencies. For example, if you were a qualified HR representative who was not hired by one agency, your resume would be shared with other agencies hiring a role with the same requirements.

From my own experience applying for federal positions, crafting a federal resume can take between four and eight hours for each job announcement. Applicants should be able to save a significant amount of time now with this new method.

This will also speed up the “posting job announcement-to-hire” timeline because agencies and applicants will have access to vital and required information more readily and quickly.

There is work to be done, however, to make this new launch successful for everyone. Applicants must note on their applications that they are okay with their resumes being shared with other agencies. Agencies must also “populate the Talent Pools with available delegated examining certificates of eligibles.”