Playbook Activities by Traci Walker

PLAY: Job Title Alignment Meets #FEDTECHJOBS: Reaching the Tech Community

awkwalk — 2024-11-20 16:02:26 UTC

Align federal job titles with industry-standard technology roles by implementing the Hiring Experience memo recommendations to include clear working titles in job announcements. By modernizing job titles and leveraging initiatives like a common tagging tactic like #FEDTECHJOBS, agencies can improve visibility and engagement with top tech talent.

PLAY: Tailored for Tech: Adapting Hiring Mechanisms to Attract Top Talent

awkwalk — 2024-11-20 16:02:47 UTC

Understanding the “why” behind skill requirement statements and leveraging the range of hiring mechanisms to fit your specific hiring strategy can significantly enhance access to diverse, high-potential talent.

PLAY: Advancing Collaboration with Hiring Managers to Unlock Unique Tech Hiring Solutions

awkwalk — 2024-11-20 16:03:07 UTC

Hiring managers often know the qualities they seek in a candidate but may not prioritize the hiring process, leading to delays and missed opportunities to secure top talent.

PLAY: Striking the Balance: Managing Volume Without Sacrificing Quality

awkwalk — 2024-11-20 16:04:35 UTC

Implement innovative strategies to meet time-to-hire goals. It emphasizes leveraging pooled hiring, shared certificates, and rosters to share qualified candidates, incorporating SME-supported assessments tailored to role-specific needs, and optimizing HR's role to streamline the process and reduce bottlenecks.

PLAY: Engaging Talent Upstream: Communication Strategies for Early Engagement with Tech Talent

awkwalk — 2024-11-20 16:05:32 UTC

Build early relationships with tech talent through proactive outreach, including emails, events, and other communication channels. Establish these connections before job postings, to quickly activate interest and attract higher-quality candidates eager to apply their skills in government, where the potential for impactful public service is significant.

PLAY: Enhancing the Candidate Experience: Building Trust and Transparency in Government Hiring

awkwalk — 2024-11-20 16:06:19 UTC

Focus on improving the candidate experience by creating a more transparent, communicative, and engaging hiring journey. Implement proactive recruitment strategies, creating automated yet personalized responses, and clearly defined process milestones to foster trust, maintain interest, and position public service as an appealing career option.

ACTION: Create assessments: SMEs and hiring managers collaboratively create evaluations of tech talent

2024-11-21 15:05:11 UTC

Assessments allow hiring managers to evaluate applicant's skills in addition to standard credential requirements, resulting in selection of higher quality candidates

ACTION: Regular Meetings between hiring managers, SMEs, and recruiters

2024-11-21 15:06:04 UTC

Regular communication leads to better understanding of the qualities and skills vs education and experience hiring managers are looking for in an ideal candidate

ACTION: Have Tech Role Trainings for hiring specialists and classifiers

2024-11-21 15:06:42 UTC

Trainings on tech roles in the agencies can ensure all players have a better understanding of what they are hiring for

Action: Review Job Titles and create a list of title and agree on their usage for future vacancy announcements

2024-11-21 15:12:10 UTC

Using descriptive, organizational, or functional job titles that align more with industry standards can attract more targeted candidates to the vacancy announcement

Action: Consider Hashtags, contact DoS recruiters to discuss job postings on social media and use of hashtags

2024-11-21 15:28:16 UTC

Assist with vacancy announcements in reaching a larger audience and talent pool

ACTION: Limit Resume Reviews: List page limits for resume reviews in job announcements

2024-11-21 15:33:33 UTC

page limits encourage candidates to be more concise and make reviews less time consuming for hiring managers and HR specialists

ACTION: Review and communicate timelines: hiring manager and specialist agree on reasonable deadline for each step in hiring process

2024-11-21 15:34:36 UTC

review the steps and identify where deadlines are firm and encourage buy-in from all stakeholders and help hold each entity accountable

ACTION: Designate shared certificate coordinator

2024-11-21 15:35:03 UTC

Share hiring actions can speed up hiring process

ACTION: Attending Tech Conferences

2024-11-21 15:35:54 UTC

It ensures that you are reaching a broader audience that have the necessary skills in tech. Diversifies the candidate pool.

ACTION: Hold Consistent SME Trainings

2024-11-21 15:36:09 UTC

Having SME Trainings with Hiring Managers and SMEs will help them to understand we are looking for skills that an applicant possesses and not limiting them to credentials.

ACTION: Have meetings with Hiring Managers at the time of posting

2024-11-21 15:36:27 UTC

Take the time to meet with the hiring manager/SME to understand the position they are trying to post and what qualities and experience are needed in a candidate. This will help hiring managers understand the “why” of choosing a candidate with skill prioritization over credentials

ACTION: Meet with Hiring Managers to understand the ways to hire for the talent they are looking to acquire

2024-11-21 15:37:06 UTC

Take the time to meet with the hiring manager/SME to understand the position they are trying to post and what qualities and experience are needed in a candidate. Explain the different hiring strategies that are best to attract that particular profile of candidate

ACTION: Shared certificates

2024-11-21 15:37:13 UTC

There may have been a posting opened by another component with similar experience needed from an applicant that can better align with the hiring process

ACTION: Use Resources readily available

2024-11-21 15:37:30 UTC

There may have been a DHA announcement where the hiring manager could pull from the list of applicants – it takes time reviewing the resumes but they could be assisted by SMEs and delegate the work. Although it is timely, it could alleviate the work of creating JOA and posting announcement (traditional hiring process)

ACTION: Rolling applicant pool

2024-11-21 15:37:49 UTC

If an announcement closes that has a large volume of applicants, instead of waiting until the announcement actually closes to qual the applicant – you could do it on a rolling basis

ACTION: Splitting qual review amongst HR Specialist

2024-11-21 15:38:14 UTC

For DE announcements that produced a large applicant pool – HR Specialist could work together to qual applicants on the list. For example: 300 applicants split between 3 specialists. At least each HR Specialist would have 100 applicants instead of one HR Specialist trying to qual all 300

ACTION: Use SME supported assessments

2024-11-21 15:38:32 UTC

Instead of 1 traditional USAJobs Assessment when an applicant completes the application there could be a series of different types of test (real-life scenario, coding screens, etc) that will help weed out the candidates with strongest skill set.

ACTION: Improving Hiring Process by creating better assessments by Training new employees, updating SOPs, and doing quality reviews

2024-11-21 15:41:12 UTC

They will be able to develop quality assessments, with the required question that are based on the position description. Provides great assessment with the required information for the position been filled.

ACTION: Improving Hiring Process by creating better specialized experience by verifying PD's are updated and well written to reflect knowledge and skills of position

2024-11-21 15:42:20 UTC

It will improve the quality of candidates that are in the certificate, and it will improve the hiring managers’ timeline to review candidates.

ACTION: Improving Hiring Process by sharing certificates and updating selections on when candidates are selected

2024-11-21 15:43:42 UTC

Sharing internally and with other agencies to share the hiring process time and updating when people are hired will minimize duplication

Action: Create a ‘Strategic Recruitment Discussion’ (SRD) document/SOP for HR Specialists to use during the initial discussion with the HM

2024-11-21 15:44:25 UTC

Creating a standard SRD document/SOP will ensure HR Specialists are asking all the required questions needed to begin the recruitment process (all the required information will be collected up front) and help to ensure recruitment consistency Agency wide.

ACTION: Create a standard recruitment timeline.

2024-11-21 15:44:54 UTC

The HR Specialist would review the timeline with the HM during the SRD, and continuously follow-up during the recruitment process to make sure everyone is on the same page, provide assistance when/if need, ensure any reasons for stalling the recruitment action is justified and a solution to the issue is provided in order to move the action forward timely.

ACTION: Detailed interview process SOP

2024-11-21 15:45:19 UTC

Creating a standard interview SOP would allow the HM to prepare ahead of time their interview panel, interview questions, and ensure everyone is ready for the interview(s) once the certificate has been received and reviewed by the HM.

ACTION: Use announcement cut-off scores.

2024-11-21 15:45:42 UTC

Only allow a specific number of applicants to apply to a JOA.

ACTION: Review Shared Certificates.

2024-11-21 15:46:05 UTC

When the HR Specialist and the HM conduct the SRD, check the systems to see if there are any active certificates for like positions rather than going through the entire recruitment process only to obtain a certificate with similar or the same candidate pool.

ACTION: Implement AI-Driven Screening

2024-11-21 15:46:19 UTC

Use an AI tools to initially analyze resumes based on keywords and relevant specialized experience, highlighting the top applicants to be reviewed by the HR Specialist.

ACTION: Effective candidate communication throughout the hiring process

2024-11-21 15:46:46 UTC

Ensure to keep candidates updated throughout each state of the hiring process. Use emails, phone calls, or a tracking system (such as USAS) to maintain contact. Setting expectations and providing timely feedback ensures candidates feel valued and informed throughout their journey.

ACTION: Measure and analyze candidate experience.

2024-11-21 15:47:12 UTC

Provide surveys to candidates to gather feedback about their experience throughout the hiring process. The data can be analyzed to understand the candidates experience, along with the strengths and weaknesses in the Agencies hiring process. Then implement changes based on the insights gained to enhance the candidate journey.

ACTION: Address Negative Candidate Experiences.

2024-11-21 15:47:27 UTC

Use feedback obtained from candidates with bad experiences to understand what went wrong. Communicate transparently with candidates to resolve issues, and use insights learned to refine interview questions, improve the careers page, and make the pre-employment process smoother.

ACTION: Create a visual roadmap of the hiring process that outlines stages and timelines.

2024-11-21 15:48:24 UTC

Design a clear and visually appealing roadmap that is shared with candidates at the start of the hiring process. Include details such as average timelines for each stage and what candidates can expect at each step.

ACTION: Set up automated email templates to acknowledge applications and share updates.

2024-11-21 15:48:53 UTC

Use automation tools to send timely emails at key milestones, including personalized details such as the job title, estimated next steps, and points of contact. This ensures consistent communication with candidates, fostering trust and demonstrating that their applications are being actively reviewed.

ACTION: Offer regular virtual sessions for candidates to ask questions about the hiring process.

2024-11-21 15:49:12 UTC

Schedule and promote live Q&A sessions using virtual meeting platforms. Prepare a list of FAQs and include hiring managers to address specific concerns.

ACTION: Develop pooled hiring rosters to share qualified candidates across similar vacancies.

2024-11-21 15:49:41 UTC

Create and maintain a shared certificate system that allows multiple offices to access pre-vetted candidates for similar roles, streamlining the hiring process.

ACTION: Partner with SMEs to design assessments tailored to specific roles.

2024-11-21 15:50:04 UTC

Work with subject matter experts to create evaluation tools that align with the critical tasks and requirements of each role. Pilot these assessments on smaller hiring efforts to ensure their effectiveness.

ACTION: Standardize a hiring timeline template with goals for each step of the process.

2024-11-21 15:50:31 UTC

Use project management tools to create a structured timeline for hiring actions, including deadlines for each stage, to maintain accountability. A clear timeline helps hiring teams manage applications efficiently, ensuring that quality is not sacrificed for speed.

ACTION: Update federal job titles to reflect equivalent industry roles.

2024-11-21 15:50:57 UTC

Analyze industry databases and consult with SMEs to align federal job titles with widely recognized tech roles, focusing on high-demand areas such as cybersecurity and data science.

ACTION: Standardize the use of #FEDTECHJOBS in job postings.

2024-11-21 15:51:19 UTC

Include the hashtag in all tech-related job announcements across platforms like LinkedIn to attract top tech talent. Monitor engagement metrics to assess its effectiveness.

ACTION: Build partnerships with tech forums, meetups, and educational institutions.

2024-11-21 15:52:03 UTC

Establish relationships with key tech community stakeholders to promote federal job opportunities and attend events to engage directly with potential candidates. Direct outreach to tech communities helps the agency tap into a broader and more specialized talent pool, enhancing recruitment efforts.

PLAY: Placeholder for Developing a Talent Team Play

awkwalk — 2024-11-21 17:39:03 UTC

create better assessments to capture the true qualification - the technical question in the interview should build on the original technical questions

2024-11-21 20:52:01 UTC

Encourage the manager to use the timeline to block off key time to prep for actions like their interviews.

2024-11-21 20:54:33 UTC

Helps avoid scheduling conflicts- blocking off 5 weeks away to do the cert. helps to avoid the delays.

Action: Personalizing messages that go out from usa staffing

lindsay315 — 2024-11-21 20:59:32 UTC