How you will be evaluated

This section tells the applicant how staffing specialists and hiring managers will use their application to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking for the position.

Current fields

This section may contain the following:

Previous fields

This section has contained this information in the past but has now been relocated:

You will set the expectation of how you’ll evaluate an applicant against their responses to the job questionnaire and the information in their resume.

This section will:

  • Include a lead-in sentence: “You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.”

Required by USAJOBS

Yes

Required by policy

Yes

You must include the following:

  • Basis for rating
  • Type of rating
  • Interview type

Basis for rating

The basis for rating is where you will describe how you will evaluate an applicant.

The method of rating may include one or more of the following:

  • Resume
  • Answers to the online job questionnaire
  • Work samples (writing samples, project related samples, design work etc.)
  • An assessment (a written test, project related assessment, etc) - sometimes this is called a work simulation.
  • Interview

Details on rating procedures can be found in the DEO Handbook.

Do

  • Always include the suggested text as the lead-in sentence.
  • Include each type of evaluation criteria you’re using — be specific.
  • Explain any additional documents the applicant needs to provide.
  • Explain any assessment the applicant will need to complete.
  • Include whether they’ll need to complete an in-person interview.

Do not

  • Include additional qualifications that were not already mentioned in the Qualifications section. All qualifications NEED to be listed in the Qualifications section.
  • Duplicate this information in How to apply.
  • Describe any information that be can found elsewhere within the announcement or linked to a page or document outside of the announcement.

Type of assessment

This describes additional assessments that the applicant will need to participate in or complete. Describe what the assessment is, at what point in the process the applicant will need to submit this information and how to request reasonable accommodations.

This may include:

  • Work-related assessment - give the applicant a sample job task or scenario and ask them how they would complete it.
  • Written assessment - the applicant gives a writing sample.
  • Other assessment methods
Suggested text

You will be evaluated for this job based on:

  • The experience listed in your resume and whether your experience and skills match what we’re looking for.
  • A work related assessment – we’ll give you a sample job task that you need to complete.
  • An in-person interview.

Type of rating

Each agency defines what the categories of rating are for their applicants. You are required to tell the applicant what the categories are and how you define them. For merit promotion and other types of hiring, explain the type of rating used.

Suggested text for category rating
  • Best Qualified: An applicant who demonstrates a superior level of all evaluation criteria.
  • Well-Qualified: An applicant who demonstrates a satisfactory level of the evaluation criteria.
  • Qualified: An applicant who demonstrates the basic qualifications, with general knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Do

  • Include the type of rating and a description for each rating.

Do Not

  • Repeat or include additional qualifications — this section is only to describe rating categories.

Interview type

This explains if or when you will interview an applicant and describes the type of interview. This section should also indicate whether the interview is pass/fail or scored.

Type of interview:

  • Structured interview (panel or one-on-one)
  • Include whether the interview is by phone or in-person.
  • Job fit interview
  • Include whether the interview is by phone or in-person.

Conditions of employment reminder

This tells the applicant if they fail any part of the conditions of employment, then the hiring agency can rescind their tentative offer of employment.

NOTE: We plan to add this automatically to each job announcement in a future release.

Questions? Concerns?

This site is a work in progress. We will continue to work on this content until it is as complete as possible. If you have questions or concerns about anything you read here, please reach out to your human resources director who can contact the Office of Personnel Management policy.

If you have comments about the site itself or suggestions on content to add please write to recruiter-help@opm.gov.