GovernmentExecutive.com

Federal job announcements need some sprucing, an Office of Personnel Management official said in a recent letter to the government's human resources leaders.

Richard Whitford, head of OPM's Employment Service, urged vacancy announcement writers to stop producing long, bureaucratic job postings and replace them with straightforward, plain English descriptions that entice people to work for federal agencies.

"Remember that the announcement represents your agency - long, unedited documents that are full of bureaucratic terms and phrases don't reflect well," Whitford said in his July letter. "Try putting some excitement in recruitment!"

Federal vacancy announcements are often filled with terms and phrases that only a current federal employee, or someone who knows a current federal employee, would be able to decipher. For example, the phrase "One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-4 level" is meaningless to someone who isn't familiar with the federal job classification system. Over the past year, there has been a growing chorus of calls for agencies to make their vacancy announcements easier for outsiders to understand.

Whitford's tips include:

• Highlight the value of the job. Tell readers what makes the job meaningful and how it affects Americans.
• Use the second person "you," as in "Provide a copy of your college transcript when applying."
• Format the announcement simply. Use bullets and white space.
• Tell candidates how to find out more information.

Federal managers who have rewritten their vacancy announcements report that they get more outside applicants for their job openings. Kerry Weems, deputy assistant secretary for budget at Health and Human Services, increased the number of job applicants for budget analyst positions fivefold by rewriting announcements and posting them in places familiar to nonfederal workers.

While agencies have some latitude in writing vacancy announcements, federal regulations require some elements to be included. For example, announcements must include an explanation of veterans preference and inform candidates that agencies will provide reasonable accommodation to people with disabilities.

Whitford's push for clearer vacancy announcements is an initial step in OPM's push to improve federal recruiting. OPM has also put together a team to improve USAJobs, the government's central job vacancy Web site, and has solicited ideas from private sector firms on how to make the site better.

COMMENTS

• Government employeers post recruitment announcements because they have to by law. They are not posting the announcement to recruit an outside employee. They are usually (9 out of 10) trying to hire a predetermined employee. If you analyze some of these announcements, it is rather obvious with the questionable requirements. Anonymous Posted February 5, 2003 5:31 PM
• I would personally be suprised to see these job announcements get the proper treatment they deserve. IF they do this, then it will be a little harder for the cronyisms to maintain their status quo. I'll still maintain, until I retire, circa 2015, that anyone who goes to work for the Federal Government needs their head examined. I might make exceptions for say the baggage screeners, or those who are intimately responsible for keeping our Nation safe...but that comes with the proviso that the job doesn't start at some ridiculous GS-04 grade level. GovExec.com reader Posted February 5, 2003 5:32 PM
• The reason that many people do not apply for federal jobs is because they are expected to reply to the "Knowledges, Skills and Abilities" (KSAs) portion of the announcement, not because of the bureaucratic terms and phrases contained in the announcements. Personnel specialist should be able to qualify applicants based on their past and current work history, not on how eloquently they can write a KSA. P. Taylor Posted February 5, 2003 5:28 PM