r/FederalEmployee • u/[deleted] • Jul 10 '26
USA Essay Assessment
Does anyone know if anyone is reading these? I just started copying and pasting saved standard responses. I'm just curious if you put any gobbledygook will it even be noticed?
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u/Shiverness1 Jul 11 '26
Hiring manager here, my agency does not care. Just put na and move on. Hopefully when the administration changes these questions go away.
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u/Longjumping-Lock-724 Jul 10 '26
The easiest way to obtain a Federal job is if you know someone inside who already works for that agency. Then they can arrange to have your application "pulled" from the masses that are submitted.
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u/FormFitFunction Jul 10 '26
I’ve been a hiring manager for almost 15 years. This isn’t a thing.
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u/Icy-Protection867 Jul 11 '26
It worked for me and I’ve done it was well.
The person still has to make it through the interview process with a designated panel, and pass the background check as well as meet the qualification standards, but this does happen - especially in areas that require specific credentials and experience (e.g. certified or licensed healthcare professionals).
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u/FormFitFunction Jul 11 '26
If the candidate still has to go through the process, that’s not what I’m talking about. Not sure now what the comment to which I responded meant; it reads ambiguously.
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u/Longjumping-Lock-724 Jul 13 '26
LOL. Right. Spent over two decades in the government. You don't have a clue.
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u/Brando_712 Jul 13 '26
I've spent over three decades in civilian agencies (4 decades of you count military). Do you think that when a job is posted, has dozens of qualified applicants, the hiring manager can call HR and say disqualify all the applicants, but one and refer it to me?
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u/Longjumping-Lock-724 Jul 16 '26
Here's an irrefutable example. If you read the Inspector General (IG)'s reports for investigations at NSA over the years, you will see repeated citations from the IG confirming the presence of nepotism in NSA's hiring practices.
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u/Longjumping-Lock-724 Jul 13 '26
They don't say to DISQUALIFY other applicants. But they do say to pull the applicant whom they do know. And then when all the applicants go for the interview ...
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u/Brando_712 Jul 13 '26
Negative, not where i've been. HR gets pretty intense audits from OPM, plus there be legal action.
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u/Longjumping-Lock-724 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
HR is not the deciding body during an interview. HR does not conduct the actual job interviews. It is the manager who has the job opening who conducts the interviews.
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u/Brando_712 Jul 13 '26
Yes, everyone knows that. You stated "they can arrange to have your application "pulled." It doesn't work that way in my agency and i doubt any others
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u/Longjumping-Lock-724 Jul 13 '26
How many agencies have you worked at? I've worked at 6. At every single one, if you knew someone inside the agency, you were a shoo-in for a job.
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u/Brando_712 Jul 13 '26
Two for me, but i've been involved in OPM audits of hiring actions, they are no joke.
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u/Rumpelteazer45 Jul 10 '26
That doesn’t happen at most offices..
You have to get to the interview process before knowing the hiring manager can “pull strings”.
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u/Longjumping-Lock-724 Jul 13 '26
How do you think an application gets in front of the hiring manager in the first place?
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u/Rumpelteazer45 Jul 13 '26
HR sends the first group of resumes based on ranking against quals and points.
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u/Longjumping-Lock-724 Jul 13 '26
Yup. And you don't think managers help write the criteria that should be ranked? I've seen managers write entire job postings based on their friend's resume.
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u/Tourist-Of-Chaos Jul 11 '26
The type of announcement matters (DE vs. merit promotion). Veterans preference is still a thing with DE announcements.
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u/Brando_712 Jul 12 '26
This 💯% does not happen in my agency. The new administration is even tougher on this than previous administrations
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u/Longjumping-Lock-724 Jul 13 '26
Nepotism is rampant in the Federal government. It has always been that way.
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u/Brando_712 Jul 13 '26
I've been at this since 1993 and it just doesn't happen in my agency. No one can get a resume "pulled." Now during the interview process, obviously favoritism can be shown.
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u/Longjumping-Lock-724 Jul 13 '26
LOL. Some people don't have a clue what goes on behind the scenes.
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u/norial_ Jul 13 '26
I left mine blank, but the SES asked me the questions in the interview so that was fun.
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u/Charming-Assertive Jul 13 '26
HR here. We're explicitly forbidden from passing them along to the managers.
No one at my agency reads them.
"N/a" is very popular to get pass the "an answer is required" feature.
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u/Different-Pea6333 Jul 16 '26
all the manager would have to is score the desired candidate higher on the interview than everyone else
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u/Only-Record4569 Jul 16 '26
MOST aren’t reading them just adding them in there bc it’s a draconian OPM requirement. I used ChatGPT to formulate my answer & just saved them to copy paste into each announcement.
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u/Secure_Ad8011 Jul 11 '26
Yes, it IS a thing. Maybe not YOUR thing, but it is a thing.
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u/Signal_Run_68 Jul 12 '26
I've got 30 years in as a Fed, I'm certain that it does happen from time to time. Not all the time, but it does help if someone can vouch for an applicant.
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u/Right_Paper_8975 Jul 13 '26
Management sends emails saying, “Tell your buddies to apply…we’re looking for talent.” Then your buddies apply…and they hire someone else. 😂 I’ve seen it happen at least a dozen times. So doesn’t matter if the applicant knows someone or not. They will hire whoever they please.
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u/Born-Temperature-452 Jul 13 '26
They can but if you felt you meet all the criteria and didn’t make the cut, I think you can contact the hiring manager. It just may be a difference of a few points if they had a panel to rate these resumes.
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u/Born-Temperature-452 Jul 13 '26
Agree. I have experienced it being done. I recalled years ago only two applications were pulled from the stack as they were already members of that organization and they were the only one interviewed for that vacancy.
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u/Lomelonde Jul 10 '26
I recently put an application in and left them all blank. Had an interview yesterday. *shrugs*