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In February 2023, OPM, OMB, and DOL announced the launch of a portal on USAJOBS (intern.usajobs.gov) to offer a one-stop place to search and apply for internship opportunities across the federal government. This new Federal Internship Portal comes just after the January guidance by OPM and OMB in January to increase opportunities for internships and other emerging workforce programs, per the President’s Management Agenda.

MonsterGov agencies who designate the appropriate vacancies in MHME with the Internship Appointment type and/or the Student Hiring Path will automatically have their opportunities fed into the new portal. For any additional guidance, MHME agency users can refer to this guide on posting internships to the portal. 

On December 23, 2022, the FedRAMP Authorization Act was signed into law by the President as part of the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). According to FedRAMP, “The Act codifies the FedRAMP program as the authoritative standardized approach to security assessment and authorization for cloud computing products and services that process unclassified federal information.”

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the E-Government Act (2002), Shared Services Leadership Coalition invited a series of prominent figures to reflect on their role of this historical legislation. SSLC Founder, John Marshall, interviewed Melissa Wojciak, currently VP of Government Relations for Monster, on her perspective as Staff Director for the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight (2001-2006) and the progress that’s been made toward government advancement, innovation, and shared services.

Monster Government Solutions was informed on April 7, 2022 that our federal talent acquisition system, Monster Hiring Management Enterprise (MHME), has officially received FedRAMP agency authorization through GSA, the agency sponsor. This means that MonsterGov’s federal agency customers currently using MHME will be able to leverage the FedRAMP agency authorization to issue their own system authorizations for a standardized and streamlined approach to meeting federal security standards. Being able to offer a systematic approach to addressing security needs will help our customers build trust with their stakeholders and the MonsterGov team is thrilled to announce this latest offering. 

May 2, 2022 
Orginially published on Federal News Network 

Federal agencies typically struggle to hire and retain qualified candidates. Part of it is the stiff competition from the private sector, which often has the advantages of higher pay and cutting-edge technology to entice applicants. But the federal hiring process is also notoriously lengthy, opaque and subjective, which can prevent highly qualified applicants from pursuing a job, let alone getting selected for a vacancy.

That last issue is what the June 2020 Executive Order on Modernizing and Reforming the Assessment and Hiring of Federal Job Candidates seeks to resolve. The EO directs agencies to rely less on college degrees, and more on skills and competency-based hiring assessments. The Office of Personnel Management has extended the deadline for complying with this EO twice. Current guidance states that the EO must be implemented for at least 50 percent of jobs by May 30, 2022. Full compliance is expected by the end of the year.

But implementing hiring assessments for the sake of federal compliance shouldn’t just be a check off the list. “Agencies have an opportunity to realize the true potential and power of better assessing candidates for the nation’s largest workforce – and for some of the most mission-critical jobs,” said Shannon Kobus, manager of Industrial/Organization Psychology Services at Monster Government Solutions.

By Sally and Anthony

The White House issued Executive Order (EO) 13932 on Modernizing and Reforming the Assessment and Hiring of Federal Job Candidates that will change the way federal agencies hire moving forward. These changes don’t have to be intimidating! Our experts at Monster Government Solutions examined this EO and compiled the key takeaways and how it will impact agencies in the months ahead.

Executive Order 13932 highlights the desire to modernize and change how federal agencies hire their candidates.

The ultimate goal of these changes is to have greater applicant differentiation. Applicants will still need experience directly related to the position and must provide examples on their resumes to address that experience. For jobs that require a specialty degree, like in the science or health fields, they will still require pertinent degrees. However, reviewers should not be relying solely on a college degree to confirm if an applicant has the specific skill sets required to optimally perform in a position. That’s where a smarter assessment strategy and better applicant assessment tools can really help.