Legislation Introduced to Reform Federal Hiring Process

Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) has introduced legislation that will allow federal agencies to share information about potential job candidates in an effort to reform the federal hiring process.

Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) has introduced legislation that will allow federal agencies to share information about potential job candidates in an effort to reform the federal hiring process.

Under existing law, if agencies have similar hiring needs, they cannot share assessments of applicants with one another. This bill would allow record-sharing, cutting down on duplicative work.

Tester’s legislation is co-sponsored by Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) and is also backed by the Partnership for Public Service.

“This common-sense bill makes government more efficient,” said Tester, Chairman of the subcommittee that oversees the federal workforce. “It also helps speed up the hiring process so we can make sure we have a strong federal workforce that is ready to serve the American people.”

Tester announced his bill just weeks after holding a hearing on the state of the federal workforce, where witnesses testified that the government’s current hiring process, which is both cumbersome and lengthy, often places the federal government at a disadvantage when competing with the private sector for skilled workers.

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Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.