Once you’ve applied for a job on USAjobs you’ve more than likely seen some very strange messages under your profile. These USAjobs notifications do mean something and actually come from somewhere outside of USAjobs.
The USAjobs notifications will say something like: received, referred, cancelled, not selected, etc., but what does that mean and where do they come from?
The notifications you see are based off the four touchpoints that are required to be met on the HR side of the program. The four touchpoints are received, notice of results, referral, and disposition. The status of each touchpoint is emailed to the applicant, the sending of this email also updates your USAjobs notifications.
The first touchpoint is Received. You will receive the notice for this status as soon as you hit submit on your job application. This is the only notification that is automatic.
The next touchpoint is the Notice of Results. This touchpoint notifies you whether you were found eligible or not. If you are not found eligible, this will be the last notification you receive. If the job you applied for has multiple grades, then the notice will breakdown which grades you were found eligible for and which ones you were not.
When disqualified for an individual grade or the entire position itself, you are provided with a code and a brief explanation. This code is entered by the human resources specialist when reviewing your application. Common reasons for disqualification are: not meeting the area of consideration, not attaching a required document, not putting all the information needed in your resume (start and end dates on employment and full or part time), not meeting time in grade, not meeting specialized experience, etc.
The code and explanation will be a part of the email that is sent out by the HR side of USAjobs. That email is also saved in USAjobs under your application status. Again, the explanation will be brief. It will read something like, “You were found ineligible for not meeting time in grade.” If you aren’t sure what the explanation means, feel free to contact the HR person at the bottom of the announcement.
If you are found eligible, then you will be looking for the next notification. The next notification is the Referral. The referral notice says if you were referred to the hiring manager for possible interview. The referral notice has it’s own controversy that is fully explained in this video.
There are reasons why a person would be found eligible but still not referred. The two primary reasons are being blocked by Veteran’s preference, and not meeting the highly qualified ranking.
Veteran’s preference is the most common. When an announcement is open to “All US Citizens” or “The Public” Veteran’s preference will apply. There are a few exceptions, such as Direct Hire Authority. I’ll explain Direct Hire Authority later in this post.
Veteran’ preference is exactly what it sounds like. When an announcement is open to All US Citizens Veterans must be referred ahead of non-Veterans. For an announcement that has even one qualified Veteran applicant, it could cause all non-Veterans to not be referred. If there is only one vacancy a single qualified Veteran would mean the end of the line for everyone else. If there are multiple vacancies, then the Veteran must be selected before the non-Veterans can be referred.
Just like the Notice of Results, if you are not referred it will include a code and a brief explanation. If you are referred, the specific grades and certificates you were referred for will be listed. Just because you claim a particular eligibility does not mean that you will automatically be referred for that eligibility. If you do not provide the supporting documentation required for that eligibility, then you will be marked ineligible.
If you claimed multiple eligibilities when applying, you will be referred on all eligibilities that you were confirmed to meet during your application review. It is possible to be on more than one certificate for a particular job.
Now back to Direct Hire Authority. Direct Hire Authority is an exception that is provided for select hard to recruit or retain positions. This authority allows an announcement to be posted to US Citizens without Veteran’s preference. When an announcement is using Direct Hire Authority everyone will be considered equal. Not just Veterans and non-Veterans, but federal employees, or anyone else that might otherwise be given preference.
After Veteran’s preference, not meeting the highly qualified category could keep someone from being referred. When you apply for an announcement that has rating question in the assessment or online questionnaire, it means your application will be ranked. Rating questions are the ones that have you rank yourself on a topic from having no experience at all to being an expert.
What most applicants do is select that they are an expert to all questions no matter what. I would recommend this but with one addition. Take the question from the assessment you are saying you’re an expert on and have some duties related to that question reflected in your resume. HR will confirm that you have the experience you say you do, and they will adjust your score down if that experience is not in your resume. HR will adjust your rating score down, but I have never adjusted anyone’s rating score up personally, nor have I heard of anyone else in HR doing it either.
Your rating score will put you in a category, either highly qualified, well qualified, minimally qualified, etc. Applicants are referred from the highest category down. If you aren’t part of the highly qualified category, there is a good chance you won’t be getting referred for this position.
Following the referral notice is the final Disposition. The Disposition notice lets all applicant know that someone else was selected. The issue with this notice is it is often delayed or forgotten all together. If you have had your status stuck at referred for several months, it’s a good chance someone else was selected but the disposition was never sent.
The USAjobs notifications are updated based on the notices that are sent by HR but it is not a perfect connection. If at any time you have a question about the status of your application, you can contact the HR person at the bottom of the announcement. They may or may not be very helpful, but you have the right to reach out anytime you feel the need.
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