SSA OIG Federal Merit Hiring Certificate (Self Paced)
IDCBDMSP

Introduction to Federal Staffing and Placement provides federal HR professionals with a practical foundation in federal staffing laws, regulations, and procedures. Participants gain an understanding of the merit system, recruitment, job analysis, qualifications, competitive and excepted service hiring, veterans’ preference, temporary and term employment, and merit promotion. This course supports consistent, compliant staffing decisions across the federal employment lifecycle.

• Explain the foundations of the federal merit system and prohibited personnel practices.
• Research and apply federal staffing laws, regulations, and OPM guidance.
• Apply recruitment principles and federal hiring strategies.
• Conduct job analysis and identify required competencies and qualifications.
• Evaluate applicant qualifications using General Schedule standards.
• Apply competitive and excepted service hiring authorities.
• Understand veterans’ preference and category rating requirements.
• Identify appropriate use of temporary and term employment authorities.
• Apply merit promotion and in-service placement rules.

Gain the skills to create job-related selection practices that comply with federal regulations and result in higher-quality candidates. This course focuses on job analysis techniques, assessment tool development, and documentation to support hiring decisions.

• Conducting job analyses that meet OPM and UGESP regulatory requirements.
• Defining and differentiating knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies.
• Developing effective applicant assessment tools to improve candidate quality.
• Identifying and addressing issues in existing assessment tools.
• Creating documentation to justify rating criteria and support hiring decisions.

• Describe the staffing process and the role of qualifications analysis within it.
• Understand the purpose of the qualifications process and its historical evolution.
• Describe the structure and content of OPM’s General Schedule Operating Manual and Qualification Standards.
• Evaluate experience and education using the General Policies.
• Combine experience and education through proper analytic procedures to determine minimum qualifications.
• Understand the purpose and requirements for selective placement factors and quality ranking factors.
• Explain in-service placement provisions as they are similar to and differ from outplacement provisions.

• Set pay for employees under the General Schedule.
• Set pay for non-GS pay system employees who move to GS positions.
• Set pay using allowances, differentials, incentives, and back pay.

• Identify the principles upon which the federal human resources management (HRM) system is based and outline how they affect federal HRM decisions.
• Explore the compensation process, including classification, pay, and benefits.
• Describe how equal pay for equal work is accomplished.
• Explain the hiring process and how it is implemented in the federal government.
• Explain how agencies can improve employee engagement to ensure a satisfied, productive workforce.
• Discuss performance management in the federal government, including employee development and performance appraisal processes.
• Describe Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), employee relations, and labor relations programs, including EEO complaint processing, agency administrative grievance systems, and union/management relations.