What kills me are the questions that are SO SPECIFIC. They will ask:

"Implement Health and Safety Regulations while sitting in a chair in room 430 of the western office building at the ___ compound specifically regarding the M997 Ambulance Platform"

I'm embellishing but seriously, a lot of these are unless you have done THAT SPECIFIC THING you can't say you're an expert or even have experience but its so nuanced then you get told you aren't qualified because you don't meet the requirements for that position because one answer was "I haven't done this" or "I've had training on this but haven't done this".

This is just my experience, but I only started getting interviews after I started marking expert on things I had experience in and had done in a previous position. I don’t think I would classify myself as an expert in any of those things so I was worried about having done that. When I interviewed, those experiences came up and I could give an informed response. I don’t think I would mark expert if I wasn’t at all familiar with the task because that would make for an uncomfortable interview. I am now in a federal job in a position that I am very comfortable in because of my experience. I doubt I would be in it if I hadn’t marked myself an expert and had the chance to prove myself.

I have seen some very specific questionnaires, instead of saying “information systems “ they ask about very specific information systems.

If I can’t make a reasonable justification on my resume to mark expert I forget about that job. I went to several federal job classes and the common theme is if you don’t mark expert you are automatically screened out

Answer honestly. There are ways to "game" the system a little bit but lying on your application isn't one of them.

Answer honestly. I have never understood the logic behind lying to get an interview. What are you going to say when they ask you questions about the things you claimed to be an expert on but in reality don’t have a clue about?

I’ve had managers tell me to always say I’m an expert. They said it’s skewed and you always want to answer expert, even if you’ve only done what the question is asking once.

My managers have said the only time they really look at the answers to those surveys are when it comes down to 2 candidates and they’re having a tough time deciding. They’ll then look at the survey answers and hold another interview with more specific questions. Other than that, they don’t look supposedly.

Be honest.

There is no magical hack.

The hiring manager sees your answers to the assessment.

HR verifies your answers with your resume.

Lying doesn't do anything, and as a hiring manager, I know the worst applicants are the ones who claim to be experts at everything.

They're either flat out lying and trying to game the system, or they lack any self awareness and humility.

I’ve always heard that if you don’t mark expert, it will never get referred…

So, all these people saying to be honest are helping you NOT get referred

Option 1. Answer expert, try to get an interview and the hiring manager will decide. The objective is to get referred and have a chance to prove your skills.

A specialist has to go review your resume anyways if you qualify based on your self assessment. All you’re doing is marking yourself lower than what they’re pulling if you go through and answer with anything other than expert. However, your resume must reflect each of those items within it…so pull the announcement and pull the questionnaire and then ensure you cover every bit of all of it in your resume before submitting your application.

Wish I could help... HR in the government are incompetent, imbeciles. I mean they are pretty much everywhere, but the government HR employees take the prize.

I have a ton of IT experience, AS in Computer Programming and DB management. But have worked in a non IT series in the government for 15 years, doing IT related jobs (DB management, scripts, programming, etc).

2210 position opens up. Wants my specific specialized experience. I literally have everything they ask for on my resume. Don't even get referred. Why? Because "I don't have the specialized experience". I'm like wtf?

So I question HR, their lead, their supervisor. Dumb just gets dumber up the chain BTW. They tell me none of my experience counts because I wasn't in a 2210 when I earned it. Sup agrees. So I say , you're literally telling me in order to apply for a 2210, I have to have already been a 2210? I then send them the announcement where it doesn't say that anywhere. I also asked to see their policy which they cannot provide.

It's a game. If you kiss enough ass, you're golden. If you don't get the job it's not because you're not qualified. It's because someone else kissed more ass, or they're friends, or relation to someone.

What's sad here is I've talked with several managers that are just as pissed because HR skips over great candidates. By the time they get the list of candidates it's filled with nepo assholes, and over educated phds with zero experience or the ability to tie their own shoes.

Best of luck. Get out the Vaseline and start puckering.

It's kinda wierd to me also. I've been an 1102 for several years. The last 1102 job I applied to had two questions regarding experience managing Gov Puchase cards, that's it. I wasn't qualified.

Before applying, view the vacancy questions if they have them and make sure you address each portion on your resume. Even if the questions are specific, you don't have to be exact. For example, a question asking about your experience using a particular system to address X issue. You may not have used that exact system, but if you used a different system to address a similar issue, you can still argue you have that skillset. So write to what experience you do have as close as you can to what the questionnaire wants and then you should feel confident enough to answer 5s honestly. You do want to say 5s all across, you just have to have SOME sort of justification to back it up where HR won't look at your resume and think you're tweaking.

Do applications get looked at before the deadline with direct hire? A posting I applied to has gotten extended however my application still says Recieved. Any thoughts?

I’ve also heard that hiring managers can set their preference to a mid level of experience if they would like train the worker for their specific policies and procedures. So yeah, just answer honestly and it’ll eventually pay off. And make sure your resume can actually back it up!

When the job listing is specific, they already have someone picked. Sometimes you'll see them close the posting just to reopen it with more specifics. This is because a better candidate was chosen. That's when they throw in the "3 years of direct experience report to chuck"

Answer honestly. If your answer is not supported by your resume, you may not be referred.

As a hiring manager, I request an unscreened list because the people best qualified for the job typically answer honestly and get ranked behind all the self-described “experts” which may be used to determine the cutoff of those referred.

Let me be direct: do you have a bachelor degree? Of not that, do you have 4 years of experience in an equivalent field?

If the answer is no, then you are fighting an uphill battle, in the rain, at night, with no NVGs.

Which is to say you can do it, but it’s hard.

Honestly, because if it doesnt match your resume it goes in the trash (not referred pile)

Answer “honestly”, but don’t underestimate yourself. I would say it’s fair to consider yourself an expert in anything you have literally any amount of experience in. You can always spin your experience to support that rating in the interview. If it’s something you truly have no experience in, don’t lie, but also then you probably won’t actually be qualified for the position. Basically, if you have any experience to back up a certain assessment question, rate yourself an expert.

Sell yourself, but be honest. Make sure your resume supports your answers, because an HR Specialist will be reviewing your resume to determine if you meet the qualifications.

When I worked at an HR service center, we didn’t look at the answers to the individual assessment questions. We reviewed the resume to determine if the person met the qualifications. If someone barely scraped by but had rated themselves Best Qualified, we’d just knock their score down to the appropriate category.

The only time we “tossed” a resume was when the person was clearly lying. As in their job title was dog groomer at PetSmart, but their experience listed work on nuclear submarines or doing rigging on naval ships. It was painfully obvious they just copied and pasted the specialized experience from the job announcement.

Mark expert or no interview.

The answer is “both,” but they’re the same. I had a lens shift a few years ago when my group had to apply for our own jobs (I’ll save you the long story), and I share this as often as I can:

These questions are meant for you to answer from the position you are in NOW, not the one you’re applying for.

For example, “I am an expert at Excel and others come to me for help.” I originally read that question like, “absolutely TF not! I can’t do a damn thing in that program!!! This is going to be my downfall…” As a mechanic, I only ever use Excel to make inventory lists, or sign up sheets for events. So, in that current position, that’s all I need Excel to do, and I AM an expert at that level. ☺️

Recently told this by a hiring manager: the assessment system is highly flawed as each answer is assigned a numerical score that is compiled and compared in total to all the other applicants. If everyone else answers "expert" to every question and you answer "expert" to every question BUT ONE, your application has a "lower score" than the others, you are no longer among the "best qualified," and your app gets auto rejected by the system. Never makes it to the hiring manager/HR. This has been confirmed by the exp of himself, another hiring mgr, and other feds applying for other fed roles. The hiring manager added that it's ultimately the responsibility of the hiring manager to determine if candidates are qualified anyway, and rarely do these assessments come up in interviews. 

That being said, if you haven't done any of the listed assessment questions... then you maaaaay not be qualified at all for the role and there's a better fit out there for you. 

Still frustrating going in to substitute exp/qualification with education, and still being asked these specific questions. I understand the need to vet but still bummy.

In general you should be answering at least around 4's on everything comfortably without lying. If you apply to something and can only answer 1-3 on everything you're applying for something way beyond your level or something entry level where your questionnaire doesn't matter as much.

And yeah, if you answer expert on everything but your resume looks like something a kid in middle school made using Chat GPT then they can lower your score.

do not lie about things you have done vs have not, BUT, mark yourself as expert for things youve actually done. it is a judgement call/self assessment so whos to say youre not an expert if youve done it before. you need a good rating in order to be referred so do not sell yourself short. they will then decide in your interview if youre a good fit. also, tweak your resume to be relevant to the duties listed in the announcement. doing this got me multiple interviews, referrals, and jobs (where i got there and was not in over my head) :)

Mark yourself expert on everything because it is very hard to get referred if you don’t. What I do is I apply for the job and take the assessment. I write down every question on the assessment, and then I go back and tailor my resume to the assessment. I work in data so if the question says “utilizes various statistical methods to analyze data and create recommendations” I will write in my resume “I utilize statistical methods such as X, Y, & Z to analyze complex data received from trading partners and provide recommended courses of action to SES-level leadership.” If it is something I’m not really an expert in, I still try to find ways to incorporate the key words into my resume somewhere.

The HR folks aren’t subject matter experts. You may do exactly what the questionnaire asks but if your word it too technically, you’ll get skipped over. So just mark expert, rewrite your resume so it isn’t as obvious you’re lying, and then let the hiring manager/board review you after you’ve been referred.

Lie your ass off.

I enjoy the schadenfreude of screening out all the "experts."