The Trump administration is advising agencies how to handle a revamped hiring process that will consider more job candidates.
The Office of Personnel Management issued guidance on Tuesday on a new regulation that replaces the longtime “rule of three” standard, where federal managers are expected to hire one of the top three applicants referred to them, with “a more flexible, merit-focused approach.” President Donald Trump has sought to reshape government to align with his agenda, which has included reworking regulations governing the civil service.
“The Rule of Many provides agencies with a broader pool of qualified candidates for competitive and excepted service appointments, ensuring selections are grounded in practical skill and merit as measured through skills-based assessments,” said Veronica Hinton, associate director for workforce policy and innovation at OPM, in the memo sent to chief human capital officers.
The regulation calls on agencies to assign scores to job candidates, accounting for veterans’ preference, and then ranking them. They then hire from the highest-ranked applicants.
