Letter to the editor

The virtual IT job fair was an interesting "test" in more ways than one.

As the previous letter to the editor ("Online job fair difficulties") attests, it was often futile to attempt access, and the server being busy was one of the issues.

I don't know what grade level the letter-writer was attempting to apply for, but at the GS-7 level, there were 156 questions, about 10 at a time per screen, with the same header information on each. This was in addition to the personal application info and a resume.

At the higher levels, there were two 16-question tests. These were along technical lines, with no indication of leadership, management, planning or project experience, nor regulatory, IA DITSCAP/NIAP/PKI or acquisition experience. These tests were links to a commercial page, and the questions were timed.

After passing the tests, there were 150 more questions, again with about 10 questions per screen with the same header information.

Of interest was that all agencies did not "choose" to participate in this, and you reported ["Applicants swarm IT job fair"] that only 270 jobs were available as part of this "opportunity," up to GS-13.

If the frustration level hadn't been so high, would there have been more than 17,000 applicants?

The business process of performing such an activity online is, actually, par. Folks on the planning and development side didn't consider streamlining for effectiveness or efficiency of delivery and quite possibly made assumptions about networks and access.

I am most confident, lessons learned in hand, that the next endeavor will be nothing short of a spectacular progression.

Name withheld by request