Assessment Design and Validation for Federal Hiring (Self-Paced)

Competency and Job Analysis

• The role of assessment in federal hiring
• Translating position duties into measurable competencies
• Identifying critical tasks, knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics
• Establishing competency importance and proficiency levels
• Using subject-matter experts in the job-analysis process
• Documenting the relationship between job requirements and assessment content

Assessment Strategy and Process Design

• Defining the purpose and objectives of an assessment
• Comparing single-stage, multiple-hurdle, and compensatory strategies
• Sequencing assessment stages to balance quality, efficiency, and applicant burden
• Selecting cut scores and advancement criteria
• Considering applicant volume, resources, and time-to-hire
• Aligning the assessment strategy with the hiring process

The Federal Assessment Toolkit

• Occupational questionnaires and the limits of self-report
• Structured interviews
• Work samples and performance-based exercises
• Situational judgment tests
• Cognitive, technical, and competency-based assessments
• Using USA Hire within a broader assessment strategy
• Matching assessment methods to the competencies they measure best

Validity and Job-Relatedness

• The principles of validity, reliability, and job-relatedness
• Content validity
• Criterion-related validity
• Construct validity
• Selecting an evidence strategy appropriate to the assessment
• Applying the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
• Maintaining documentation that supports assessment validity

Adverse Impact and Legal Defensibility

• Recognizing potential barriers within an assessment process
• Applying the four-fifths rule
• Interpreting selection-rate and adverse-impact data
• Evaluating alternative assessment practices
• Balancing validity, consistency, and equal employment opportunity requirements
• Preparing assessment documentation for audit or challenge

Structured Evaluation and Defensible Rating

• Developing structured interview questions and assessment exercises
• Creating behaviorally anchored rating scales
• Defining scoring criteria and acceptable evidence
• Training subject-matter experts, interviewers, and raters
• Improving inter-rater consistency
• Documenting scores and assessment decisions
• Recognizing common rating errors and sources of bias

Evaluating Assessment Effectiveness

• Measuring time-to-hire and assessment efficiency
• Evaluating quality of hire and post-selection outcomes
• Reviewing applicant progression and assessment completion data
• Monitoring reliability, validity, and adverse impact over time
• Identifying when an assessment should be retained, revised, or retired
• Using assessment results to improve future hiring strategies