Monster launches new hiring software tool tailored to federal agencies
Program will take agencies and applicants from job posting through the first day.
Monster Government Solutions will launch an application in June that will enable federal agencies to post job listings, review candidates, make job offers and requisition equipment for new hires in a single, streamlined process.
"We're not a commercial solution that's been hot-wired to work in federal," said Ed Powell, director of business development for MGS. "We developed it as a federal application, so security requirements, accessibility, compliance with the arcane federal rules and regulations are built into it."
MGS already operates the Office of Personnel Management's USAJobs.gov portal, which allows applicants to search and apply for positions posted by agencies. Steve Cooker, senior vice president and general manager of MGS, said 55 agencies have chosen to not only post their openings on USAJobs, but to work with MGS to track their job candidates through a software program called Monster Hiring Management.
The new system will take both human resources professionals and job applicants further into the hiring process. In addition to tracking applicants, HR offices can write, review and issue offer letters, and requisition office equipment, computers, phones and identification badges for new employees through a single system that tracks the progress of each task.
New hires can use the same user name and password they created when they applied for a position to access the forms they might otherwise fill out during their first day on the job. Applicants will be able to fill out life insurance, Thrift Savings Plan, Federal Employees Retirement System and health benefits enrollment forms. Thomas Park, MGS' director of product management, said the system will incorporate additional forms later.
"We recently came out with improved capability of uploading documents to USAJobs so you don't have to rekey or manually send or fax them to the employer," said Cooker.
According to Park, the system will be more efficient than filling out paper forms. "All of this information carries over from hiring management," he said. "The data you enter to apply for the job is the data I'm going to use to bring you on board."
Powell said while developing the application, MGS made the decision to switch to an Oracle database so agencies could easily loop in new Web applications or forms they want to incorporate into the process. Agencies will not have to provide hardware or software to run the system -- they only need to choose which functions they want it to perform.
MGS plans to launch a new suite of competency management tools in January or December. That tool should complement a position classification tool that is part of the June rollout, Powell said, to help agencies with long-term workforce planning.
"What we're trying to do is not only speed up the hiring process but speed up the productivity process so people are ready to be productive a lot sooner in the organization," he added.