Veterans: Get in line?

If you served in the U.S. Military, you may know about Veterans' Preference. But have you heard about Direct-Hire Authority?

“The Chief Human Capital Officers Act of 2002 (Act) provides Federal agencies with a number of human resources (HR) flexibilities. These flexibilities include direct-hire authority and alternative (that is, category) rating and selection procedures, which will aid in recruitment and hiring.” Federal Register Volume 69, Issue 114 (June 15, 2004)

And with the "flexibilities" Congress handed the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in 2002, the federal hiring landscape for veterans changed dramatically.

As of May 24, 2023, there are 3,449 active Direct-Hire Authority jobs posted on USAJobs.gov.

So let's take a look to see which federal agencies are the least "veteran-friendly," based on their percentage of recent Direct-Hire Authority vacancy announcements.

I'm also going to look to see how long it took different federal agencies to leverage the Direct-Hire Authority for hiring, and for trends in the expansion of this hiring category across the U.S. Government over time.

Note: this post will be updated soon. If you'd like to be notified directly when that happens, please send me a message.