The frequently asked questions below are intended to assist agencies and Human Resources (HR) users in gaining a better understanding of the Structured Resume Review functionality in the USA Staffing system (USAS).
If you have additional questions that are not addressed, please contact your USAS Account Manager.
1. Can the HR Specialist be a tiebreaker?
No. The Structured Resume Review is recommended for highly specialized or technical jobs for which SMEs are in a better position than HR professionals to interpret experience as described in applicants’ resumes, including serving as tiebreaker SMEs. All evaluators must have Hiring Manager user accounts as the evaluation is done on the Hiring Manager view. HR professionals manage the overall process and review rating justifications provided by SMEs.
To note, HR professionals may serve as SMEs for HR-related job announcements, provided they did not apply to the announcement and are not working on the announcement/vacancy in an HR capacity.
2. Does HR need to initiate a separate tiebreaker review in the event two SMEs disagree?
No, tiebreaker evaluations are part of the original SME Review and are automatically generated and presented to SMEs. If Tiebreaker Only SMEs are identified on the Review, tiebreaker evaluations will only be presented to those SMEs; otherwise, any one of the SMEs assigned to the Review, who has not already evaluated the applicant, will be served the tiebreaker evaluation to complete. SMEs will not get subsequent emails each time a tiebreaker evaluation is needed. If HR would like, they can use the Evaluations sub-page within the Review to help identify when they may need to nudge SMEs to check the Review for tiebreaker evaluations toward the end of the process.
3. When is it recommend to designate a Tiebreaker Only SME on the review?
It is recommended to only identify a Tiebreaker Only SME if all ties should be broken by specific individuals, due to a higher level of knowledge and experience, higher grade level, or potentially for SMEs supplied by other agencies, if appropriate. Otherwise, it is best to let any SME be a tiebreaker to reduce bottlenecks in the evaluation process.
4. If all 4 specialized experience statements for a single applicant require a tiebreaker?
SME, does a tiebreaker SME rate all 4 or only until both SMEs agree there is a 'Fail'? The system is designed to require the tiebreaker SME to answer all 4 questions in that scenario.