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In the Office of Information and Technology (OIT), we understand the importance of recruiting and retaining a world-class IT workforce. In December 2019, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to launch a shared certificate hiring pilot. These shared certificate registers, established by the Office of Personnel Management, provide pools of qualified candidates for agencies at no cost. This new initiative allows hiring managers in VA to quickly fill current vacancies with highly qualified candidates.

Leveraging shared certificates on this reimagined Human Resource (HR) hiring practice saves hiring managers from a lengthy hiring process by giving them access to a list of already vetted eligible candidates. HHS receives first consideration and then shares the remaining candidates on the referral certificate with VA for employment consideration. 

These shared certificates incorporate the following:

  • Streamlined job opportunity announcements (JOAs)
  • Category rating procedures
  • A wide range of candidates from which to select
  • Online, unproctored assessment tools
  • OPM maintenance (includes referring high quality candidates; responding to applicant inquiries, Removing unavailable candidates, etc.)
  • Referral of names from these registers at no cost to agencies 

There are a substantial number of eligible candidates on currently available hiring certificates, and we’re looking forward to adding talented applicants to our workforce. For more information about pursuing a career with VA and OIT, please visit the VA Careers webpage or view job listings on USAJobs.

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