General
Questions and answers
You should gain as much experience as you can in the federal staffing process, under the guidance of someone certified in DE, before attempting the DE assessment.
The best preparation for the DE assessment is on-the-job practical experience in DE work activities. Active operational experience in DE allows for application of concepts learned in DE training. These on-the-job activities are recommended:
- Develop job opportunity announcements
- Make qualifications determinations
- Adjudicate veterans' preference claims
- Prepare certificates of eligibles
- Conduct job analyses
- Develop occupational questionnaires/crediting plans
- Audit certificates issued under category rating
- Consult with hiring managers on recruitment
- Develop justification for use of selective factors and quality ranking factors
You are also advised to take advantage of the following fee-based and free training opportunities.
- OPM DE Certification Preparation Toolkit and other DE resources: Find these resources on the DECIS homepage and on FHRI’s DE web page.
- Free web-based training: These technical assistance modules were developed to address key competencies on the DE certification assessment and include foundational content and practice activities. They are available to everyone with a DECIS profile and can be found under ‘My Courses, DE Resources’ after you log in. They are also available in the CLD Central Learning Management System. You will find the DE Resources course linked within the DE training courses.
- Spotlight On: Category Rating
- Spotlight On: Veterans’ Preference
- Spotlight On: Certification and Selection
- Spotlight On: Qualifications Determinations
- Fee-based training
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- Many of the web-based, virtual instructor-led, and blended courses offered by OPM’s FHRI are good prerequisites for building your HR technical skills. Information about these courses can be found at opm.gov/fhri.
- DE subject matter experts recommend the following FHRI fee-based courses:
- OPM’s DE training course develops critical competencies for HR specialists to successfully execute DE activities, including conducting job analyses; accepting and processing applications; adjudicating veterans' preference; rating and ranking candidates; applying category rating procedures; and certifying eligibles. The training content includes learning content and workplace simulation through virtual instructor-led training.
DE training is foundational and covers topics from the DE Operations Handbook. The training is not mandatory but highly recommended if you are new to DE to support development of critical competencies and knowledge before taking the DE certification assessment.
The cost and course schedule can be found in the DECIS once you have a profile.