USA Hire Interview Implementation Guide – USA Hire Interview Resource Center

Introduction

USA Hire Interview is a custom online interview solution that provides agencies with the ability to conduct fully virtual interviews with applicants via their mobile device or computer. Agencies use USA Hire Interview to deliver live and on-demand interviews to applicants offering flexibility in the assessment and selection processes to best suit their needs.

This implementation guide provides information and strategies to support agencies implementing USA Hire Interview. Sections 1, 2, and 3 detail requirement decisions needed to generate customer agreements and funding documents. The remaining sections detail requirements that can be completed during the system set-up phase for your agency. See below for an Implementation Checklist and click the links to jump to that section of this article.

All USA Hire Interview configuration and interview requirements will be identified by the customer agency. The OPM USA Hire Program Office will work with the customer agency to gather those requirements and communicate them to the USA Hire Interview vendor.

Implementation Checklist

Items that must be completed first to generate customer agreements and funding documents:

Identify Your Project Manager and Project Team
Configure Your Organization and Project Settings
Identify Your Interview Requirements
- Interview Delivery
- Competency Rating and Overall Scoring
- Candidate Volume

Items that may be completed during system set-up:

4. User Management

User Roles and Permissions
Interview Admin Upload

5. Competency Model Upload

Agency Competency Model Upload
FWCI Competencies
Curated Content

6. Automated Emails

Live Interviews
On-Demand Interviews

7. System Requirements

Network Access
PIV Authentication

8. Additional Live Interview Configurations

Live Interview Scheduling Buffer
Candidate Self-Canceling and Rescheduling Rules

SECTION 1. Identify Your Project Manager & Project Team

The first step to implementation is to identify your agency USA Hire Interview implementation project manager and your project team. The agency implementation project manager will serve as your agency’s primary point of contact for USA Hire Interview. Alongside the agency project team, the agency project manager will identify the agency’s configuration and interview requirements for USA Hire Interview. To maximize success during the implementation, ensure that the project manager and individuals participating on the project team are knowledgeable about the agency interview process and can define the requirements necessary to complete the system set-up.

SECTION 2. Configure Your Organization & Project Settings

The second step to implementation is to set up your Organization/Project designation. Your organization is your agency. Projects are groups of HR users and interviewers working together and sharing authority to perform work. Projects house all the interviews your group of HR users and interviewers conduct as a result of hiring actions.

HR users and interviewers can only be assigned to a single project. New users can be assigned to or removed from a project at any time. If your organization has multiple groups of HR users that should not be able to view each other’s work, then multiple projects will be created. Keep in mind groups of HR users may need to share a single project if they leverage the same pool of interviewers. The OPM USA Hire Program office will provide recommendations for setting up your project(s). Once you have finalized your organization and projects design, USA Hire will configure the settings.

Hierarchy Image from Imp Guide.png

SECTION 3. Identify Your Interview Requirements

USA Hire Interview is a custom assessment solution that hosts and delivers agency-developed interviews. Therefore, all occupational interviews delivered through USA Hire Interview are considered custom assessments. The OPM USA Hire Program Office will work with you to identify the following requirements for each occupational interview:

Interview Delivery

Pre-certificate or post-certificate: Determine whether your occupational interview will be delivered pre-certificate as part of the assessment process, or post-certificate as part of the selection process. Pre-certificate interviews leverage the interconnection with USA Staffing and can be combined with other USA Hire assessments. If the occupational interview will be combined with other USA Hire assessments, identify those assessments. Your Assessment Delivery project manager at the USA Hire Program Office will provide the USA Hire Implementation Guide for you to refer to for more information.
Live or On-Demand: Determine whether your occupational interview will be delivered in the live interview or on-demand interview format. With live interviews, candidates are invited to participate in a video interview with an interview panel. With on-demand interviews, candidates are invited to complete an interview on their own time. They are presented the interview questions and prompted to record their responses to those questions using their audio and video, or audio-only. The interview panel then reviews and rates their responses on their own time.

Competency Rating and Overall Scoring

Identify your rating and scoring requirements. Below are some common decision points:

Is each interview question rated across a single competency or multiple competencies?
Should any interview questions not be rated?
What rating scale should be used? – USA Hire Interview offers 3, 5, 7, or 10-point rating scales.
Are any interview questions pass/fail?
Are there any consensus rules for raters?
How is the overall score calculated for the interview?
Are all panel participants responsible for rating?
If combined with other USA Hire assessments, how is the overall score across all assessments calculated?

Candidate Volume

Work with your Assessment Delivery project manager to determine your estimated candidate volume. This will determine pricing for USA Hire Interview. The volume includes the number of candidates invited to complete an interview during a period of performance (e.g., one year). Your candidate volume will be tracked for billing.

SECTION 4. User Management

User Roles and Permissions

All HR users and interviewers will need a USA Hire Interview account to access the system. There are no additional costs associated with setting up a new USA Hire Interview account. USA Hire Interview has three levels of user roles, each with additional permissions and responsibilities within the system. User roles reside at the individual user level, and your agency is responsible for determining the user role of each user.

The permissions associated with the three USA Hire Interview user roles, Interviewer, Interview Coordinator, and Interview Admin, are detailed in the table below:

USER ROLE	PERMISSIONS
Interviewer	Participate in assigned live interviews as an interviewer or observer Rate assigned on-demand interviews Set availability for candidate-driven live interview scheduling Export results of assigned interview
Interview Coordinator	Same permissions as an Interviewer Create and manage Interview Guides and Interview Templates Upload candidates Manage candidate scheduling Export results of all candidates associated with interview
Interview Admin	Same permissions as an Interview Coordinator Create and manage user accounts Create and manage Competency Models

Some minor customizations can be made to the permissions associated with each user role. For example, Interview Coordinators can be granted the ability to create and manage Competency Models. Before requesting customizations, identify the various types of individuals who currently support your interview process and their responsibilities. The OPM USA Hire Program Office will work with you to map those individuals to the three user roles and identify areas in which you may wish to customize the permissions to better support your protocols.

Interview Admin Upload

As part of the implementation process, the USA Hire Interview vendor will upload your identified Interview Admins on your behalf, triggering their account creations. From there, the Interview Admins will have the ability to create the remaining user accounts for your HR users and interviewers. Please review Manage USA Hire Interview User Accounts for instructions on how to create user accounts. The interview upload will need to include each Interview Admin’s first name, last name, and email address.

For the vendor upload, be sure to identify at least one individual who will be responsible for creating your agency user accounts. The vendor upload does not need to include an exhaustive list of all Interview Admin at your agency; additional Interview Admin accounts can be created at any time by your agency Interview Admin.

A sample download of the Interview Admin upload template can be found by selecting the upload button in the Interviewers section. Reference Manage USA Hire Interview User Accounts for more information on how to upload new user accounts.

SECTION 5. Competency Model Upload

In USA Hire Interview, agencies store and maintain their competency models directly in the system. Competency models include your competencies, competency definitions, rating criteria and benchmarks, and interview questions. This content is used to build your interviews in the system. There is no limit on the number of competencies or questions associated with a single model, nor is there a limit on the number of models stored within the system for a single agency.

As part of the implementation process, the USA Hire Interview vendor will complete a courtesy one-time upload of your competency model content into the system on your behalf. Interview Admin may edit competency models, or create new ones, at any time. There is no option to mass upload competency model content into the system outside of this initial vendor upload, so we recommend that you use this opportunity to upload as much content as you can.

To upload, competency model content must be formatted into a specific csv file template. There are two csv file templates – one for standard rating criteria and one for free form rating criteria. A sample csv file of both rating criteria templates can be requested from your USA Hire Interview project manager. Refer to the information below to determine which template will work best for your competency model upload:

Agency Competency Model Upload

Each competency model csv file template has one tab for competency content and one tab for question content. The templates require the following information:

Competencies

Competency name
Tags (optional)
- Can be used to tag the competencies with additional reference information (e.g., “SES occupations only”)
Description
Rating criteria
- Standard: Standard rating criteria is formatted into a low/medium/high format. Use the standard rating criteria template if your rating criteria includes one criterion for a low rating, one criterion for a medium rating, and one criterion for a high rating.
- Free form: Free form rating criteria does not use a standardized format. Use the free form rating criteria template if you need the flexibility to define your rating criteria outside of a low/medium/high format (e.g., you leverage a 5-point rating scale and have criterion for each point on the rating scale).

Questions

Name of associated competency/competencies
Tags (optional)
- Can be used to tag the questions with additional reference information (e.g., “behavioral question”)
Question content
Audience
- Candidate: These questions are displayed during the interview process with the candidate.
- Interviewer: These questions are not displayed during the interview process with the candidate and instead are not displayed until the interviewer is reviewing their ratings.

If you are uncertain which rating criteria format will work best for your protocols, and therefore are uncertain which competency model csv file template is best for you, talk to the OPM USA Hire Program Office. Consider uploading your competency model content without any rating criteria and have your Interview Admin later manually build your rating criteria into your competency models.

Federal Workforce Competency Initiative (FWCI) Competencies

You may elect to have the vendor upload the FWCI competencies to your agency organization or project.

Curated Content

If your agency plans to create multiple projects to support your interviewing activities but plans for those projects to share competency model content, you may consider leveraging curated content.

Projects can only build interviews using competency models created within that project. This would mean, if you had four projects using the same competency model, you would need to create that competency model four times and have at least four different Interview Admin (one per project) manage that content. This could become burdensome if you expected to make frequent edits to the content.

An alternative option would be to create the competency model on the agency organization level and mark it as curated content. This content could then be shared in a read-only format to all projects associated with that organization. This way, you would have a single competency model to manage instead of four. The only limitation is that you would need to create Interview Admin at the organization level to manage the content. This Interview Admin would not be able to participate in any interviews as an interviewer since interviews are created at the project level, and their account would be created at the organization level.

SECTION 6. Automated Emails

USA Hire Interview sends automated emails to new users, interviewers, and candidates. These templates are customizable by your agency. As part of the implementation process, the USA Hire Interview vendor will apply your customizations on your behalf. Note that there is one set of email templates per agency organization or project. Only the Candidate-Driven Scheduling Invitation and Candidate On-Demand Invitation templates allow for additional, on-the-spot editing before they are sent. If you plan to deliver multiple occupational interviews through a single organization or project, ensure all other email templates are generic enough to be used across multiple interviews.

Review the below list of automated email templates. Select the template name to view the standard email template language in Appendix A. Some templates are specific to live or on-demand interviews.

Account Registration Email
- Alerts a new user that their USA Hire Interview account has been created and prompts them to sign into the USA Hire Interview platform and register their PIV card within 24 hours so that their account creation is complete. If a user misses the 24-hour window or their account becomes inactive, they must contact an agency Interview Admin to reactivate their account. They will then have another 24 hours to sign into the platform and register their PIV card. For instructions on how to reactivate a deactivated USA Hire Interview account, refer to Manage USA Hire Interview User Accounts.

Live Interviews

Candidate-Driven Scheduling Invitation
- Notifies a candidate that they have been invited to self-schedule themselves for a live interview.
- If delivered post-certificate, this template can be edited in the system prior to candidate upload.
- If delivered pre-certificate, this template will be built into the assessment battery delivered through USA Staffing as an instruction page. In this instance, you will receive separate guidance for reviewing the instruction page.
Candidate Calendar Invitation
- Sends a calendar invitation to the candidate for the date and time scheduled for the live interview.
Candidate Calendar Cancellation
- Notifies the candidate that the live interview has been canceled by either the candidate or an HR user.
- Cancellation emails are sent even if the interview is rescheduled; in this instance, a new candidate calendar invitation will follow the cancellation email.
Interviewer Calendar Invitation
- Sends a calendar invitation to the interviewers for the date and time scheduled for the live interview.
Interviewer Calendar Cancellation
- Notifies the interviewers that the live interview has been canceled by either the candidate or an HR user.
- Cancellation emails are sent even if the interview is rescheduled; in this instance, a new interviewer calendar invitation will follow the cancellation email.
Agency Scheduling POC Email
- Notifies the point of contact listed on the interview template that candidates have been uploaded and are awaiting agency scheduling.
- Sent only if interviews are delivered pre-certificate.

On-Demand Interviews

Candidate On-Demand Invitation
- Notifies a candidate that they have been invited to complete an on-demand interview.
- If delivered post-certificate, this template can be edited in the system prior to candidate upload.
- If delivered pre-certificate, this template will be built into the assessment battery delivered through USA Staffing as an instruction page. In this instance, you will receive separate guidance for reviewing the instruction page.
Recorded Interview Rater Notification
- Notifies the raters that the candidate has submitted their recorded on-demand interview and it is ready for their review.

SECTION 7. System Requirements

Implementing USA Hire Interview requires coordination between our vendor and your agency network team. Identify a point of contact from your network team or chief information officer (CIO) office to assist with implementing the below two items:

Network Access Guidance

An agency network or VPN may prevent agency users from accessing their assigned interviews. To prevent this, provide your agency network team or CIO team the below network access requirements:

For customers accessing USA Hire Interview on networks with limited internet access, you may need to work with your network team to allow access to *.apps.pdricloud.com, *.pivauth.pdricloud.com, d1vtynxd31reh1.cloudfront.net, fonts.googleapis.com, and fonts.gstatic.com.
For digital interviewing capabilities, access must be allowed to *.chime.aws (TCP:443, UDP:3478), *.sdkassets.chime.aws (TCP:443), and *.amazonaws.com (TCP:443).

PIV Authentication

USA Hire Interview requires that agency users sign into USA Hire Interview through anti-phishing multi-factor authentication. Agency PIV authentication meets this requirement but will require coordination with our vendor to get set up. Provide your agency network team or CIO team the below PIV access requirements:

Step 1: Ensure the USA Hire Interview network access guidance requirements have been met (especially unfettered access to *.pivauth.pdricloud.com).

Step 2: Ask your security office to provide:
1. The official Certificate Authority (CA) certificate chains that should be used to validate identity certificates on agency PIV/CAC. This should include all PIV/CAC issuing, intermediate, and root CAs.
2. The OCSP endpoint used to check for certificate revocation.

Step 3: Appoint an agency point of contact (e.g., a member of the project team) to help test PIV/CAC authentication.

SECTION 8. Additional Live Interview Configurations

If you plan to deliver live interviews, there are additional configurations to consider for your organization or project.

Live Interview Scheduling Buffer

Live interviews can be scheduled for 30-minute increments up to two and half hours in length and can be scheduled back-to-back. If you would prefer to avoid scheduling interviews back-to-back, you may configure a “buffer” of time that will be added to the overall length of the interview for the interview panelists. The candidate will not see the additional time.

For example, if you typically schedule 30-minute interviews, you can configure a 15-minute buffer so that candidates are scheduled for 30 minutes, but the interviewers are scheduled for 45 minutes. Note that, in this instance, to leverage candidate-driven scheduling, interviewers will need to be available for 45-minute blocks of time for a candidate to schedule themselves for a 30-minute interview. Additionally, this configuration setting is set at the organization or project level. All agency interviews within that organization or project will adhere to the same rule.

More information regarding setting up interviewer calendars can be found in Calendar Management.

Candidate Self-Cancelling and Rescheduling Rules

By default, the system allows candidates who are invited to schedule through candidate-driven scheduling the ability to cancel and/or reschedule their interview timeslot up to one calendar day before their scheduled interview. This means that a candidate in this instance could cancel and reschedule their interview up until 11:59 pm EDT the evening before their scheduled interview.

This setting can be configured to remove candidates’ ability to cancel and reschedule their own interviews, or the setting can be configured to allow canceling and rescheduling for a different amount of time prior to the scheduled interview date (e.g., two calendar days before the scheduled interview). Note that this configuration setting is set at the organization or project level. All agency interviews within that organization or project will adhere to the same rule.

More information regarding cancelling or rescheduling interviews can be found in Managing Live Candidates and Managing On-Demand Candidates.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

APPENDIX A: Standard Email Templates

Account Registration Email

Subject: Complete Your USA Hire Interview Registration

Hello [(${firstName})],

As a new system user, you must activate your USA Hire Interview account to access the system.

Your next steps

Select the link below to complete the registration process:

Set Up Your Account

During the registration process you will:

Set your credentials to access the system.
Be prompted to enter your availability to conduct live interviews. The system will only allow candidates to schedule interviews with you during times when you are available. Only input your availability if you have been instructed to do so at this time.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Need additional help?

Replies to this message go to an unmonitored mailbox. For assistance regarding the interview, visit our online help page at https://appsupport.usastaffing.gov/hc/en-us/sections/29238586373012-Online-Interview-Information or submit a Help Desk ticket at https://apply.usastaffing.gov/helpticket.

Candidate-Driven Scheduling Invitation

Subject: Schedule Your Structured Interview for [(${templateName})] Position with [(${Agency})]

Hello [(${candidateFirstName})],

I’m pleased to let you know that you’ve progressed to the next round in our selection process for the [(${templateName})] position within [office name] ([optional: announcement number and link]). I would like to invite you to a virtual, structured interview with our team that will last up to [(${durationMinutes})] minutes.

Your next steps and deadline

You have until [(${availableThrough})] to complete your interview. To schedule your interview, select the link below and log in using your Login.gov account associated with this email address. Please select a time when you will have uninterrupted internet access and minimal distractions.

Schedule your interview

If none of these dates/times will work, please let me know so we can attempt to identify an alternative date/time.

What to expect

Once your interview is scheduled, you will receive a meeting invite from cloud@performancefit.com with the meeting link.

Please note the following:

The interview will be conducted virtually using audio and video.
There will not be an option to blur your video background during the interview.
It is recommended if you work on a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to disconnect it before participating in the interview.
Use the test link provided in your meeting invite to test your device before the scheduled interview to ensure accessibility.
Should you have any concerns regarding internet connectivity, reach out to the email address listed at the bottom of the email to discuss.

Need to reschedule?

You may reschedule or cancel your interview up to one calendar day before your scheduled interview. To reschedule, click the “schedule your interview” link above or click on the meeting link in your calendar invite. If you need to reschedule or cancel your interview less than one calendar day before your scheduled interview, please let me know.

Need to request a reasonable accommodation?

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation for a disability that will require special arrangements for the interview, you may make the request by emailing FSC.Hiring@opm.gov as soon as possible but no later than 5 business days prior to the interview. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation for the assessment will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Need additional help?

Should you experience any unexpected connectivity issues during the interview, please reconnect. If you continue to experience connectivity issues and are unable to rejoin the interview, contact me by email at the address below.

Thank you again for your interest in the position and for setting aside this time. Please see additional information regarding the interview below.

[Signature]

About Us

[Information about position]

About the Interview Process

[Information about interview process]

Candidate Calendar Invitation

Subject: Structured Interview for [(${templateName})] Position with [(${Agency})]

**This is an automated email. Please do not reply or reject this invitation.**

Hello [(${firstName})],

We look forward to meeting with you at this scheduled time. The interview will be conducted virtually using audio and video. It is important that you are able to participate without interruptions, distractions, or disconnections.

Your next steps

Join your interview by selecting the link below:

Join Your Interview

Please note the following:

Join your interview at least 10 minutes before your scheduled start time to ensure your audio and video is correctly functioning.
You may join your interview up to 30 minutes before your scheduled start time.  To test your device in advance of the interview to ensure accessibility, go to Test Devices.
It is recommended if you work on a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to disconnect it before participating in the interview.
Should you experience any unexpected connectivity issues during the interview, please reconnect.

Need to request a reasonable accommodation?

Need additional help?

Candidate Calendar Cancellation

Subject: CANCELLED: Structured Interview for [(${templateName})] Position with [(${Agency})]

**This is an automated email. Do not reply or reject this invitation.**

Hello [(${firstName})],

This interview has been cancelled. If you or the agency conducting this interview are rescheduling, you will receive a follow-up calendar invitation with a new date and time.

If you have additional questions or believe you received this cancellation in error, please reach out to the point of contact listed in your scheduling email.

Need additional help?

Interviewer Calendar Invitation

Subject: Structured Interview for [(${templateName})] Position

**This is an automated email. Please do not reply or reject this invitation.**

Hello [(${firstName})],

You are scheduled to interview [(${candidateFirstName})] [(${candidateLastName})] for the [(${templateName})] position.

Your next steps

Join your interview by selecting the link below:

Join Your Interview

Please note the following:

Join your interview at least 10 minutes before your scheduled start time to ensure your audio and video is correctly functioning.
You may join your interview up to 30 minutes before your scheduled start time.  To test your device in advance of the interview to ensure accessibility, go to Test Devices.
It is recommended if you work on a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to disconnect it before participating in the interview.
Should you experience any unexpected connectivity issues during the interview, please reconnect.

Need additional help?

Interviewer Calendar Cancellation

Subject: CANCELLED: Structured Interview for [(${templateName})] Position

**This is an automated email. Please do not reply or reject this invitation.**

Hello [(${firstName})],

This interview with [(${candidateFirstName})] [(${candidateLastName})] has been cancelled by the candidate or by hiring personnel on behalf of the candidate, or you were removed from the interview panel. You may receive an additional calendar invitation with a rescheduled date and time for the interview.

If desired, please contact the Hiring Manager for this effort for more information.

Need additional help?

Agency Scheduling POC Email

Subject: Scheduling Required: [(${templateName})] - [(${candidateFirstName})] [(${candidateLastName})]

Hello [(${pocFirstName})],

The following candidate is ready to be scheduled for an interview:

Position: [(${templateName})]
Candidate: [(${candidateFirstName})] [(${candidateLastName})] - [(${candidateEmail})]

Your next steps and deadline

This interview must be conducted by [(${availableThrough})]. Use the following steps to schedule this interview.

Contact the candidate and the interviewers and identify a time to conduct the interview.
Go to the candidate's interview details.
Confirm that all of the required participants are assigned to the interview.
Enter the scheduled date and time.
Save your changes.

This will send calendar invitations to both the candidate and interviewers.

Need additional help?

Candidate On-Demand Invitation

Subject: Complete your Interview for [(${templateName})]

Hello [(${candidateFirstName})],

I’m pleased to let you know that you’ve progressed to the next round in our selection process. I would like to invite you to complete a virtual on-demand interview for the [(${templateName})] position, at [Office Name] ([optional: announcement number and link]).

Your next steps and deadline

Complete your virtual interview by [(${availableThrough})]. To complete your interview, select the link below and log in using your Login.gov account associated with this email address:

Complete your on-demand interview

What to expect

During the virtual interview, you will be presented with questions and asked to record your responses to those questions. You will provide your responses to the questions on your own time without interviewers present. Once you have submitted your interview responses, the agency evaluators will review and rate your responses.

Please note the following:

Audio and video are required for this interview.
You will be given [x minutes] to record each response.
You will be given [x attempts] to record each response.
Complete the interview when you will have uninterrupted internet access and minimal distraction. · To test your device in advance of the interview to ensure accessibility, go to Test Devices.

Need to request a reasonable accommodation?

Need additional help?

Thank you again for your interest in the position and for setting aside this time. Please see additional information regarding the interview below.

[Signature]

About Us

[Information about position]

About the Interview Process

[Information about interview process]

Recorded Interview Rater Notification

Subject: Ratings Required: [(${templateName})] - [(${candidateFirstName})] [(${candidateLastName})]

Hello [(${firstName})],

[(${candidateFirstName})] [(${candidateLastName})] completed an on-demand interview for the [(${templateName})] and you are assigned as one of the raters.

Next steps

Use the link below to review the candidate's responses and enter your ratings:

Enter your ratings

Please note the following:

After signing in, select “Enter Ratings” to access the candidate interview.
Complete your evaluation in one sitting; notes and ratings are not auto-saved.
You may be required to complete consensus with the panel at a scheduled date and time; if uncertain if consensus is required, ask the Hiring Manager for this effort.
Notes and ratings cannot be edited after you submit your final ratings.

Need additional help?

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