Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Office of Personnel Management will conduct another federal hiring summit on August 3 to educate agency human resource officials and program managers on the wealth of HR flexibilities they can use to quickly hire students, recent college graduates, veterans and other qualified individuals. Due to the high demand and full capacity at OPM's June hiring summit at which 230 Chief Human Capital Officers and human resources professionals were trained, OPM Director Kay Coles James called for this additional training.

"As provided by President Bush's Management Agenda, one of OPM's primary responsibilities is to keep agencies up-to-date on the existence and availability of personnel flexibilities that can help them meet their staffing needs and goals," said James. "We have worked tirelessly and with diligence to organize events, including symposiums, to help agencies understand the use and benefits of hiring tools that can help them build a performance-based work force in which hiring decisions are merit-based and comply fully with all Veterans' Preference laws."

Direct Hire Authority and Category Rating, two merit-based and innovative flexibilities, are some of the most important changes in federal hiring in decades. OPM has approved these HR tools and encourages their use at agencies having either critical hiring needs or the need to fill positions for which few qualified candidates exist.

In addition to symposiums on hiring, OPM has used the format over the past two years as refresher courses for hundreds of government officials who review the veracity of college transcripts and experience-related claims of federal job seekers. OPM symposiums specific to academic credentials have trained nearly 1,000 federal human resource professionals on the identification of bogus college degrees and false educational claims.