General

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: Visit www.opm.gov/deu.
• Technical assistance modules: These modules were developed to address key competencies on the DE certification assessment and include foundational content and practice activities. Because the modules must be hosted on a learning platform, they are available only in USA Learning upon paid registration for the DE training or assessment.
  • Spotlight On: Category Rating
  • Spotlight On: Veterans’ Preference
  • Spotlight On: Certification and Selection
  • Spotlight On: Qualifications Determinations

• Fee-based training

  While many vendors offer courses on these topical areas, OPM offers the following:

  • DE Training: This course is foundational and covers topics from the DE Operations Handbook. The training is not mandatory but highly recommended to support development of critical competencies and knowledge before taking the DE certification assessment. The course schedule and registration information is found at opm.gov/deu.
  • Courses available by agency request: Courses include Basic Staffing, Category Rating, Qualification Analysis, Adjudicating and Applying Veterans’ Preference. To request one of these courses for your agency, supervisors should contact StaffAcquisition@opm.gov.