The U.S. Office of Personnel Management's USAJOBS.gov website is capping off a year of user interface and experience improvements with a celebration of its 20th anniversary.
The site, which launched in 1996, featured only job openings, general information and simple online applications. It was a step up from job seekers having to visit federal buildings for job announcements and start the paper-based process, but it would take many more years for website enhancements to support specific agencies' recruitment needs.
Now roughly 11 million accounts — and 16 million résumés — are hosted on USAJOBS. More than 14,000 jobs are posted each month and 1 billion job searches are conducted annually.
Helping connect applicants to the right jobs are last year’s updates, which include: a mobile-friendly responsive design website; improved user interface, with a new landing page, user profile experience and step-by-step application process; a new help center; and a federal job "mythbusters" section. These features were developed with the help of OPM-hosted focus groups, interviews and user testing.
"I’m really excited about all of the progress we have made with USAJOBS," acting OPM Director Beth Cobert said in a news release. "But this doesn’t mean our work is done. The USAJOBS team here at OPM will continue to solicit user feedback and make continuous enhancements to the website to improve the experience for applicants interested in federal service."
