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An Official Web Site of the United States Government
Thursday, May 17, 2012

Become a PMF

Assessment Process

On-line Assessment

Photo of a person handing in resume

There are two phases to the assessment process. In the first phase, you will be invited by email to take an on-line timed assessment after determining complete application and eligibility. The invitation will include specific instructions on how to complete the on-line assessment. Obviously, you'll be required to take it alone and without the help of others. Applicants will be informed on whether or not they scored high enough, been nominated from an accredited college/university, and selected as semi-finalists.

Please note, applicants invited to participate in the on-line assessment are strongly encouraged to use either Internet Explorer 6.x or Firefox 7.x as their web browser. Other browsers may not be fully compatible and some features (such as the countdown timer) may not function.

Additional information about system and browser requirements can be found under the Become A PMF\Application Process webpage.

If you have questions about the computer requirements or encounter technical difficulties during the on-line assessment, please send an email to HelpDesk@USAJOBSAssess.gov. The Help Desk is available October 1-10, 2011, 8:00am - 8:00pm (ET), Monday through Friday, and 9:00am - 6:00pm (ET), Saturday and Sunday.

In-person Assessment

The second phase is an in-person assessment for those applicants selected as semi-finalists. If you score sufficiently high on the on-line assessment, you will be invited to one of the assessment center locations for the in-person assessment at your expense. Scheduling of the in-person assessment by location will be determined by the number of semi-finalists who choose a particular location. For example, the Washington, DC, assessment location is traditionally the highest selected, therefore, that location has the longest schedule. If you need to reschedule, we will try to reschedule you during the location's scheduling period. If not, you may be rescheduled to a different location that has availability. Each assessment center will have a make-up session built into their schedule, with the Washington, DC, location serving as the nationwide make-up session towards the end of its schedule. We recommend applicants dress comfortably for the in-person assessment.

The in-person assessment is approximately 1 hour. Participants should plan to report 30 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment. Additional information will be sent to those selected as semi-finalists.

For the 2012 application cycle, the in-person assessments will be scheduled for mid-November through mid-December 2011 at the following locations (which are subject to change):

  • Atlanta, GA
  • Boston, MA
  • Chicago, IL
  • Denver, CO
  • San Francisco, CA
  • Washington, DC

Please review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding assessment notifications and rescheduling.

Applicants who requested a reasonable accommodation for either the on-line or in-person assessment during the application process will be contacted individually.  Please see additional information under the Become A PMF\Eligibility\Equal Opportunity Employment section.

To prepare for the assessment process, check out the 2012 PMF Assessment Preparation Guide pdf [48 KB] (Updated:  10-06-2011) we've put together to help you get ready.

UPDATED: 10-06-2011, 6:00 PM (ET)