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Determining which practice assessments to complete

Updated

Available practice assessments

These practice assessments give you a sample of the types of questions you may encounter and the general look and feel of the actual assessment.

⚠️ Important
 These practice assessments are shorter than the actual assessments and do not cover all possible questions you may receive. Also, not all USA Hire assessments have a practice version available.  If a practice assessment is not listed, it does not exist.

 

How to determine which assessments to prepare for

To find out which USA Hire assessments you need to complete your application for Federal employment, use one of the following recommended methods:

Method 1

The simplest and most accurate method to determine exactly which assessments you'll need to take and may want to prepare for is to:

  1. Receive your notification that assessments are required when you submit your application or by clicking 'Track this application' in your USAJOBS Dashboard.
     
  2. Select the Take assessment(s) now button in your application or use the USA Hire Unique Access URL provided in your email notification to enter USA Hire platform.

    Example for illustrative purposes only: 
    Screenshot of an application confirmation message with the text: This job announcement requires the completion of USA Hire assessments as part of your job application. To continue your application for this position, you must complete additional assessments. Then there is a button labeled with text: Take assessment(s) now.
     

  3. Read and certify you've read and acknowledged the Important Information page related to the assessments.

    Example for illustrative purposes only: 

    Screenshot of the important information page displayed before an assessment begins

    ⚠️ Important
    Once you acknowledge that you've read and understood this page, you will be unable to return to it.

     

  4. View the assessments listed on your Assessment Activities page. 

    Example for illustrative purposes only: 

    Screenshot of Assessment Activities page

    ⚠️ Important
    Do not proceed past this page until you are ready to begin your first assessment. 

     

Method 2

If you haven't received a notification that assessments are required or don't want to go past the Important Information page in Step 3 above to see your assigned assessment(s), you can approximate which assessments you might need to take.

  1. Check the job announcement's "How You Will Be Evaluated" section to see which competencies are to be evaluated.

    Example for illustrative purposes only:
    Screenshot of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of a USAJOBS Job Announcement containing the text: You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Accountability, Administration and Managemeent, Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Decision Making, Flexibility, Influencing/Negotiating, Integrity/Honesty, Reading Comprehension, Reasoning, Self-Management, and Strategic Thinking.
     
  2. In the above example, Reading Comprehension is mentioned. 
    • By looking at the available practice assessments, you can see that the Occupational Reading Assessment evaluates the Reading Comprehension competency.  Each practice assessment identifies the competencies measured. So, you may be asked to take the Occupational Reading Assessment. 

    • Repeat this process by matching the competencies listed in the job announcement with the competencies each practice assessment evaluates. 

       

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