99 -- WEB-BASED RECRUITMENT AND HIRING APPLICATION -- MODIFICATION

Notice Date

November 27, 2001

Contracting Office

U.S. General Accounting Office, Acquisition Management, 441 G. Street N.W., Room 6851, Washington, DC 20548

ZIP Code

20548

Solicitation Number

OAM-2002-N-004

Response Due

December 7, 2001

Point of Contact

Darion A. Powell (202) 512-3725

Description

The purpose of the modification is to respond to questions received in response to GAO's combined synopsis/solicitation (OAM02002-N-004) published in the Commerce Business Daily November 7, 2001. This requirement is also set aside for Small Business. Following are questions and responses for the Web-based recruitment and hiring applicant tracking and processing system: For offeror's convenience and readability, the questions and GAO's answers to the questions are categorized into five categories. These categories include: 1), PROJECT questions relating to GAO's overall need and approach for this acquisitions; 2), PROCESS questions relating to recruitment system process issues; 3), RATING AND SCORING questions relating to the rating and scoring of applicants; 4), SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE questions relating to IT software and hardware issues; and 5), CONTRACT questions relating to acquisition and business issues. All questions have been included from all vendors, with the exception of duplicate questions. Offerors are reminded that proposals are due no later than 2:00 PM, Friday, December 7, 2001. This requirement is set aside for Small Businesses. PROJECT QUESTIONS 1. Question: What is the allocated budget for this project? Answer: GAO's combined synopsis/solicitation, issued November 7, 2001, invites proposals responsive to the identified requirement. Given that this is a competitive procurement based on both technical and price considerations (see Section 6, Evaluation Criteria), it would be inappropriate to release the government's independent cost estimate prior to proposals being received. Offerors, however, can be assured that funds have been reserved to initiate the implementation of the automated recruiting system as soon as award can be made. 2. Question: What is the expected start date of this project? Answer: In the broad sense, the project is already underway, having been preceded by requirements reviews and the subsequent publication of the combined synopsis/solicitation on November 7, 2001. In a more specific sense, GAO expects to begin implementation within 30 days of award. In order to be able to begin implementation so rapidly, a COTS solution is required (commerically available off the shelf). 3. Question: What is meant by subscription basis? Is the GAO subscribing to use the application that we develop? Answer: Sections 1 and 2 (A) of the combined synopsis/solicitation specify that the purpose of the acquisition is to secure a web-based recruitment and hiring applicant tracking and processing system. Further, that GAO is not interested in purchasing either hardware or software, except where ancillary software housed on GAO machines is necessary for efficient use of the system. And lastly, that the software is to be hosted/run from the offeror's location with minimal or no downtime in GAO's ability to use the software. Thus, by "subscription", GAO refers to a service, where software ownership, access controls, license rights, and operational platform reside with the offeror, and GAO becomes simply a customer or user of the application, as per the specifications in GAO's synopsis/solicitation. Because this is a service, not a specific software release, Offerors should ensure any changes, revisions, or future modifications to the subscription service to be acquired by GAO will continue to meet GAO's requirements as specified in the combined synopsis/solicitation and any subsequent modifications. In the event changes are made that are not consistent or compatible with GAO's requirements, then the offeror is required to continue to support the existing service for use by GAO and applicants for GAO vacancies. 4. Question: Is the subscription a fee that can be billed monthly, etc? Answer: Section 5 of the combined synopsis/solicitation requires that offerors specify a variety of annual costs relating to use, maintenance, support, and the like. GAO has not specified the manner in which costs are to be invoiced. Incremental invoices, subject to GAO approval, would be acceptable. While GAO is agreeable to monthly invoicing, we also would like to keep administrative processing efforts to the minimum, so the less frequently invoices are submitted, the less processing effort is expended. 5. Question: Does this project fall under any special funding guidelines or is there a standard set? Answer: We are unable to fully understand the question being asked. GAO's response to Question #1, above, covers budget and funding aspects of this acquisition. 6. Question: Will you consider a custom solution or off-the-shelf solution? Answer: GAO requires an off-the-shelf solution. See Answer to previous Question #2. 7. Question: The RFP was requested for an offsite hosted subscription tool, would a customized web application hosted on the GAO webserver and supported by ontract be considered? If so we can supply a proposal that outlines the initial customization costs and a systems support contract to match the one year/five year plan outlined in the proposal. Answer: GAO has specified an offsite hosted subscription application. 8. Question: Is the goal of the application to someday install on the GAO web site and not use the subscription service? Answer: GAO has not identified or developed any requirements at this time beyond those identified in the combined synopsis/solicitation. GAO's intent is for the system to be hosted remotely. 9. Question: What is the time frame for having the system actually live and operational at GAO? Answer: Within 30 days following award, GAO intends to begin planning to run the new system in parallel with the existing system for the first few announcements in the spring of 2002. 11. Question: Does the work needs to be done on-site? or can part of work be done off-site? Answer: Because GAO is seeking a remotely accessed system, GAO contemplates no work being performed by the offeror on-site, except possible periodic coordination meetings with GAO program staff. PROCESS QUESTIONS 12. Question: How will internal candidates handling differ from external candidates? Answer: Section 2 (B) (i) of the combined synopsis/solicitation specifies that offeror's systems must include the capability to automatically distribute announcements to, at a minimum, GAO's internet site (for external vacancies) and/or GAO's intranet site for internal announcements. Other than the venue -- Intranet vs. Internet -- there is no difference in how we expect the system to handle internal and external vacancies. Regarding a situation where a GAO staff member applies for an external vacancy, this application would be made over the Internet. 13. Question: Is an automated system generated letter to the applicant part of the RFP? Answer: Section 2 (B) (v) of the combined synopsis/solicitation covers key notification requirements to applicants. It is anticipated that notifications will be provided by return email from the system without user intervention. In this regard, GAO requires the capability to exist for GAO to generate special electronic notification to selected portions of the applicant pool. 14. Question: Is there a sample of a GAO announcement along with the crediting/examining plan? Answer: Announcement examples may be found on the GAO homepage under employment opportunities, www.gao.gov. GAO's crediting and examining plans are very consistent with plans widely used throughout the federal sector. 15. Question: Is there a plan and or means to communicate between the GAO's internal and external web-sites for announcements? Answer: GAO's Internal web-site will be the staff's access point for use when positions are announced solely within GAO; the external Internet site will be used for all other announcements. The hosted application must be accessible through both the Intranet and Internet. See also GAO's response to Question #1 above. 16. Question: Applications not submitted via on-line will comprise of what and how many forms? Answer: Section 2 (B) (ii) of the combined synopsis/solicitation discusses GAO's key requirements for application materials not submitted on-line. Our experience shows that the amount and number of documents submitted vary depending on the complexity of the job being advertised; but on the whole, generally will consist of a resume, an applicant information sheet, and an assessment form or document. 17. Question: In particular, will this application be available over the internet for applicant submission, or only internal for tracking the job applicants? Answer: As per Section 1 of the combined synopsis/solicitation, the system will use Internet based enabling technology for announcement preparation and distribution, application receipt, application processing, applicant tracking and applicant notification. In short, the system will clearly automate both external and internal applications and tracking. 18. Question: Under Specific Requirements, item B) ii) Receipt of applications and other application material: Will the GAO allow the vendor to receive hard copy applications, either directly (US Mail) or in group packets sent from HR, GAO, in order to convert applications and other material (i.e. college transcripts) to electronic format at an authorized vendor location? Answer: Yes, GAO would allow the offeror to receive hard copy directly. 19. Question: Under Specific Requirements, item B) vi) Reporting: Prior to vendor's submission, can GAO supply any "preformatted reports" that it anticipates the system software be able to generate, and similarly, can the GAO supply some details or concepts it might require for "ad hoc" report generation? Answer: GAO's current system is Microsoft Access based. Reports are relatively numerous but the vendor should assume that any field combination may be required for 'canned' reports. Generally, reports will be required of applicants by announcement and within that, applicants by characteristic, e.g., degree, degree type, school etc. 20. Question: Are you presently utilizing a scanning or imaging system to enter hard copies of applications and resumes into the ATS system? If not does the department have access to a document scanner? Answer: GAO manually creates an applicant record in our tracking system and we scan application material into a field in the ATS that holds it. 21. Question: Section 1 General Requirements and Background: GAO stated, "It is GAO's desire to purchase a subscription type service that will substantially meet all of the requirements listed in the next section." The Section 1 description implies that GAO is expecting their process to be re-engineered meet their specific needs. This implies that the [web site] application will be designed (or possibly a product of the contract be modified for custom requirements) in addition to period subscription fees, e.g. monthly fees. Is this a correct assumption? If not, what is the correct assumption? Answer: In some cases we will have to re-engineer our processes to accommodate the off-the-shelf system and in some cases we anticipate that the COTS will be customizable to fit our existing process. An example is that we currently have a process that provides paper applications to a group of line employees representing teams and regions; depending on how the new system operates, we may be able to eliminate the requirement to physically meet on a weekly basis. 22. Question: Is there an incumbent contractor that developed the ATS (Access database) or was it developed by GAO staff? Answer: The existing system as discussed in Section 1 of the combined synopsis/solicitation was built in-house by a member of GAO's Recruitment and Employment staff. 23. Question: Does or will the GAO's Internet site (for external vacancies) have an existing feature to accept announcement information from external database sources? If yes, the contractor shall assume this interface (format) will be used. If not, does GAO expect that it is part of this contract to create that interface? Answer: GAO's existing interface relies heavily on manual processes to accept and process announcement and applicant information. It is expected that the offeror's systems will provide an automated interface with the host system. 24. Question: Does or will the GAO's Intranet site (for internal vacancies) have an existing feature to accept announcement information from external database sources? If yes, the contractor shall assume this interface (format) will be used. If not, does GAO expect that it is part of this contract to create that interface? Answer: See GAO's response to previous Question #23 above. 25. Question: Can we have access to GAO's current Applicant Tracking System (ATS)? Answer: As explained in Section 1 of GAO's combined synopsis/solicitation, the ATS is GAO's existing Microsoft Access-based tracking system. It requires significant manual interfaces. For that reason, we do not consider it useful as a model for the automated subscription system we are now acquiring. 26. Question: In section DESC, it states that there will be "approximately 400 positions per year and receives approximately 7,000 applications annually." Then in section 2) B. i), it states that "Announcement volume (cases) is estimated at 125-150 annually with up to 8,000 applications received per year as a result of these announcements." Does this mean that there are actually only about 125 -- 150 job descriptions, but many have multiple openings which gives the 400 number? Answer: Yes; some announcements, for example, will generate numerous hires (for the entry level announcement it was about 250 hires last year). 27. Question: Under 2) B) ii), what sort of volume of the estimated 8,000 applications (estimated number) are hard copy via fax and mail? Answer: This depends on the job being announced. Currently approximately 80% of applicants for the entry level and intern announcements are electronic. The goal of this acquisition is to have virtually all applicants for all positions apply electronically on line. 28. Question: Will the required system need to have the ability to track employees as well? Answer: The system needs to automate application processing for announced positions regardless of whether applicants are GAO staff members or external applicants. RATING AND SCORING QUESTIONS 29. Question: How is the rating and ranking of the candidate done and how to rate or rank the candidate with the system when sending a confirmation of the applicants information when submitted thru the internet? Answer: Section 2 (B) (iv) of the combined synopsis/solicitation addresses rating and ranking requirements. GAO anticipates that rating and ranking will be accomplished through automated means based on the systems' analysis of applicant's basic and advanced qualifications, response to yes/no qualification questions, and other application content to which scoring values can be assigned. GAO generally uses an open register announcement format for it's entry level hiring. Applicants responding to these announcements may be hired into any of 11 headquarters and 10 field offices. The entry level announcement is generally open from mid-September to May. Offered systems must be capable of producing a continuous register (list of applicants) as well as interim and final certificates (best qualified candidates referred for consideration by hiring officials.) GAO anticipates that rating, ranking, and scoring will be accomplished through automated means for most announcements. However, in some limited instances, announcements are ranked and scored by panels of subject matter experts. Offered systems must be capable of generating panel scoring packages to include resumes, transcripts, and other responses to qualification and application content. 30. Question: How is scoring of the applicant completed including veterans preference? Answer: Section 2(B) (iii) of the combined synopsis/solicitation specifically addresses veterans preference requirements. . Scoring (rating and ranking) overall will be done primarily through the applicant's response to a series of questions designed to elicit basic eligibility/qualifications (rating) and relative possession of knowledge's, skills and abilities (ranking). For those applicants who are basically eligible/qualified veterans preference points will be added as appropriate to augment their score by the system. 31. Question: Under Specific Requirements, item B) i) Announcement preparation and distribution: Does the GAO anticipate that the "evaluation criteria (crediting/examining plans) including yes/no responses, numerical ranking responses, etc." be automated in such a manner as to enable either a complete or partial rating and ranking score result to an application without manual intervention? Response: Yes. GAO's overarching requirement, as stated in Section 1 of the combined synopsis/solicitation, is to re-engineer its processes by using more technically advanced Internet based enabling technology for announcement preparation and distribution, application receipt, application processing, applicant tracking and applicant notification. System processing is preferable to manual intervention. 32. Question: Under Specific Requirements, item B) iv) Scoring of applications and certification: it appears that the requirements call for rating, ranking and scoring of applications and the ability to impose a hierarchical determination of qualification to the application. Does the GAO anticipate that this rating, ranking and scoring be based on manual entry or as a result of software programming? Answer: Yes, GAO anticipates rating, ranking, and scoring be accomplished as a result of software programming. 33. Question: Under Specific Requirements, item B) iv) Scoring of applications and certification: Prior to vendor's submission, can GAO supply the exact scoring scheme (methodology) used by GAO, or will the scoring system by the Office of Personnel Management suffice? Answer: GAO's scoring system is entirely consistent with OPM's, and exhibits no material differences. 34. Question: Section 2 B) Item iii -- Veterans preference points. What is meant by, "the appropriate placement of veterans on registers and certificates?" The critical part being what are "registers and certificates?" Answer: GAO, as a federal government agency, is subject to various statutes pertaining to hiring and to veterans' preference in hiring. A register is a numerically ranked list of applicants for a particular announced position. A certificate is drawn from the top of a register and identifies those applicants who may be considered by a selection official for appointment. Veteran's names are placed on the register (and certificate) in accordance with their score which is augmented by the award of preference points. 35. Question: Under 2) B) iv), what are the criteria of the GAO scoring scheme? Specifically, will offeror have access to the weighting system used prior to the final submission of proposal? Answer: As stated in Section 2 (B) (iv) of the combined synopsis/solicitation, GAO's scoring scheme is entirely consistent with that mandated by the Office of Personnel Management. 36. Question: It is mentioned in the RFP: "Proposed systems must be able to accommodate GAO's scoring scheme for applicants and support a category ranking system". Can we get more details on the category ranking system". Answer: GAO's method is similar to OPM. Applicants respond to KSAs; a score is attached to the response; and three broad categories are developed from the scores in descending order, based on our judgement of the number of applicants that should be referred for selection consideration. 37. Question: Our product has the capability to automatically score an applicants quali

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