Our Clients are Hiring

Developmental Associates (DA) serves educational, government, and nonprofit organizations in recruiting, screening, promotion, and selection for key leadership positions. Employers choose us because we offer evidence-based, rigorous screening, and assessment of candidates using multiple methods to evaluate candidates’ skills. This ensures the best likelihood of a great fit for both the applicant and the organization.

Our Recruitment and Screening Process:
Developmental Associates is contracted by employers to assist with recruitment and/or skill evaluation of applicants. We want to ensure that each applicant’s experience and credentials are communicated in a consistent manner to our clients… comparing apples to apples rather than relying on gut judgments. To that end, we have an on-line application process powered by NEOGOV (governmentjobs.com) that ensures all applicants are compared against the same hiring criteria, which are determined through a comprehensive analysis of the job, the organization, and conversations with key stakeholders.

While applicants apply through Developmental Associates, we present all candidate application materials to the employer for consideration. Candidates who meet the minimum and preferred requirements are typically given higher consideration at the first stage The hiring entity—be it a Board, Council, Search Team, or Manager—determines who will be invited to participate in the next step of “secondary screening” which can include a phone interview, written answers to questions related to the job, and/or an assessment of emotional intelligence competencies. The secondary screening step is intended to go beyond the evaluation of your credentials and work experience to provide the decision-makers with more detail about your breadth and depth of experience and your skills.

Once again, Developmental Associates presents all data to the decision-makers who will then decide whom to invite to the next stage which may occur through video-conferencing or on-site and may consist of a series of behavioral interviews or an assessment center which Developmental Associates develops and facilitates.

We maintain confidentiality:

When involving a governmental employer, this process of sharing information requires applicants to provide a “limited confidentiality waiver” allowing us to share the information with those at the employing organization who are involved with the hiring process. If you apply, you will be asked to consent to this condition in order to have your application shared with and considered by the employer. We are required by law to maintain confidentiality.

Final steps:

Depending on how many people are invited to the skill evaluation stage (typically 4-6 for government positions and 3-4 for educational institutions), some organizations conduct another round of interviews to assess “mutual fit” between the organization and the top 1-2 candidates.

Developmental Associates always recommends that clients conduct a thorough background check, which, depending on the position, can include motor vehicle records, criminal records, drug tests, media searches, and/or detailed references. We will recommend professionals to carry out that step if the client desires.

How to Apply for a Client Opening

1. All applications for positions managed by Developmental Associates, LLC must be completed through our application portal (unless otherwise directed in the job advertisement.) Some advertisers (such as Indeed or LinkedIn) may refer candidates to other sites to apply, but only applications completed through https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/developmentalassociates can be considered.
2. Our application portal is powered by NEOGOV and uses the governmentjobs.com platform. This applicant management software system, supports the latest browser versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Edge. It is strongly recommended that you utilize or upgrade to one of these browser versions when applying for positions. NEOGOV does not support the Firefox browser.
3. If this is the first time you are applying using our NEOGOV powered online job application system, you will need to create a governmentjobs.com account and select a Username and Password. Make sure you write down this username and password as it will be the one you use for ANY position you apply for with Developmental Associates or any entity using NEOGOV.
4. After your account has been established, you can build an application called a “master profile” by clicking on the “Build Job Application” link. This application can be saved and used to apply for future job openings.
5. Once you have a master profile in governmentjobs.com, just click on the position of interest on our Client Openings page which takes you to the DA portal, then click on the “Apply” link, and enter your UserName and Password to apply.

Important Tips to Ensure Your Application Gets Reviewed –

1. Fully Complete the Application. In order to ensure that your application is given due consideration by our clients, make sure that when you complete your master profile (application) that you have fully answered all questions about education, positions, certifications, number of employees supervised, reason for leaving positions, etc. It is not sufficient to say “see resume.”
2. Make sure you list all promotions/jobs/ranks working for a single employer. For example, don’t say you have been a police chief or fire chief for 25 years when you have served multiple ranks during that time. The reason is that the employer wants to know how long you were in each rank and what responsibilities you held at each promotion.
3. Attaching a resume and cover letter is desired (but not required) by clients - Please attach your resume or upload as a text document so we have it to compare against your application. Cover letters can be addressed to the Hiring Manager.
4. Be sure to answer all supplemental questions. In order to respond to multiple select questions, be sure to follow the instructions for your type of computer (PC or Mac).
5. If you have forgotten your user id, password, or are having other difficulties logging in, refer to governmentjobs.com help link.
6. If you run into specific problems or have questions about the position itself, please email hiring@developmentalassociates.com for further inquiries, call (919) 813-6096, ext 104 for tech support, or refer to the governmentjobs.com FAQs page.
7. Please note that applications may be rejected if incomplete.
8. Online applications are stored on a secure site. Only authorized employees and hiring authorities have access to the information submitted.

Successfully Evaluating Candidate Skills with Assessment Centers

The evaluation of an individual’s potential to perform in a managerial capacity is an important problem for those responsible for the development of managers. Present methods of evaluating the development of managers have not changed significantly in several decades, while the types of service provided by state and local jurisdictions are becoming increasingly complex and important.

In order to make an effective assessment, we need more detailed information than that obtained through traditional methods. The qualifications needed for management responsibilities differ from those needed on non-management assignments. Exposures to simulated, as well as real, management problems and administrative experiences help establish an individual’s capabilities, as well as his or her like or dislike for management responsibilities.

A method that many companies and governmental organizations have implemented to identify management potential is the assessment center approach. In general, research findings on assessment centers are quite promising; the assessment center evaluations predict success in a given position considerably better than tests alone, biographical data alone, supervisors’ evaluations of performance, or ratings of promotional potential. Clients hire DA to develop skill evaluations that will accurately evaluate a candidate’s abilities. These skill evaluations are commonly referred to as assessment centers and follow the preliminary screening of applications as well as secondary screening using phone or video interviews and online surveys.

What exactly is an Assessment Center?

An assessment center is a means of gathering relevant information, under standardized conditions, about an individual’s capabilities to perform a managerial position. In essence, an assessment center puts candidates through a series of group and individual exercises designed to simulate the conditions of a given job and determines if they have the skills and abilities necessary to perform that job. It does this by bringing out the candidate’s behavior relevant to the job, while being observed by a group of assessors. In addition, the assessors judging a candidate’s behavior see all individuals from a common frame of reference in the various assessment activities. These procedures help to ensure that the judgments made are relatively free of the many forms of rater bias, are reliable, and can serve as the basis for meaningful predictions of a candidate’s potential.

Additional benefits of an assessment center include:

• Assessment centers measure job-related behaviors rather than other characteristics that are not directly related to effective job performance.
• Assessment centers measure a broader range of knowledge, skills, and abilities than more traditional methods, such as written tests or interviews.
• Assessment centers are standardized because testing conditions are similar for all candidates. This standardization insures that no candidate receives better or worse treatment than another.
• Assessment centers are fair regardless of age, gender or race. Unlike some testing programs, research has suggested that a candidate’s age, gender, or race has no influence on the assessment ratings received.
• Candidates typically view assessment centers as a fair promotional method.
• Assessment centers serve as a learning experience for assessors as well as for candidates. Assessors benefit from their training and experience as assessors; they can serve as a management-training tool that helps assessors improve their observational skills and their ability to accurately evaluate performance. Candidates benefit from the feedback they receive after going through the center. The assessment center identifies their strengths and areas in need of improvement.
• Assessment center ratings tend to be much more accurate than conventional ratings because the assessment center provides an opportunity for direct observation of behavior in a controlled setting with trained raters.