USAJobs.gov has been riddled with problems since the Office of Personnel Management unveiled its website redesign Oct. 11, but OPM Director John Berry says OPM will continue working to address deficiencies until it "gets this right."  

"It is a highly complex project; the site serves millions of Americans and ties into many different back-end IT systems--each agency has its own. As with any project of this magnitude, there have been problems to iron out," said Berry in an Oct. 19 statement.

Berry said increased interest in the site has OPM seeking additional server capacity to support traffic volume. As of Oct. 19, OPM was consistently serving at least 94 percent of visitors, said Berry.

But according to the Washington Post, officials at Avue Technologies, a contractor hired to test the website, said there was an 86 percent failure rate for log-ins and searches--rather than OPM's reported 6 percent failure rate--as of Oct. 19.

OPM said it is also seeking user feedback to help identify problems in the new system. "We are reading everything that users are posting to the USAJobs Facebook and Twitter accounts, answering the most common questions, and resolving individual issues as well," said Berry.

On Oct. 19, @USAJOBS tweeted, "As of 4pm yesterday, Americans have submitted 141,289 applications for Federal jobs through the new USAJOBS!" The update received several retweets and responses including one from @squaredbr, saying "@USAJOBS that's shocking because it doesn't work. Shameful work for a huge organization. #fail."

Users that were able to access the site also took to social networks to discuss glitches in the system.

In a discussion on GovLoop, some users lamented the need to reset passwords and fix resumes that were corrupted during the migration to the new system.

"Look REALLY closely at your resume profile...mine looks like a bomb went off. Rebuilding 90% of it right now," wrote Chris Poirier.

John Allen, director of integrated hiring systems at OPM, responded to forum participants. Allen said the new search engine wiped any customized or saved searches because they were geared to the old search engine. "Passwords had to be reset because we could not port over the encryption scheme used by the last site," he added.

Another commenter suggested OPM should have better tested the system prior to launch and should "ask for its money back from the contractor who did this."

"The new usajobs is a bit confusing...ill figure it out though," tweeted @MsBusyB on Oct. 20. And @tomselick45 echoed those sentiments tweeting, "@USAJOBS As if I needed yet another obstacle in my job search... awful revamp... truly awful."

Job seekers' recent frustration follows on system outages Aug. 7-11 that connected to the backend of USAJobs.gov. As a result, about 70,000 applicants to 54 federal agencies had some or all of their application data lost.

For more:
- see the statement from OPM

Related Articles:
70,000 job applications affected by OPM IT outage 
Disconnect exists between cybersecurity workforce needs and outreach
OPM moves forward with internship, hiring reform