Welcome New Hire

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The New Hire online help system contains information about how to use onboarding for your new position. The online help content is context-sensitive. When you click the Help Center button, the online help will open on the specific topic matching that page. If you want to review other topics, click the links below or use the Search feature located on the top right of this page to find a specific topic or task. The help topics below are organized in the general order you typically follow within the system when completing the online onboarding process.

Logging in to the New Hire System
Frequently Asked Questions Clicking the expand button will allow you to view the frequently asked questions and the answers.
Question Answer
What if I can't log in? Have you logged in before?

A. Yes, I was able to log in previously.

When logging into Onboard, you must use the same USAJOBS account that was used to accept your initial job offer. To log in, follow these steps:

  1. Open a new browser and clear the cache. For instructions: Clearing Your Cache or Temporary Internet Files
  2. Log in to your USAJOBS account at https://usajobs.gov (not the link you received in your job offer). After you have verified you can access your USAJOBS account, log out of USAJOBS by clicking "Sign Out," then close that browser.
    Note: If you are having problems logging into USAJOBS, contact their Help Center: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/
  3. Click on your most recent job offer link. Log in using the same email address and password you used in Step 2. If you are copying and pasting the link, ensure you are copying and pasting the entire link into your web browser’s address bar and that there are no additional spaces or characters in the address bar.
    Note:  If the USAJOBS account used to accept the job offer was deleted or significantly changed (such as changing the primary email address), you will not be able to log into Onboard. For assistance restoring your USAJOBS account, contact the USAJOBS Help Center: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/. Once your account is restored and you are able to login to USAJOBS, contact your Human Resources office and ask them to request that USA Staffing clear the stored USAJOBS account from the onboarding record. Once that is complete, repeat steps 1-3 above.

If you continue to have log in issues, contact your Human Resources office with as much detail as possible and a screenshot or picture of any error messages.

B. No, I have never logged in.

To log in, follow these steps:

  1. Open a new browser and clear the cache. For instructions: Clearing Your Cache or Temporary Internet Files
  2. Log in to your USAJOBS account at https://usajobs.gov (not the link you received in your job offer). After you have verified you can access your USAJOBS account, log out of USAJOBS by clicking "Sign Out," then close that browser.
    Note: If you are having problems logging into USAJOBS, contact their Help Center: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/
  3. Click on your most recent job offer link. Accept the job offer and then log in using the same email address and password you used in Step 2. If you are copying and pasting the link, ensure you are copying and pasting the entire link into your web browser’s address bar and that there are no additional spaces or characters in the address bar.

If you continue to have log in issues, contact your Human Resources office with as much detail as possible and a screenshot or picture of any error messages.

What if I can't log into my USAJOBS account? You will need to be able to access a USAJOBS account in order to log in to Onboard.

If you have already logged in to Onboard to accept your job offer, all subsequent logins must be made with the same USAJOBS account.

For assistance restoring your USAJOBS account, contact the USAJOBS Help Center: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/.

How do I access the system after I have accepted my tentative offer? After you’ve accepted the Tentative Offer Letter you can continue to use the link from the tentative offer to access the system. Also, if you receive an Official Offer letter later in the onboarding process, you will need to access the link in your Official Offer letter to respond to the offer and log in. In addition, you may access the main Onboarding link to log in at: https://onboard.usastaffing.gov. However, this link is only accessible after you have accepted the initial offer.
Why am I receiving a “No Active Records” message? This message displays when the USAJOBS credentials you entered are not associated with an active onboarding record. This can occur in the following circumstances:
  • When you make significant changes to the USAJOBS account you used to login.
  • When you have not logged into your onboarding record for more than 60 days and it has become inactive.
  • When your onboarding record has been marked complete by Human Resources.

Please contact your Human Resources Office to confirm if any of these circumstances apply to you.

Note: If your Human Resources user has re-activated your account, you must log into your account within 72 hours.

Can I regain access to my USAJOBS/login.gov account? Please click here to open a document that has steps to take to regain your USAJOBS/login.gov account.
What name should I use in Onboarding? You should use your full legal name (including Middle name, if applicable) as it appears on your Social Security card or Driver’s License.
Do I have to complete all of my tasks and forms at once? What if I am missing information? No, you do not have to complete all of your work in one session.

Your HR point of contact has assigned due dates for each task assigned. These due dates display in your Task list, which can be accessed by clicking on Tasks at the top left of your screen. You will need to complete your assigned tasks/forms on or before their designated due date.

The New Hire Questionnaire allows you to skip required questions (marked by a red asterisk) so that you can complete them at a later time if you don’t have that information immediately available. You will not be able to submit forms with missing required information. Therefore, you should review your questionnaires thoroughly to ensure all required questions are responded to before submitting a form. If you submit a form with missing required responses, the system will display an action of “Complete Questionnaire” in the “Next Action” column for that task.

If you need to log out, Save the page you are working on, click the drop-down arrow next to your name at the top of the page, and click Log Out. To log back in, use the link in your Offer letter or go directly to https://onboard.usastaffing.gov/ . You must log back in with the same Login.gov/USAJOBS account you used to accept the offer.

Why can’t I enter or correct any information directly onto the forms? You cannot type directly on the forms. The information that you provided to the Questionnaire(s) will transfer over and populate your forms. If you need to correct a response, return to your questionnaire and fix the information there. This will, in turn, correct your form.

If the information you are attempting to correct is greyed out, your Human Resources Office will need to un-lock your questionnaire by returning the previously submitted forms that contain that response. Contact your Human Resources office for assistance.

I need to update information, such as my last name or home address. How do I do that? If you have not submitted your forms, you can log into onboarding, select the appropriate Questionnaire, and click the Update button. If you have submitted your forms and need to make corrections, you will need to contact your HR Point of Contact. Fields that are greyed out require the New Hire to reach out to their HR point of contact, so they can return the form for correction, which will make the fields editable. Once you receive an email from your HR POC to update the information, you may go into the system and make the necessary updates.

See: Accessing agency contact information for further assistance

Why can’t I submit my benefits forms? The system will not allow you to submit your Benefits forms before your first day of duty.

If today is your first day of duty, or your first day has already passed, contact your Human Resources Point of Contact to ensure they have verified you have reported for your first day of duty in the system. Once Human Resources verifies you have arrived, it will enable you to submit the benefit form(s).

What should I do if I can’t submit my beneficiary forms? All beneficiary forms require your signature. (Not electronic.) The information on your beneficiary forms can be completed through the system, but they will need to be printed so you can provide a signature. To submit your beneficiary forms, follow the steps provided by your agency. If you have any questions, contact your Human Resources office.
What should I do if a form has been returned for correction? If you are notified that a form has been returned to you for correction, the notification should contain a note about the response(s) that need to be corrected. See: Correcting a form that has been returned to you. If you have any questions about the required corrections, contact your Human Resources office.
Why was the OF 306 Declaration for Federal Employment form returned to me? The OF-306 form requires you to sign as an “applicant” and then as an “appointee” when you enter on duty. You should follow your Agency’s guidance as to whether or not you should electronically sign as an “appointee” or if the form needs to be printed and signed by you. If you have any questions about this form, contact your Human Resources office.
How can I print a form I have previously signed and/or submitted? See: Printing a previously signed or submitted form.
Why am I receiving an error when I try to upload my documents? There are a number of reasons you may receive an error when uploading documents. Some of the common issues include:
  • Your Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB in size, unencrypted, and one of the accepted document types: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX).
  • Documents must NOT be password protected. Often universities will encrypt transcripts in order to ensure they are not altered. If you suspect your transcripts are encrypted you will need to print and re-scan them.
  • PDF Portfolio documents are not accepted. A PDF Portfolio contains multiple files assembled into an integrated PDF unit. The files in a PDF Portfolio can be in a wide range of file types created in different applications. To ensure the document is not a PDF Portfolio document, open the document and if there are multiple different documents with a variety of extensions, it is a PDF Portfolio document and will not be processed.
  • Ensure that your filename is 100 characters or fewer, including spaces. Consider using abbreviations while trying to preserve a clear name describing what the document contains.
  • If you are scanning documents into your computer and are over the 5MB size limit, the scanning software will typically offer to save files in TIFF or BMP format, or perhaps PDF. These are likely to be too large. The software may also offer to save as JPG (or JPEG) which is far more compact. In addition, the software may allow you to select lower quality for an even smaller file size. We have found 50% quality still looks quite good and results in a file size often less than a tenth of the original.
  • If your scanning software does not let you save the file in a compact format, there are free downloads out there that do. One such that we are aware of for Windows is called Irfanview. On recent Mac systems, Preview will perform this function.

If you are unable to upload your file and it meets the above criteria, please also ensure that you did not include any special characters (parentheses, commas, hyphens, etc.) or blank spaces in the file name of your document(s). For example, use JohnsDD214.png and OF306.pdf rather than John’s DD-214.png or OF-306.pdf.

For more information see: Uploading a document.

I have a question or issue not covered in these FAQs, how can I get additional assistance? The fastest way of receiving help is to check the online help page at: Welcome New Hire. If you still need assistance or have a question, contact your Human Resources office. For more information see: Accessing agency contact information for further assistance.
Questionnaires
Biographic Information Questionnaire
Employment Information Questionnaire
Background Information Questionnaire
Compensation Information Questionnaire
Benefits Information Questionnaire
Travel Information Questionnaire
Security Information Questionnaire
Retirement Information Questionnaire
Change of Station Information Questionnaire
Tasks

For information about Accessibility, please click here.