Guidance on Reinvigorating Merit-Based Hiring Through Candidate Ranking (Rule of Many)

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued this guidance on its implementation of "the Rule of Many" hiring process, which replaced "the Rule of Three." This change was made through OPM's issuance of a final regulation in September 2025 titled “Reinvigorating Merit-Based Hiring through Candidate Ranking in the Competitive and Excepted Service.” The guidance includes FAQ documents on comparing the Rule of Many with the Rule of Three and comparing the Rule of Many with Category Rating. It also includes an explainer on how veteran's preference applies to agencies employing the Rule of Many: points are added to a veteran's score. Finally, the guidance provides a model policy for agencies' use. The guidance states that the Rule of Many increases discretion in hiring.