What aspect of the rating procedure is critical for transparency?

The critical aspect of the rating procedure that ensures transparency is effectively communicating to applicants the use of category rating procedures. This communication is essential because it informs applicants about how their qualifications and scores will be assessed within a structured system. Understanding the category rating process allows applicants to be aware of what criteria are being used to evaluate their applications, how scores are derived, and what different rating categories mean. This clarity helps to foster trust in the hiring process and ensures that applicants feel informed about their standing and the overall evaluation criteria.

Moreover, while distributing raw scores to applicants, discussing scores with agency staff, or publishing scores on public platforms can contribute to transparency in specific ways, they do not encompass the foundational understanding of the evaluation process itself. Thus, knowing how the category rating procedures operate—what constitutes different levels of qualification and how these are determined—is vital for applicants to grasp the fairness and validity of the rating system.