I have watched this with several jobs on the internet and OPM participation in the process. Industry hires from a resume and an interview and the initiative put forth by the vice president has failed to crack the OPM culture. Maybe OPM needs to be reengineered to accept what the rest of society uses. Agencies still do the hiring, and responsibility for selecting the person hired will always remain with the agency. OPM, on the other hand, has a responsibility to monitor the government-wide Senior Executive Service and to ensure that people who rise to senior ranks have a consistent quality of experiences that lead to their selection.
Employees working within an agency have several advantages in any competitive processes.
They know the agency culture. They will have an insider's perspective on the agency's needs as it fills senior positions. In many cases, their qualifications will include awards and recognition for exceptional performance of jobs that they will be supervising. In many cases, the people competing for positions as office directors will be people who have served for years as assistant directors, or deputy directors. These are people who have extensive and familiar knowledge of the selecting official.