Federal Job Qualifications
In nearly all cases, Federal employees must be U.S. citizens. Beyond that, qualifications vary.
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| FederalJobs Qualifications
Qualifications. The Government hires people with nearly every level of education and experience—from high school students with no experience to Ph.D.’s with established careers.
Federal Jobs in some occupations, such as engineer, ecologist, and lawyer, require that workers have a bachelor’s or graduate degree and credit for specific college classes.
Other occupations require experience, education, or a combination of both. A few, such as office clerk, require no education or experience to start.
The qualifications needed for each job are described in detail in the vacancy announcements that advertise job openings.
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Each federal job also has a code that corresponds to its minimum requirements. Understanding these codes will speed your search.
Shortcut to matching your qualifications: Cracking the GS code. The coding systems used to classify jobs vary by agency, but the most common system is the General Schedule (GS). The GS assigns every job a grade level from 1 to 15, according to the minimum level of education and experience its workers need. Jobs that require no experience or education are graded a GS-1, for example. Jobs that require a bachelor’s degree and no experience are graded a GS-5 or GS-7, depending on an applicant’s academic credentials and an agency’s policies.
GS levels by education
GS-1
| No high school diploma
| GS-2
(GS-3 for clerk-steno positions)
| High school diploma
| GS-3
| 1 year of full-time study after high school
| GS-4
| Associate degree or 2 years of full-time study after high school
| GS-5 or GS-7
depending on agency policy and applicant's academic credentials
| Bachelor's degree or 4 years of full-time study after high school
| GS-7
| Bachelor's degree plus 1 year of full-time graduate study
| GS-9
(GS-11 for some research positions)
| Master's degree or 2 years of full-time graduate study
| GS-9
| Law degree (J.D. or LL.B.)
| GS-11
(GS-12 for some research positions)
| Ph.D. or equivalent doctorate or advanced law degree (LL.M.)
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College degrees only qualify you for a particular grade level if they are related to the job. For occupations requiring general college-level skills, a bachelor’s degree in any subject can qualify you. But other occupations require a specific major.
After gaining work experience, people often qualify for higher GS levels. In general, 1 year of experience related to the job could raise your grade by one GS level in most clerical and technician positions. In administrative, professional, and scientific positions, GS level increases in increments of two until you reach a GS-12. After that, GS level increases one level at a time. With each additional year of experience at a higher level of responsibility, your GS level could continue to increase until it reaches the maximum for your occupation.
Resources online and off
Applying for a Federal job is often simpler if you have access to the Internet. Although every part of the application process can also be completed offline, the Internet allows for faster searching, completion, and submission of applications.
Jobseekers can visit a Federal Employment Center for free access to the Federal employment websites. Many of the U.S. Department of Labor’s One-Stop Career Centers also provide Internet access for jobseekers. Contact information for Federal Employment Centers and One-Stop Career Centers is available in the blue pages of the telephone book or by calling the U.S. Department of Labor’s toll-free career information line: 1(877) US2-JOBS (872-5627).
Without the Internet, you can conduct a search by telephone, fax machine, or mail.
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