Tips For Applying For Government Jobs | 8 Truths About Government Job Application Process
Tips For Applying For Government Jobs | 8 Truths About Government Job Application Process. Some job application systems, such as the US government’s USAJobs, have functionality built into the system, which allows applicants to see how their applications are progressing through the organization’s hiring processes. For the vast majority of federal positions, you must be a US citizen.
Categories of Federal Government Jobs
The Senior Executive Service
These are the executive level of our government, just below the top Presidential appointees. This is the smallest service with only about 8,000 members nationwide.
The Competitive Service.
This service is the largest federal service and typically what comes to mind when people think of government jobs. Jobs for this service are the focus of the process described in this article.
The Excepted Service.
This service is for positions outside the “traditional” government jobs which can include positions in the intelligence agencies or other authorized agencies.
The Steps About Government Job Application Process in competitive service.
1. Create your USAJOBS account
On any given day, USAJOBS includes as many as 10,000 job announcements. Announcements are posted daily, so it is important that you look at USAJOBS frequently. If you don’t already have a USAJOBS account USAJOBS.gov, create one. You must have complete a profile to apply to any job on USAJOBS.
2. Search for the federal jobs you want.
Available jobs can be searched by typing in a keyword or location and can be further narrowed by pay grade, salary, job series, agency, and more.
3. Review the Job Announcement
After finding a job you are interested in, review the announcement to see if you are eligible and meet the qualifications. Keep in mind that for each job, there are specific qualifications each applicant must meet. There are some jobs (accountants, engineers, social workers, contract specialists, and more) that require either a degree or a certain number of college credit hours; the job announcement will spell this out, when education is required.
4. Sign up for daily emails when you find one that interest you
After entering certain job criteria, USAJOBS will automatically look for jobs that match your desired criteria. You can then request that USAJOBS email you the search results daily, weekly, or monthly.
5. Apply immediately when you find a job for you.
Apply immediately when you find a position that you are qualified for. Read the How to Apply section of the job announcement before starting your application so that you are fully prepared to respond completely. This section tells you what is required to apply, including any required documents.
6. Wait for the job announcement to be closed
Once you submit your application, you must wait for the job posting to close before you hear a response. When government agencies post jobs, they almost always have an application deadline. They do this so they can manage how many applications they receive and so they can move forward with the hiring process without adding additional applicants throughout the process.
7. Check to see if you have been “referred.”
Once the job announcement is closed, the hiring agency will review your application. Applicants typically will then be placed into qualification categories such as: Qualified, Highly qualified and Best qualified. If the posting said that the new hire must have a bachelor’s degree, a human resources specialist will remove from consideration all applications where the applicant does not show completion of a bachelor’s degree. The hiring agency will then send the highest qualified applicants to the hiring official, and those applicants may see their application status updated to “referred.”
List of Finalist Is Compiled
Once all the applications have been screened for the minimum requirements, the human resources department and the hiring manager work together to make a short list of finalists they would like to interview.
8. The federal job interview process begins (Interviews Are Scheduled).
Hiring officials will review applications and decide who to interview based on agency policy. Interviews can include: A panel interview, In-person interview, Video interview or Phone interview. The human resources department or the hiring manager calls applicants who earned an interview. If an applicant chooses to withdraw from the process, the organization may decide to either interview the next most qualified candidate who did not earn an interview at first or continue the process with one less finalist.
9. Background Checks Are Conducted
Many organizations conduct background and reference checks at this point in the process. It does not make sense to perform these checks on all the applicants from both cost and staff time perspectives. Once the finalists are selected, the checks can be performed on the small group. The benefit of running the checks at this time is so that there is no added delay if the chosen finalist turns down the job offer.
10. Interviews Are Conducted
Groups of finalists are usually composed of three to five people. The number of finalists to be interviewed and how many people will be conducting the interviews largely determines how long the interview process will take. If there are only a handful of finalists to be interviewed, the process may only take a week to conduct all of the interviews.
11. The preferred candidate is selected, and a job offer is made.
The hiring agency will select the qualified candidate — and contact him/her to start the job process. Once a candidate accepts, HR will initiate the security clearance process. This can take an additional 3-6 months, depending upon the type of clearance required. The job offer is final only when the background investigation and additional security checks are completed. The hiring agency will contact the candidate directly to determine a start date.
12. Job Offer Is Accepted
A chosen finalist formally acknowledges the job offer verbally or in writing. The organization begins paperwork necessary to hire the chosen finalist on the agreed upon start date.
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