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Explanation of Vacancy Announcement Components
The below explanations are meant to be applied to the components of a Vacancy Announcement for the Employment and Training Administration (ETA). However, in general terms, they can be applied against most Federal Vacancy Announcements. If you have any questions when using them, please call the Agency issuing the vacancy announcement to resolve your questions.
Announcement Number:
This is the identification number given to each job vacancy announcement.
RULE OF THUMB: MAKE SURE YOU IDENTIFY THE VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER ON YOUR APPLICATION!
Federal Personnel Offices receive many applications for each vacancy announcement issued. Unless you identify the vacancy announcement number for the specific position you are applying for, the Staffing Specialist may not be able to process the application.
Opening Date:
This is the date that the vacancy announcement becomes open for you to submit an application.
Closing Date:
This is the date the vacancy closes.
There are ordinarily two means by which applications are received at Federal Personnel Offices; by mail or hand delivery.
For applications sent through the mail there are ordinarily two cut off dates used:
- The application must be received at the Personnel Office not later than the closing date of the vacancy announcement, or
- The application must be post marked not later than the closing date of the vacancy announcement.
You must read the vacancy announcement very closely to determine when the application must be physically received at the applicable Agency. The receipt date is not standard from Agency to Agency or even within an individual Agency.
RULE OF THUMB: UNLESS THE VACANY ANNOUNCEMENT SPECIFIES OTHERWISE, ALWAYS ASSUME THAT THE APPLICATION MUST BE RECEIVED AT THE PERSONNEL OFFICE NO LATER THAN THE CLOSING DATE OF THE VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT!!
Applications hand delivered to the Personnel Office must be received no later than the closing date of the vacancy announcement.
Some agencies will accept applications by fax. ETA does accept faxed applications, however, ETA will not accept applications faxed from Federal organizations. You should call the Personnel Office at the Agency you are applying to and verify whether or not a faxed application will be accepted.
CAUTION:DO NOT ASSUME THAT A FAXED APPLICATION WILL BE ACCEPTED!
Although some agencies accept e-mail applications, at the present time it is not a common practice. This means of applying is being reviewed but at the current time it is not normally an acceptable means of applying against a vacancy announcement. Once again, you should call the applicable Federal agency to verify if an e-mail copy of an application is acceptable.
CAUTION:DO NOT ASSUME THAT AN E-MAILED APPLICATION WILL BE ACCEPTED!
Number of Vacancies:
This is the number of vacancies for a particular vacancy announcement.
Bargaining Unit:
This item is used to inform the applicant as to whether or not the position is within the labor bargaining unit(s) of a particular agency.
A NO or N/A (not applicable) means that the position does not fall under a bargaining unit.
Promotion Potential:
This item will indicate if there is future promotion potential after you are hired into the position.
If this item states NO or N/A (not applicable) there is no promotion potential above the grade reflected in the announcement.
If this item contains a specific grade, that is the highest grade level that you can non-competitively attain in that position.
If a grade is indicated, you may be promoted to that grade without further competition upon meeting all legal regulatory requirements. However, a promotion is not guaranteed and no promise of promotion is implied.
Civil Service Status Required:
RULE OF THUMB: IT IS IMPORTANT TO IDENTIFY IF THE VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT IS OPEN TO "STATUS ONLY" APPLICANTS OR IF IT IS OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC!!
If Civil Service Status IS Required:
There are a few definitions, as defined by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, that will help you in determining this. They are:
- STATUS EMPLOYEE - One who has completed the probationary period under the career-conditional employment system. Also known as an employee with competitive status.
- COMPETITIVE STATUS - A person on a career or career-conditional appointment who acquires competitive status upon satisfactory completion of a probationary period.
- PROBATIONARY PERIOD - The first year of service of an employee who is given a career or career-conditional appointment under 5 CFR part 315. During this period, the agency determines the fitness of the employee, and the employee has no appeal rights.
- REINSTATEMENT - The noncompetitive reemployment in the competitive service as a career or career-conditional employee of a person formerly employed in the competitive service who had a competitive status or was serving probation when separated.
If you do not meet the conditions outlined above then you probably do not have "STATUS" and should apply against vacancy announcements open to the General Public only.
WARNING:DO NOT BE CONFUSED BY THE TERMS "STATUS ONLY" AND "COMPETITIVE STATUS ONLY". THESE TERMS HAVE THE SAME MEANING!
There are certain noncompetitive categories that may allow you to apply against a "STATUS ONLY" position. The most common non-competitive categories are identified below:
- Veterans Readjustment Appointments (VRA)
- 30% Disabled Veterans
- Former Peace Corps or VISTA Volunteers
- Physically Handicapped or Mentally Retarded
- Outstanding Scholars Program
If Civil Service Status IS NOT Required:
This vacancy announcement is open to the General Public and anyone can apply.
Temporary Position:
A temporary position is an appointment made for a limited period of time and with a specific not-to-exceed (NTE) date.
Part-Time Position:
There are a few definitions that will help you in determining what is defines as part-time work. They are:
- PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT - Service when an employee works on a part-time work schedule.
- PART-TIME WORK SCHEDULE - A schedule that requires an employee to work less than full-time, but for a specific number of hours (usually 16 to 32 hours per administrative work week) on a prearranged scheduled tour of duty.
Each vacancy announcement will indicate if the position is a full-time, intermittent or part-time position within the vacancy announcement's text.
Area of Consideration:
This item can consists of two parts; geographical area and competitive category.
Geographic Area:
The geographic category identifies the geographical area from which applicants can apply. Examples are:
- Washington D.C. Metropolitan area
- Denver, CO
Competitive Category:
The other is the competitive category of the applicants who will be eligible to apply. Some of the most commonly used terms used to describe Area of Consideration are:
- All Sources, Open to All Candidates or Nationwide: means anyone may apply.
- Open to Candidates with Civil Service Status: means only current Federal competitive service employees or Federal competitive service reinstatement eligibles may apply.
- Candidates with a Notice of Rating from Office of Personnel Management (OPM): means you must have a notice of rating from OPM to apply. For more information, please call OPM at (202) 606-2700.
- Candidates with Non-Competitive Eligibility: means you may apply under a special hiring authority.
Position:
This is the position title for the vacancy being advertised, e.g., Office Automation Assistant. This title corresponds with a series number.
Series/Grade:
This item consists of three parts; pay plan, series and grade, e.g., GS-326-05.
Pay Plan:
The three primary pay plans are:
- General Schedule (GS) - The GS Pay Plan consists of 15 levels (GS-1 to GS-15). These are normally considered white collar positions.
- Executive Schedule (ES) - These are positions above the GS-15, Senior Executive Schedule or equivalent positions.
- Federal Wage Grade System (e.g., WG, WL or WS) - These are normally considered blue collar position.
Series:
Series are classes of positions similar in specialized line of work but differing in difficulty or responsibility of work, or qualifications requirements and, therefore, differing in grade and pay range. For each series there is a specific position title.
The Handbook of Occupational Groups and Series provides a complete listing of all series and position titles. Click HERE to access the handbook.
Grade:
Grade is defined as a level of work or range of difficulty, responsibility and qualification requirements. The grade on a vacancy announcement will ordinarily be between 1 and 15.
You will see the grade entered either as a single grade (e.g., 7) or as a multiple grade (e.g., 5/7/9).
The single grade entry means that the position being filled through the vacancy announcement is only filled at one grade level, but may have a higher promotional potential.
The multiple grade level entry indicates several key meanings for which you need to understand. These are:
- The grade entry of 5/7/9 indicates that an applicant may be selected to fill the position at any of the indicated grades.
- A separate application may be required to be submitted for each grade level that you want to be considered for. For example, if the position is advertised as a 5/7/9 you may have to submit 3 separate application; one for each grade level. If you have a question please notify the Personnel Office issuing the vacancy announcement to clarify this requirement.
- The grade entry of 5/7/9 indicates that the position is probably under a Career Ladder Promotion process. A career ladder is a series of positions of increasing difficulty in the same line of work through which an employee may progress from the entrance levels to the first level of full performance and the employee is given grade-building experience and promoted as he/she demonstrates the ability to perform at the next higher level.
Salary Range:
There are a few definitions that will help you in determining the salary range. They are:
- STEP - The step of the pay plan under which an employee is paid. The GS Pay Plan has ten steps for each grade. The lowest step is 1 and the highest step is ten. This is the reason for the range of salary for a specific grade level (e.g., GS-3 - $19,079 to $23,849 indicates a Step 1 salary of $19,079 (minimum) and the Step 10 salary of $23,848 (maximum)).
- LOCALITY PAY - This is a locality-based comparability payment. It is based upon the geograpical locality of the position and is added to the base salary.
All grades (GS 1 through 15) begin at Step 1 and can be increased to the maximum Step 10. Clerical rates apply for the following: series 0312, Clerk Steno; series 0322, Clerk Typist; series 0326, Office Automation Clerk; series 0356, Data Transcriber; and any series with the (Data Transcribe), (Ofc Automation), (Stenography) and (Typing) following the series title.
To view a listing of the GS-1 through GS-15, Step 1 salaries please click HERE.
To view a complete listing of Government salaries please click
HERE.
Evaluation Factors:
The knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) necessary for the successful performance of a position are contained on each job vacancy announcement. It is IMPORTANT to know that KSA's are ordinarily referred to on vacancy announcements as:
- Evaluation Factors,
- Rating Factors,
- Quality Ranking Factors,
- Knowledge, Abilities, skills and Other Characteristics, or
- Job Elements.
How important is it to address the KSA's when applying for a job vacancy? Consider this definition of KSA's previously referenced in the "The Federal Personnel Manual":
"The factors that identify the better candidates from a group of persons basically qualified for a position."
The ranking of job candidates is primarily derived from the scores received during the ranking process. The scores are computed based upon the information obtained from the KSA's.
For more detailed examples on writing KSA's just click on one of the below topics.
- Steps to Success
- A Framework To Follow
- Task Examples
Duty Station:
This is the city, county and State in which you will be working. In most cases, this will be the actual location where you will normally perform your work.
In cases where there is no fixed work site, the duty station is determined by the employing agency. For example:
- The duty station for an investigator who works in the field may be the location of the office from which assignments are normally made.
- The duty station for an inspector, whose duties may require him/her to be on-site at many places, may be his/her home.
Agencies will also designate the duty stations of employees who work at installations, such as military bases, whose boundaries cross county or state lines.
Noncompetitive Status Persons:
A "Noncompetitive Status Persons" is an applicant that is eligible to submit an application for a competive (Status) vacancy announcement based upon their eligibility in one of the Excepted Appointment Authorities.
Excepted Appointment Authorities:
The most common Excepted Appointment Authorities (non-competitive categories) are identified below:
- Veterans Readjustment Appointments (VRA)
- 30% Disabled Veterans
- Former Peace Corps or VISTA Volunteers
- Physically Handicapped or Mentally Retarded
- Outstanding Scholars Program
Qualification Requirements:
RULE OF THUMB: YOU RECEIVE CREDIT FOR UNPAID EXPERIENCE OR VOLUNTEER WORK SUCH AS COMMUNITY, CULTURAL, SOCIAL SERVICE AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION ACTIVITIES ON THE SAME BASIS AS FOR PAID EXPERIENCE!
General Experience
General Experience is usually required at grade levels where the knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of a specific position are not a prerequisite, but where applicants must have demonstrated the ability to acquire a particular knowledge and skills.
The description of qualifying general experience will vary in its degree of specificity from one series to another. For some occupational series, any progressively responsible work experience may be qualifying. Others may require experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupational series.
For example, an entry level medical technician position may require general experience that provided a basic knowledge of the procedures and equipment in a chemical or clinical laboratory.
Specialized Experience
Specialized experience is typically required for positions above the entry level where applicants must have demonstrated that they posses the ability to perform successfully the duties of the position after a normal orientation period. Specialized experience is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled.
Many qualification standards describe specialized experience as experience "related to the work of the position." This is to allow agencies to pinpoint the specific requirements in the vacancy announcement for their positions.
For example, to meet the specialized experience requirements for a medical technicial position, the applicant would likely be required to have a specific level of experience performing duties such as preparing culture media and stains and performing certain laboratory tests.
Below is a listing of tables which will provide you with minimum general, specialized and educational requirements for each of the four pimary categories of positions for which you will normally apply.
- Qualification Requirements Pattern For Administrative, Management and Specialist Positions
- Additional Experience and Education Requirements for GS-7 and Above Professional Positions
- Qualification Requirements Pattern for Technical and Program Support Positions
- Clerical and Administrative Support Positions
Organizational/Geographic:
This item provides information such as the agency, division within the agency, and, often times, the actual office where the position is located. This item can also include the actual address of the position, e.g., city, state, zip code.
Position Duties and Responsibilities:
RULE OF THUMB: AS YOU PREPARE YOUR KSAs, MAKE SURE YOU COMPARE THE RANKING FACTORS AND YOUR EXPERIENCES AND EDUCATION TO THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES CONTAINED IN THIS SECTION!
This section describes both the duties and responsibilities of the position being advertised. It may also provide information on the work unit, a brief description of the work unit's mission and other general information about the position.
Conditions of Employment:
This section identifies specific requirements for the position announced. Such items can include:
- Requires a security clearance.
- Subject to frequent overtime.
- Requires a medical examination.
- Subject to frequent travel.
- Subject to financial disclosure requirements.
- Requires a valid drivers license.
- Subject to geographic mobility.
- Requires a supervisory/managerial probationary period if the requirement has not been met.
- Subject to drug test prior to appointment.
Method of Evaluation:
This section describes information on how the applications will be evaluated. It may provide such information as:
- How applicants will be ranked to determine the best qualified,
- How the most important Ranking Factors are identified,
- Specific responsibilities of the applicant to provide information,
- Whether or not previous supervisors will be contacted, and
- How and who will conduct interviews.
How to Apply:
This section provides specifics on what you need to do to apply for the position. It will include such information as:
- The types of applications that will be accepted,
- a description of the various information to be included on the application,
- specific documentation required to be included with your application,
- the specific address to send your application to,
- the cut-off date for receipt of the application, and
- a point of contact to obtain additional information regarding the vacancy announcement.
Additional Information to Applicants:
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