Vacancy Announcements and Job Listings

Vacancy Announcements and Job Listings


Agencies advertise vacancies with brief statements of job
information called vacancy announcements or even briefer job
listings. Each announcement or listing includes the
job title, occupational series number, grade and pay levels,
application opening and closing dates (the period during which
applications are accepted), number of vacancies, job location,
announcement number, person to contact, phone number, and
agency name. Announcements, which may run a couple of pages,
also spell out specific job duties, both general and special
requirements, and application procedures. They even indicate
how important each required skill is.

There are many places to find announcements and job
listings, although no one place will have every announcement.
Regional OPM offices, Federal Job Information Centers, State
Job Service or Employment Security Offices, and personnel
offices of Federal agencies are all likely to have some
announcements. A more comprehensive list of jobs appears in a
commercially published magazine, Federal Career Opportunities
Listing. It is available at many libraries and at many of the
offices that have the announcements themselves.

Touchscreen and automated computers, available at nearly
all Federal Job Information Centers, also provide vacancy
information. You can search these listings--called Federal Job
Opportunity Listings--by such criteria as occupational series,
job title, or geographic location. The computerized lists are
updated at least monthly. They are available at State
employment service offices and many college placement offices,
as well as through the computers at the Job Information
Centers.



Electronic bulletin boards allow you to download job
listings on your personal computer. OPM's bulletin board is
free (except for the price of the phone call). You can access
it by dialing (912) 757-3100 via a modem. There are also six
OPM regional bulletin boards.

If you have found only a listing and not the announcement
itself, contact the agency advertising the opening, asking that
the announcement be sent to you.

For many vacancies, applicants are given only 1 or 2 weeks
to submit forms. Be advised that the closing date generally is
the day your paperwork must reach the hiring authority, not the
date materials must be postmarked by.


Applying to Agencies


Because not all jobs are listed in any one place, you
should plan to contact agencies on your own. Each agency's
personnel office has the most up-to-date information on its
needs and hiring procedures.

You can start your search with a check of U.S. Government
listings in the blue pages of the phone book. Call the agencies
you think are likely to hire for your occupation. Of course,
not every occupation is employed by every Federal agency. On
the other hand, you might be surprised at the range of jobs
within an agency. For example, you know the Army Corps of
Engineers hires engineers, but it employs many other kinds of
workers as well. Don't assume that all educators work for the
Department of Education or that every librarian is employed by
the Library of Congress. Education majors are employed by the
Departments of Defense, Interior, Justice, Agriculture,
Transportation, and Treasury, among others. Library science
majors work in such offices as the Executive Office of the
President, Government Printing Office, and Patent and Trademark
Office--not to mention the departmental libraries throughout
the Government.

Look over the table beginning on page 18. It gives the
number of workers in different occupations employed by the
largest agencies. These are the places to begin your job hunt
for these positions.

Consider visiting Government offices in person to ask
about openings. In some Federal buildings, you won't be allowed
past the guard desk (though there might be a dropoff box for
applications). But in other offices, especially in smaller
cities, you might get a chance to meet with someone. Each
personal contact you make increases the probability of your
getting hired. After all, often the only way you find out about
a vacancy is if you're in the right place at the right time.

You might also learn about openings for positions other
than the one you're looking for, including clerical and
technical jobs. Don't eliminate these outright just because the
starting salaries are below those usually offered to college
graduates. You may think you're overqualified for some jobs,
but they may be good stepping stones to your desired career.
Mobility is often easier from within, where you learn more
about the agency and have more access to job vacancy
information. Many agencies also offer training programs for
employees, which can help you gain experience and advance to
more responsible positions. Before making a commitment, check
out the situation at the agency you are considering working
for.


Exceptions, Exceptions


Not all occupations require that you get on an OPM
register. In fact, for some occupations, such as those in
public safety, you apply directly to the hiring agencies. OPM
also grants special authority to some agencies that allows them
to hire applicants without prior referral from a register.
These special authorities are called delegated case examining,
shared case examining, and direct hire authority. There are
also excepted positions and agencies that OPM has nothing to do
with.

Delegated case examining permits agencies to advertise,
evaluate, and hire applicants independently of OPM. In shared
case examining, an agency recruits and screens applications
before sending them to OPM for final evaluation; OPM then sends
a list of the best qualified candidates back to the agency, and
the agency makes its selection. Direct hire authority is
similar to delegated case examining but applies only to
occupations for which shortages exist.

Public safety occupations, which include air traffic
controller--deputy U.S. marshal, treasury enforcement agent,
and U.S. park police officer--are filled by delegated
examining. You must apply directly to an agency to take a
written test for one of these occupations. Delegated examining
allows the agencies to develop and give their own tests, as
well as evaluate applicants and set hiring standards. Treasury
enforcement agents, for example, cannot be older than 37 at the
time they are hired. The screening process also includes a
series of interviews, a polygraph test, background
investigation, and drug testing.

Delegated or shared case examining is used to fill most
ACWA group 7 occupations. For public safety and group 7
occupations, there is no national register; evaluation methods
vary by region and agency. Some agencies accept applications
continually and maintain registers to fill openings as they
occur. But most accept applications only when they have
vacancies for these positions.

OPM grants direct hire authority to agencies for hiring in
occupations for which shortages exist. This authority varies by
location, occupation, and agency. To find out which agencies
have the authority for which jobs, contact your nearest OPM
office or Federal Job Information Center. Ask for a list of
agencies that have direct hire authority for your field. You
can then contact the personnel offices of the agencies on the
list to find out about their application procedures. When you
call, ask to speak to someone who handles entry-level hiring in
your field. If no phone numbers are given on the list of
agencies, check the U.S. Government listings in your phone
book's blue pages.

Exceptions to the merit system have been established over
the years by law, executive order, and regulation. OPM is not
involved in any way with the hiring of people for these
occupations and agencies.

The excepted positions include the following:

* Doctors, dentists, and nurses in the Department of
Medicine and Surgery of the Department of Veterans
Affairs,

* Scientists and engineers in the National Science
Foundation,

* Attorneys,

* Chaplains,

* Teachers and many other workers overseas,

* Drug enforcement agents doing undercover work,

* Part-time workers in isolated areas,

* Many seasonal workers.

The excepted agencies include such large, well known ones
as the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and Tennessee Valley Authority, as well as
several lesser known or smaller agencies. In some agencies,
certain occupations are excepted, such as health occupations in
the Department of Veterans Affairs and foreign service
occupations in the Department of State. Excepted agencies set
their own hiring procedures. The names and addresses of some
excepted agencies are listed in the "For More Information"
section at the end of this article.