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The following information is intended to assist you in understanding DOL job opportunity announcements (JOAs). This list is not exhaustive, but it should provide you with a helpful overview of common hiring terms. Please refer to the text of a specific JOA to determine which of the following categories and referenced Web sites are applicable. Before you take the time to start the application process, please review a JOA very carefully. If you have questions, contact the designated human resources professional listed in the JOA.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| All U.S. Citizens | This means the announcement is open to everyone in the public who wishes to apply and is a United States (U.S.) citizen/national. |
| Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) | This program offers surplus and displaced federal employees priority for jobs within the agency from which they have separated or are separating. For more information, please visit OPM’s Workforce Restructuring Career Transition page. If you have never been a federal employee, you are not eligible to apply under CTAP. |
| Competencies | A competency is a measurable pattern of knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors and other characteristics that an individual needs in order to perform work roles or occupational functions successfully |
| Competitive Service versus Excepted Service | There are two classes of non-executive positions in the federal government: 1) those that are in the competitive civil service, and 2) those that are in the excepted service. Competitive service positions are subject to the civil service laws passed by Congress. Excepted service positions are not subject to the same appointment procedures of the competitive service. |
| Delegated Examining | Delegated examining (external, public announcements) is a hiring authority used to fill competitive service jobs with:
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| Direct Hire Authority | A hiring authority used to fill permanent or non-permanent positions in the competitive service at a GS-15 (or equivalent) and below, if OPM determines that there is either a severe shortage of candidates or a critical hiring need for such positions. Vacancies filled under this authority must be advertised via public notice; however, veterans’ preference, rule of three, rating and ranking procedures do not apply (i.e., appointments may be made without regard to title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.) §§ 3309-3318). |
| Hiring Authority for Individuals with Disabilities | The federal government has a special appointing authority (Schedule A) for persons with disabilities. You are eligible for Schedule A if you are a person with a severe physical disability, a psychiatric disability, or an intellectual disability. If you meet the requirements listed below, you could obtain a position without competing with other applicants. To prove you are eligible to be non-competitively appointed to a federal job under Schedule A, you must:
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| Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) | This program offers displaced federal employees priority for jobs in federal agencies other than the agency from which they separated. For more information, please visit OPM’s Workforce Restructuring Career Transition page. If you have never been a federal employee, you are not eligible to apply under ICTAP. |
| Interchange Agreements | Allow certain current federal employees serving on excepted service appointments the opportunity to apply under merit promotion (internal) application procedures. For more information, please visit OPM’s Hiring Authorities: Interchange Agreements with Other Merit Systems page. |
| Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) | Are competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors and other characteristics) that you need to have to successfully perform a particular job. Demonstrated possession of these competencies, or KSAs, in your application is used to assess and select candidates for a job. |
| Merit Promotion Hiring Authority | Merit promotion announcements, or those open to ‘status’ candidates, typically target current or former federal civilian employees who hold or held a non-temporary appointment:
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| Peace Corps | Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who have successfully completed their service are granted one year of eligibility for federal appointments. Proof of eligibility must be submitted. For more information, please visit the Peace Corps’ Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Frequently Asked Questions page. |
| Reinstatement | If you held a federal career or career-conditional appointment sometime in the past, you may be eligible for reinstatement. |
| Selective Placement Factor | There are some positions where specific qualifications are absolutely required because a person cannot perform successfully in the position without such qualifications. These qualifications may include specific knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) or federal or state licenses or certifications. |
| Specialized Experience | A description of the required knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that you must possess to perform the work of a position. DOL explains specialized experience in the qualifications section of the job announcement. |
| Status Candidates | Status candidates, or those with competitive status, refer to those individuals who are current or former federal civilian employees who hold or held non-temporary appointments in the competitive service, not the excepted service. |
| Time-in-Grade | Only applies to current or former federal competitive service employees applying for a job under merit promotion procedures. Generally, an employee may not be promoted more than two grades within one year to positions up to the GS-05 grade level. Above the GS-05 grade level, an employee must serve a minimum of one year in a particular grade, and cannot be promoted more than one grade or two grades, per year. Time-in-grade requirements are intended to prevent excessively rapid promotions in the General Schedule. |
| Veterans’ Preference | Gives eligible veterans preference in appointment over many other applicants. Veterans’ preference does not guarantee veterans a job, and it does not apply to internal agency actions such as promotions, transfers, reassignments, and reinstatements. Veterans’ preference can be confusing. Not all veterans are considered eligible for preference for the purpose of federal civilian employment, and not all active duty service counts towards veterans’ preference. Only veterans discharged or released from active duty in the Armed Forces under honorable conditions are eligible for veterans’ preference. This means you must have been discharged under an honorable or general discharge. If you are a “retired member of the Armed Forces,” you are not included in the definition of preference eligible unless you are a disabled veteran, OR you retired below the rank of major or its equivalent. There are basically two types of preference eligibles: disabled (10-point preference eligible) and non-disabled (5-point preference eligibles). For detailed information or to see if you qualify, please visit the Department of Labor’s Veterans Preference Advisor. |
| Veterans’ Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) | VEOA is a competitive service appointing authority that allows eligible veterans to apply for positions announced under merit promotion procedures when the agency is recruiting from outside its own work force. To be eligible for a VEOA appointment, your latest discharge must be issued under honorable conditions (this means an honorable or general discharge), AND you must be either:
Additionally, veterans claiming 10-point veterans’ preference will need an Application for 10-point Veteran Preference, SF-15, and applicable supporting documents, as noted on the form. If applying based on eligibility under the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act, you must submit certification from the armed forces that you will be discharged or released from active duty within 120 days from the date on the certification. This must indicate your dates of service, your rank, and confirm that you will be separated under honorable conditions. For more information on veterans’ preference, please visit the Feds Hire Vets website or the Department of Labor Veterans’ Preference Advisor page. |
| VISTA Volunteers | AmeriCorps VISTA is the national service program designed specifically to fight poverty. VISTA members commit to serve full-time for a year at a nonprofit organization or local government agency. Returned Vista volunteers who have satisfactorily completed a full year of service have eligibility for federal jobs for up to one year. This one year of non-competitive eligibility begins the first day after you complete your full year of VISTA service. To establish your non-competitive status, you will need VISTA certification as proof of eligibility. For more information, please visit the Corporation for National and Community Services AmeriCorps and Your Career page. |
| 30% or More Disabled Veterans’ Appointing Authority | Allows any veteran with a 30% or more service-connected disability to be non-competitively appointed. You are eligible if you:
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| Veterans’ Recruitment Appointment (VRA) Authority | An excepted service authority that allows agencies to appoint eligible veterans without competition to positions at any grade level up to and including the GS-11 grade level or equivalent. You are eligible if you separated from the Armed Forces under honorable conditions (this means an honorable or general discharge) and:
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