Qualifications
Your resume and supporting documentation must support:
A. Basic Requirement:
- Degree: Professional engineering. To be acceptable, the curriculum must be: (1) in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology as a professional engineering curriculum or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: statics, dynamics; strength of materials; fluid mechanics, hydraulics; thermodynamics; electrical fields and circuits; nature and properties of materials; and any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics. OR
- Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying professional engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:
- Professional registration - Current registration as a professional engineer by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under 3 this standard, those who achieved such registration by means other than written test are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.
- Written Test - Evidence of having successfully passed the Engineer-in-Training examination, or the written test required for professional registration, which is administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Applicants who have passed the EIT examination and have completed all the requirements for either (a) a bachelor's degree in engineering technology from an accredited college or university that included 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences, or (b) a BET from a program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology may be rated eligible for certain engineering positions at GS-7. Eligibility is limited to positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of the engineering technology program. Applicants for positions that involve highly technical research, development, or similar functions requiring an advanced level of competence in basic science must meet the basic requirements in paragraph 1. Because of the diversity in kind and quality of BET programs, graduates of other BET programs are required to complete at least 1 year of additional education or highly technical work experience of such nature as to provide reasonable assurance of the possession of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for professional engineering competence. The adequacy of this background must be demonstrated by passing the EIT examination.
- Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included the courses specified in the basic requirements. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described in paragraph A.
- Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field, e.g., physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions.
AND
B. Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is in or related to the work of this position. To qualify at the GS-07 level, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level or equivalent under other pay systems in the Federal service, military or private sector. To qualify at the GS-09 level, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level or equivalent under other pay systems in the Federal service, military or private sector. To qualify at the GS-11 level, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level or equivalent under other pay systems in the Federal service, military, or private sector. To qualify at the GS-12 level, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level or equivalent under other pay systems in the Federal service, military, or private sector. Applicants must meet eligibility requirements including minimum qualifications, and any other regulatory requirements by the cut-off/closing date of the announcement. Applicants who meet the basic requirements described above are fully qualified for the specified entry grade described below with the applicable creditable specialized experience:
GS-07:
- Collecting technical information
- Assisting higher graded engineers in evaluating engineering drawings, blueprints and specifications
- Assisting in a portion of a larger engineering project
GS-09:
- Analyzing technical engineering problems
- Performing and execute specific portions of engineering projects
- Conducting studies and analyses of specific issues or specialty areas within an engineering discipline
- Assisting in the research of engineering issues on a wide variety of mechanical and/or electronic items
GS-11:
- Demonstrating knowledge of engineering concepts, principles and practices
- Demonstrating the ability to analyze and study engineering and technical performance requirements for reliability and maintainability
- Demonstrating the ability to analyze and review test requirements
- Experience involving the design, development, operation, maintenance, and disposal of mechanical and/or electronic devices and systems and their equipment and/or components
- Experience analyzing material properties and/or electronic designs to ensure that mechanical devices and/or electronic controls and systems function safely, reliably, efficiently, and economically
- Analyzing and evaluating engineering change proposals
GS-12:
- Serving as a project manager on engineering/value management documentation projects
- Performing extensive design, manufacturing analysis
- Direct experience with testing and evaluation of a variety of mechanical and/or electronic components
- Applying knowledge of the concepts and practices associated with all aspects of the technical design and development process utilizing drawings of mechanical and/or electronic components
- Applying scientific principles, theories, methods, and processes used to conduct a systematic and objective inquiry, including collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, and reporting of results
- Applying an understanding of the principles, methods, and tools of quality assurance, quality control, process improvement, and reliability used to ensure that a mechanical and/or electronic component, project, or system meets technical requirements and standards.
Education
Continued from Qualifications:
C. Education Substitution: Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Education must be from a college or university accredited by an organization approved by the U.S. Department of Education. See 5 http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx. If using education to meet basic qualifications, YOU MUST SUBMIT A TRANSCRIPT as supplemental documentation.To qualify based on education in lieu of specialized experience, you must possess:
- GS-07: One year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement.
- GS-09: Two years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree.
- GS-11: Three years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.
- GS-12: Education cannot be substituted for specialized experience at this grade level.
D. Combination: Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for grade levels GS-07/ GS-09 and GS-11 and may be computed by first determining the applicants total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grade GS-07, GS-09 and GS-11.
E. Additional Experience and Training Provisions for Graduates of Engineering Programs: a) Superior academic achievement at the baccalaureate level in an engineering program is qualifying for GS-7; b) A combination of superior academic achievement and 1 year of appropriate professional experience is qualifying at GS-9; c) Applicants with an engineering bachelor's degree who have appropriate experience as a technician equivalent to grade GS-7 or higher may have such experience credited for grade GS-9 only on a month-for-month basis up to a maximum of 12 months; d) Successful completion of a 5-year program of study of at least 160 semester hours leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering is qualifying at GS-7. Completion of such a program and 1 year of appropriate professional experience is qualifying at grade GS-9
Education must be from an accredited college recognized by the Secretary, U.S. Department of Education. If using education completed outside the U.S., it must be submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. YOU MUST SUBMIT TRANSCRIPTS. Failure to submit transcripts will result in a rating of ineligible.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Are you using your education to qualify? You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: Unofficial transcripts are acceptable at time of application.
GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours that your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.
FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.