Minimum Qualifications for Public Affairs Specialist.
In order to qualify, you must meet the specialized experience requirements described below. 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). Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience.
GG-12 Specialized Experience: The definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level in the federal service (GS/GG-11) or pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector.
Examples of Specialized Experience: communicating principles, methods, practices, and analytical methods to identify public affairs interests of an organization; establishing and nurturing effective communication with a wide variety of stakeholders; applying knowledge of social media etiquette, activities, and platforms in order to develop and maintain an organizations social media plan and presence; creating and posting social media content and reviewing and editing draft social media posts submitted by other staff; developing informational literature used by an organization or agency in its public affairs activities; obtaining and analyzing a constant flow of information; applying expert written and spoken communication skills to effectively interact with stakeholders, agency staff, and government officials; writing communications sufficient to compose technical reports and correspondence; speaking publicly in-person and online to deliver presentations and participate in interviews; photographing events, personnel, activities, and projects; and researching documents, historical files, and communications such as text and email to gather qualitative and quantitative information.
GG-11 Specialized Experience: The definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level in the federal service (GS/GG-09) or pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector.
Examples of Specialized Experience are similar to those listed above for the GG-12 but with less responsibilities and closer supervision.
Special Factors. The following factors are agency unique for the Delegated Examining Office (DEO) to use in its evaluation. A Special Placement Factor (SPF) is a specific qualification an applicant
MUST possess to successfully perform in a position. A Quality Ranking Factor (QRF) is a specific qualification an applicant
MAY possess that would enhance performance in a position.
QRF: Possess the ability to converse in Spanish sufficient to communicate with representatives of the Mexican government, members of the public, and representatives of the news media.
QRF: Posses the ability to read and interpret Spanish sufficient to understand written articles in the Spanish language.
QRF: Skill in graphics design to generate newsletters and informational brochures.
For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website:
http://www.opm.gov/qualifications
Part-Time or Unpaid Experience: Credit will be given for appropriate unpaid work on the same basis as for paid experience. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. To receive credit for such experience you must indicate clearly the nature of the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the number of hours per week spent in such employment.
Time in Grade (TIG): Current and former Federal employees must have a minimum of 52 weeks at the next lower grade level to be eligible under Merit Promotion procedures. An SF-50 must be provided that verifies eligibility as stated in the Area of Consideration section.
Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management web site:
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1100/contracting-series-1102/
Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify.
For this Public Affairs Specialist, GG-1035-11/12 position, you must meet the specialized experience qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.