Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website:
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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.
Education
Applicants must meet the following Basic Requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Qualifications Standards Manual: Applicants must possess
Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 or equivalent and above):
Examples of qualifying specialized experience include technical work in: drafting, surveying construction estimating, physical science, mathematics, aerospace, architecture, chemicals, electrical or mechanical systems, mining, petroleum, or nuclear systems.
Experience in a trade or craft may be credited as specialized experience when the work provided intensive knowledge of engineering principles, techniques, methods, and precedents. Examples are trade positions with substantial developmental, test, or design responsibilities such as:
- Planner and estimator who analyzed designs for production purposes.
- Instrument maker or model maker who performed design or development work on devices fabricated.
or
Education and Training:
For positions at GS-3 (or equivalent):
Successful completion of l year of post secondary study that included at least 6 semester hours in any combination of courses such as engineering, engineering or industrial technology, construction, physics, drafting, surveying, physical science, or mathematics.
For positions at GS-4 (or equivalent):
Successful completion of 2 years of post secondary study that included at least 12 semester hours in any combination of courses such as those shown above for GS-3 (or equivalent). At least 3 of the 12 semester hours must have been in drafting if the position has been designated by a drafting area of specialization.
For positions at GS-5 (or equivalent):
Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree (a) with major study in an appropriate field of engineering, construction, or industrial technology; or (b) that included at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as those shown above for GS-3 (or equivalent). At least 6 of the 24 semester hours must have been in drafting if the position has been designated by a drafting area of specialization.
Certification:
Engineering technicians may be certified by the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies, an organization sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Certification by the Institute will be helpful as a measure of the technician's quality of experience.