Your steps to apply
Marine Interdiction Agent
Customs and Border Protection · Location Negotiable After Selection · Closes in 27 days
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1 Check you can apply You are here
Who can apply: Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL), The public.
This job is open to the public, but you must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or someone who owes allegiance to the U.S. Federal employees eligible under career transition programs (CTAP, ICTAP, or RPL) may get priority.
Experience: You need 1 year of specialized experience at least equivalent to the next lower grade level. Qualifying experience includes enforcing laws, making arrests, interviewing suspects, performing surveillance, and collecting evidence. For GS-11, the experience should include leading law enforcement scenes, conducting investigations, and assisting attorneys in court cases. Your resume must clearly show how you meet this requirement.
Education: Education can count instead of experience or together with it. For GS-9, a Master's degree, two full years of graduate education, or a J.D. or LL.B in a related field can qualify. For GS-11, a Ph.D., three full years of graduate education toward that degree, or an LL.M in a related field can qualify. You can also combine education and experience percentages to reach at least 100%. Education must come from an accredited school.
Licenses and certifications:
- Qualifying U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) with OUPV, Mate, Chief Mate, Second Mate, Third Mate, or Master capacity, or an issued MMLD license with unexpired status
- Valid, non-restricted driver's license to operate a government vehicle
Experience can be paid or unpaid, volunteer work included: if it matches the duties, it counts. The full rules are in the announcement.
2 Resume and documents
Write a federal resume for this job. For each job you held, give the month and year you started and ended, your hours per week and what you did, using the words of the experience the announcement asks for. Many announcements accept resumes of up to 2 pages: check this one.
3 Apply on USAJOBS
Closes in 27 days (November 30, until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time).
You sign in to USAJOBS with a Login.gov account, answer the questionnaire and upload your documents, then you submit. Answer the questionnaire honestly: your resume must show what you claim.
How they rate you: Your resume and documents are checked for minimum qualifications, then the questionnaire places you in Best Qualified, Well-Qualified, or Qualified. After the polygraph, you must pass three pass/fail assessments: a written exam, a vessel practical, and a structured interview; failing any one removes you from consideration.
4 After you apply
In USAJOBS, under Applications, you can see where your application stands: received, reviewed, referred to the hiring manager or not, then selected or not. It can take a few weeks.
For the interview, prepare three examples with the STAR method: the Situation, the Task, what you did (Action) and the Result.
If they choose you: a tentative offer, then a background check, a security clearance (Secret), then the final offer with your start date.
Tips for this job:
- Your resume must explicitly show your law enforcement experience and dates, or you may be found ineligible.
- Upload a copy of your Merchant Mariner Credential with the expiration and capacity pages, since it is required at application.
- Use MM/DD/YY dates and list hours per week for each job, and keep your resume to two PDF pages.
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