Your steps to apply

Program Support Assistant (OA)
Agricultural Research Service · Grand Forks, North Dakota and 1 more · Closes in 9 days

1 Check you can apply
2 Resume and documents
3 Apply on USAJOBS
4 After you apply

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1 Check you can apply You are here

Who can apply: Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL), The public.

The job is open to the public, but you must be a U.S. citizen or U.S. national. Federal employees eligible under CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP get selection priority, and veterans may get veterans' preference.

Experience: For GS-6, you need one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-5, such as routine program and administrative support, preparing travel or project paperwork, or processing financial, procurement, or personnel actions. For GS-7, you need one year comparable to GS-6, working independently on complex support tasks such as coordinating research projects, checking financial or personnel data, and managing documents that require applying judgment. You must also be able to type 40 words per minute.

Education: This job does not have an education requirement.

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.

Resume ready: dates, hours per week, duties Resume with personal information, education, and work experience showing dates, hours per week, job titles, series, and grade, no more than 2 pages DD-214 if you claim veterans' preference Proof of entitlement and optional SF-15 if you claim 10-point veterans' preference Proof of eligibility, SF-50s, and latest performance appraisal if you apply under CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP

3 Apply on USAJOBS

Closes in 9 days (November 12, 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: You will complete an application questionnaire and submit your documents, and you may also take USA Hire online assessments that measure competencies such as attention to detail, customer service, and integrity, and you must meet a cut score. Applicants are placed in Best Qualified, Well Qualified, or Qualified categories, and veterans with preference get priority within those categories. Overstating your experience or cheating on an assessment can get you removed from consideration.

Apply on USAJOBS ↗

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 (Other), then the final offer with your start date.

Tips for this job:

Your resume must list hours per week and exact dates for each job, or it may be incomplete.
Keep your resume to 2 pages or less, because longer resumes are removed from consideration.
Complete the USA Hire assessments before the deadline, and request any accommodation before you start.

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