Your steps to apply
Public Affairs Specialist
Offices, Boards and Divisions · Washington, District of Columbia · Closes in 2 days
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1 Check you can apply You are here
Who can apply: The public, Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL).
Open to U.S. citizens, nationals, and people who owe allegiance to the U.S. Veterans' preference applies. Federal employees who qualify under CTAP or ICTAP (career transition programs) get selection priority if they are rated well-qualified or better.
Experience: For GS-11, you need one year of specialized experience at the GS-9 level or equivalent in federal service. This includes planning or managing public relations programs, researching media inquiries, and drafting news releases or talking points. For GS-12, you need one year of specialized experience at the GS-11 level, including advising managers on public affairs, representing an organization in media interviews or press conferences, and responding to news media inquiries.
Education: A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, 3 full years of graduate study toward one, or an LL.M. in a field that shows the needed knowledge and skills. You can also combine education and experience, but the combined total must reach 100%. Education must come from an accredited school, and foreign education needs proof that it is equivalent to a U.S. degree.
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 2 days (November 5, 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 application is checked against the job qualifications using your resume and questionnaire answers, then rated with a USA Hire online assessment. Applicants are placed in Best Qualified, Highly Qualified, or Qualified groups, and veterans' preference eligibles get priority within each group. If your self-ratings are higher than your resume supports, your score may be lowered or you may be removed 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, then the final offer with your start date.
Tips for this job:
- Your resume must show month and year dates, hours per week if part-time, and specific duties that match the experience requirements.
- Check your email, including spam and junk folders, for the USA Hire notice and start the assessment within 48 hours.
- If you claim veterans' preference, upload your DD-214 or armed forces certification letter, since this is easy to forget.
Kandidatu is an independent website: only the official posting counts. Read it before you apply.