Your steps to apply

Research Agricultural Economist
Economic Research Service · Kansas City, Missouri · Closes in 10 days

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

Sign in to save your progress. Free, with just your email. You can read all the steps without an account.

1 Check you can apply You are here

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

This job is open to the public. Only U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or people who owe allegiance to the U.S. can apply.

Experience: You need one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-11 to qualify at GS-12. This experience must be directly related to the job, such as writing reports, memos, or research papers in economics, statistics, or public policy, or doing microeconomic research and collecting data to test economic ideas.

Education: You can qualify with a degree in economics that included at least 21 semester hours of economics and 3 semester hours of statistics, accounting, or calculus. You can also combine coursework equal to an economics major with extra experience or education. A Ph.D. in economics, agricultural economics, applied economics, or a related doctoral field can also qualify you, alone or with specialized experience.

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 of no more than 2 pages with name, address, and contact information Resume showing education, and work experience with duties, dates, hours per week, title, series, and grade Unofficial college transcripts if you use education to qualify (official transcripts are needed before starting) Proof of accreditation if any education was completed at a foreign school Proof of CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligibility if you claim that priority DD-214 if you claim veterans' preference (preference does not apply to this job, but documents are encouraged)

3 Apply on USAJOBS

Closes in 10 days (November 13, 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: Applicants are not rated numerically, and veterans' preference does not apply. Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are placed in the Eligible category, based on the resume, the online Assessment Questionnaire, and any required assessments. The announcement lists competencies such as attention to detail, decision making, reading comprehension, and teamwork.

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:

Make sure your resume shows the hours per week and exact dates for each job, and keep it to 2 pages or less.
Your resume must clearly show the experience you list in your questionnaire answers, or your score may drop.
If you use a degree from a foreign school, include proof that it is accredited by a recognized body.

Kandidatu is an independent website: only the official posting counts. Read it before you apply.