Your steps to apply

Security Specialist
Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia · Closes in 9 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.

The job is open to the public, but only U.S. citizens, nationals, or people who owe allegiance to the U.S. may apply. Veterans' preference applies to eligible veterans, who must submit documents proving their eligibility with the application.

Experience: Your resume must show experience at the quality level of a GG-15 senior role (equal to GS-15) in security program work. Examples include extensive knowledge of Special Access Program, industrial, and personnel security policies, and developing and evaluating security programs for classified missions. Military, private sector, and other government experience can count, as can unpaid or part-time work.

Education: The announcement does not list a specific degree. If you use education to qualify, only degrees from accredited schools count, and you must send transcripts.

Licenses and certifications:

Department of Defense Security Fundamentals Professional Certification (SFPC), earned within 2 years of starting the job
Valid driver's license

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, no more than two pages, with font size 10 or larger, showing hours per week and month/year dates for each job Full name on your resume and on all submitted documents Completed online application questionnaire Transcripts if you qualify through education, and any required license or registration copies SF-50 showing your most recent federal appointment, if you are a current or former federal employee Documents proving veterans' preference eligibility, if you claim it Optional: performance appraisals and award lists from the last 3 years for current federal employees

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: Your application package, including your resume, documents, and questionnaire answers, is used to rate you on knowledge, skills, and abilities such as Special Access Program security policy and working with senior officials. If your documents do not support your questionnaire answers, you may be rated not qualified or insufficient information and 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 (Sensitive Compartmented Information), then the final offer with your start date.

Tips for this job:

Your resume must list hours per week and month/year dates for every job, or your application may be marked insufficient.
Keep your resume to two pages or less and include your full name, since longer resumes are removed from consideration.
Make sure your questionnaire answers match your resume and documents, because mismatches can lead to a not qualified rating.

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