Your steps to apply
Special Agent (Lateral)
U.S. Capitol Police · Washington, District of Columbia · Closes in 27 days
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.
Only U.S. citizens, nationals, or people who owe allegiance to the U.S. can apply. You must be a current law enforcement officer employed outside the U.S. Capitol Police; current USCP employees are not eligible.
Experience: You need 9 months of law enforcement experience after your training at the time you apply, and 52 weeks of law enforcement experience by the time you are appointed. The announcement does not list a grade level for this experience.
Education: A high school diploma or GED is required. You must also have completed the FLETC Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP) or an equivalent program from the FBI, DEA, or U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Licenses and certifications:
- Valid REAL ID U.S. driver's license, not revoked or suspended in the past year
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 online application and assessment questionnaire are reviewed first. Qualified applicants then go through pre-employment screening, psychological, medical and polygraph exams, and a full background investigation; failing any part leads to disqualification, and deliberate misstatements or omissions can also disqualify you.
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:
- Include your FLETC CITP certificate or transcript with your application, since the announcement says it must be included.
- Upload all required documents and submit the full package by 11:59 PM ET on the closing date.
- Answer every question honestly and completely, because omissions or misstatements at any stage can lead to disqualification.
Kandidatu is an independent website: only the official posting counts. Read it before you apply.