Next is the agency contact information. Again, this not of the utmost importance at this juncture, but is good to have in the case of the need to appeal an eligibility or hiring decision. The location of the position is also listed, and this is important because as you will see, getting to said dream job in Hawaii may not be as easy as it seems when you currently reside in New Hampshire. Below the work schedule is the most important bit of information on the announcement – the opening and closing dates.
If I need to tell you that applying to a position that has already closed is a waste of time, then stop reading right now and go sit in the corner and don’t come out until I feel like dealing with you. Now, it must be said that there are some jobs that are open on a constant or long term basis – meaning that the job is crucial but hard to fill, is a temporary or term position, etc. Those jobs are ones that you usually apply to only once, and if you are found to be qualified, your name is placed on a certificate of eligibles (more on that later) and as the need to fill the job comes up, they go down the list and make calls for interviews. What about veteran’s preference, you ask? Well hold on, GI Joe/GI Jane, that will be discussed at a later time. Get back in formation.
Having said all of that, just like with anything else (except in certain, uh personal moments), it is best to be early when applying to these jobs. There is no set amount of time that announcements will be open, but the standard is usually 7 calendar days. Depending on the type of job, the historical popularity of the position (meaning a ton of people apply) and hiring manager preference, it could be open for as little as three days. However long it is open, make sure that you get your application in early and well before the closing date/time. Announcements open at (approximately) 12:01 AM on the date noted and close at 1159 on the closing date noted. On rare occasions, recruiters will accept applications/documents after the closing date, but only with valid reasoning.
Rounding out the top portion of the announcement are the Salary Range, Series/Grade, Promotion Potential, Supervisory Status, Who May Apply (WMA), Control Number and Job Announcement Number. In no particular order, the series and grade for the job will be important because it will determine an aspect of your eligibility for the position. We talked about the who may apply, but it goes deeper than that. At its base, if the announcement says “All US Citizens,” then literally ANYONE is able to apply (in reality anyone can apply for any announcement regardless of what it says.) Whether or not you qualify is a different story.
So here is a good time to address an issue that I see come up a lot. Sometimes the WMA will say something like “All US Citizens in the Washington DC (or Newport, Rhode Island, etc.) Commuting Area.” What this means is that while anyone may apply, only those folks within the accepted commuting area will be accepted. The general rule is a 50-mile radius from the location of the job position, and that distance can be either from your home or work address. It is at the discretion of the recruiter, but we tend to give the person the benefit of the doubt if it’s within 3-5 miles. Some applicants like to appeal this if they are found not eligible because of being “outside the area of consideration” but most accept it. Outside of a physical location, applications might be limited to DoD, the intel community, vets, students or any of the combinations that the hiring manager decides on (and is legally allowed to.) Lastly, the control number and job announcement number are important for both tracking the application progress and or providing information when filing an appeal.
Now that we have walked through the initial information found in the top half of the announcement, in the next segment we will discuss the details provided such as the job summary, duties, requirements, and the all-important specialized experience. It seems like a long and tedious process but hang in there – we will be hitting “Send” before you know it.
Featured image courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures.
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