Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities.
- 30 Percent or More Disabled Veterans
- Current Civilian Employees of the Organization
- Current Department of Army Civilian Employees
- Current Permanent Department of Defense (DOD) Civilian Employee (non-Army)
- Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan
- Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer
- Priority Placement Program (PPP), Program S (Military Spouse) registrant
- Re-employed Annuitant
- Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998
In order to qualify, you must meet the Education and Experience requirements described below. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.
Basic Requirement for a Research Psychologist:
Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) with a major or equivalent in psychology.
In addition to meeting the basic requirements above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:
Experience required: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
To qualify based on your experience, your resume must describe at least one year of experience which prepared you to do the work in this job.
Specialized experience at the GS-12 is defined as: experience conducting research (e.g., hypothesis development, research design, data collection, statistical analysis of data, or report writing) in relevant areas of the behavioral and social sciences (e.g., personnel, training, leader development, human resources, and human relations). This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-11).
Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For the GS-12 job, you may qualify if your education meets the definitions below:
Education Substitution for Specialized Experience for GS-12: Successful completion of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree directly related to the position.
Combination of Experience and Education Substitution for Specialized Experience for GS-12: If you have some, but not all, of the experience or education described above, you may still qualify by combining the amount of creditable experience and education that you possess. To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education in excess of 36 hours (total semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% to qualify.
Specialized experience at the GS-13 is defined as: executing and managing research (e.g., identifying and describing researchable problems and requirements, developing plans and integrating other personnel into a research team, or preparing detailed research plans or statements of work as required by regulations and policies) in relevant areas of the behavioral and social sciences (e.g., personnel, training, leader development, human resources, and human relations). This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-12).
You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:
- Psychology
- Reasoning
- Research
Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-11/12).