Clarification from the agency

Recent Graduates. All United States citizens. Applicants who can be appointed to a job within 2 years of receiving their college degree or certificate. Veterans (precluded from applying due to military service) must be appointed within 6 years of receiving their degree or certificate.

In this position as a Management and Program Analyst GS 0343 7/9, your typical work assignments may include the following under supervision:

• Assisting with the planning and conducts studies of major headquarters or field activity functions and provides assistance to headquarters and field offices.
• Supporting the development and evaluation of policies in assigned program areas.
• Assisting in the resolution of complex program issues and communicating solutions or answers.

Conditions of employment

• U. S. Citizenship Required
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service
• You must successfully pass a background investigation
• The vacancies filled through these appointments have varying levels of background investigative requirements, up to a Top Secret/SCI.
• You must submit to a pre-employment drug test
• You must be 16 years of age or older to apply
• Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.
• This position requires the selectee to sign a Recent Graduates Participant Agreement, which outlines the work schedule, intern responsibilities, work assignments, and program requirements.
• You will be required to complete at least 40 hours of formal interactive training every year that advances the goals and competencies outlined in your established Individual Development Plan (IDP).
• This program requires you to identify a mentor outside of your assigned chain of command within 90 days of your initial appointment date and to collaborate with the mentor throughout the program.
• You will be required to complete and sign a Individual Development Plan (IDP) within 45 days of your initial appointment date.
• Applicants tentatively selected for this position will be required to submit to a drug test to screen for illegal drug use. A final offer of employment is contingent upon a negative drug test result.
• You will be required to serve a trial period for the duration of the Recent Graduates appointment.
• The Pathways Program requires the incumbent to submit official or unofficial transcripts with your application and provide official transcripts prior to entrance-on-duty (EOD).
• As required by Executive Order 14043, Federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee's duty location or work arrangement (e.g., telework, remote work) subject to such exceptions as required by law.
• If selected, you will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination, or have submitted a religious or medical exemption by the Department, before appointment or onboarding.

Qualifications

ELIGIBILITY FOR PATHWAYS RECENT GRADUATE PROGRAM:
To be eligible for this position, you must be a recent graduate from a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate program from a qualifying educational institution within 2 years of the closing date of the announcement.
Veterans unable to apply within two years of receiving their degree, due to military service obligation, have as much as six years after degree completion to apply.

NOTE: Qualifying educational institution means--

(1) A public high school whose curriculum has been approved by a State or local governing body, a private high school that provides secondary education as determined under State law, or a homeschool that is allowed to operate in a State; and

(2) Any of the following educational institutions or curricula that have been accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education:

(i) A technical or vocational school;
(ii) A 2-year or 4-year college or university;
(iii) A graduate or professional school (e.g., law school, medical school); or
(iv) A post-secondary homeschool curriculum.

After Program completion, Department of Homeland Security Recent Graduates may be converted to a permanent TERM or Career-Conditional position. To be eligible for conversion to a permanent or term position, Recent Graduates must:

• Successfully completed at least 1-year of continuous service in addition to all requirements of the Program.
• Demonstrate successful job performance.
• Meet the Office of Personnel Management's qualifications for the position to which the Recent Graduate may be converted. To learn more, please visit: http://www.opm.gov/HiringReform/Pathways/program/graduates/.

Recent Graduates hired through this announcement are eligible to convert into positions up to the Full Performance of GS-11.

Specialized Experience:

You qualify for the GS-07 grade level if you possess one of the following:
A. One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in Federal service or equivalent performing duties such as 1. Performing administrative assignments, operations, and procedures in support of an organization; 2. Developing and presenting written and oral reports that provide conclusions, alternatives, and recommendations; and 3. Assisting with the management and/or coordination of projects involving
the use of specialized complicated techniques., that demonstrates the ability to ; OR
B. One full year of graduate level education at an accredited or pre-accredited college or university; One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours that your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study. OR
C. A combination of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience as described above. This will be calculated using your resume and unofficial transcripts or a list of courses/course hours submitted with your application; OR
D. A bachelor's degree with superior academic achievement, which is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership:
(1) Class standing - Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses.
(2) Grade-point average (GPA.) - Applicants must have a grade-point average of:
3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or
3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.
(3) Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society -- Applicants can be considered eligible based on membership in one of the national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (external link). Membership in a freshman honor society cannot be used to meet the requirements of this provision.

You qualify at the GS-09 grade level if you possess one of the following:
A. One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in Federal service or equivalent performing duties such as 1. Applying analytical and evaluative techniques to identify and resolve issues and/or problems of a procedural or factual nature; 2. Conducting interviews with supervisors, employees and other stakeholders to obtain information about organizational missions, functions, and work procedures; 3. Performing analytical studies and projects related to management improvement, productivity improvement and management controls; OR
B. A Master's or equivalent graduate degree; Two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; (or an LL.B. or J.D., if related. Admin and Mgmt positions only); OR
C. A Combination of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience as described above. This will be calculated using your resume and unofficial transcripts or a list of courses/course hours submitted with your application. NOTE: Only graduate education in excess of the first year may be used to qualify for the GS-09 level.

All qualifications and eligibility requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

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). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Time-in-grade
Current General Schedule (GS) federal employees, and those that have served in GS positions within the last 52 weeks, must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade, or a combination of the next lower grade level and an equivalent band in the federal service by the closing of this announcement.

Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Suggested How You Will Be Evaluated Language: Unranked Order
We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the minimum qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, we will refer your application in the following order: [Select "Preference Status" or "Reemployment/Regular List Status"]
Preference Status (NOTE: within each category, applicants from the reemployment list will be placed ahead of applicants from the regular employment list)

1. Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more
2. Other 10-point preference eligibles
3. 5-point preference eligibles
4. Non-preference eligibles

Reemployment/Regular List Status - all applicants on the reemployment list are considered before applicants on the regular employment list. On each list, preference eligibles having a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more are considered first, followed, second, by other 10-point preference eligibles, third by 5-point preference eligibles, and last, by non-preference eligibles.

Application of Veterans' Preference: Category rating and selection procedures place those with veterans' preference above non-veterans within each category. Veterans who show proof they meet the eligibility and qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 level or higher.