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I'd imagine that being a Passport Specialist is a pretty good lead-in if you ever wanted to be a Consular FSO.
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Jul 17, 2010 08:50
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SWATJester posted:I'd imagine that being a Passport Specialist is a pretty good lead-in if you ever wanted to be a Consular FSO. Yeah, puttin' that in my letter 
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Jul 17, 2010 14:18
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Do you want to get into Law Enforcement? Do you like the desert? Does learning Spanish sound like fun? Border Patrol has opened back up until October for more applications (or if they get 100k applications, whichever comes first) for the position of Border Patrol Agent. This job is for: people who like being outside a lot, enjoy working long hours, want to gain LE experience, etc. A lot of veterans are PAs, and the Patrol is very military friendly. This job is NOT for: people that don't do well in heat, don't really like military style structure and order, and dislike working nights and weekends. This is an opening for the Southwest Border only. If you were a previous applicant and failed the written exam OR are a northern border applicant and wish to switch, read the announcement for details. http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/search.aspx?q=Border+patrol+agent&where=&x=0&y=0&brd=3876&vw=b&FedEmp=N&FedPub=Y Good luck!
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Jul 17, 2010 14:43
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Well sent the application materials. Concerned that my scanned transcript might not make it for whatever reason. Hoping for the best, but not expecting to hear from these people until the end of times.
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Jul 17, 2010 18:37
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Gravel Gravy posted:Well sent the application materials. Concerned that my scanned transcript might not make it for whatever reason. Hoping for the best, but not expecting to hear from these people until the end of times. I wouldn't worry too much about the transcripts. I use a word document that's basically a copy/paste of my unofficial transcript. If anything, they just glance over that initially to see if your course load is something they like. When they start to get serious, that's when they ask for the official transcript that you usually request from your schools admin office.
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Jul 17, 2010 20:06
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ok, applied to some of the CEP positions.
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Jul 18, 2010 02:49
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I am an officer in the U.S. Public Health Service (https://www.usphs.gov), a uniformed service under the Department of Health and Human Services. I am a essentially a hybrid federal employee/military officer. Its really sweet. Especially if you're ex-military (ask me...it's the best of both worlds). My job has me, at the moment, inspecting all cafeterias and snack-bars in all GSA owned/leased buildings in the D.C. metro area. For fed goons, I'll probably be at or have been to your building this and next month. If anyone is looking for a federal career in the health field, the USPHS might me a good place to look. Another good reason for getting a federal job? Within the next 10 years appx. 40% of federal employees will be retiring leaving a lot of upper positions to be filled. Yay baby-boomers!
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Jul 18, 2010 02:51
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The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General is hiring 1811 agents en masse. It's on USAJobs (series search 1811 or agency search HHS). G-ride, gun, badge, etc, GS-13 journeyman + LEAP (25% on top of your base pay in exchange for you working 50 hour weeks). Doesn't hurt to throw in your app. Looks like Secret Service is also open, probably gearing up for 2012 season.
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Jul 18, 2010 03:06
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I told a couple of my friends I was applying for a job in Detroit and each one gave me the  reaction. Ranger -X- posted:Another good reason for getting a federal job? Within the next 10 years appx. 40% of federal employees will be retiring leaving a lot of upper positions to be filled. Yay baby-boomers! Is there mandatory retirement for fed jobs? From what I've read, a lot of boomers are clinging to their jobs, either out of financial necessity (getting wiped out when the economy tanked) or just not wanting to retire. fivetwo posted:The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General is hiring 1811 agents en masse. It's on USAJobs (series search 1811 or agency search HHS). Cool, will look in to this.
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Jul 18, 2010 03:42
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Is there mandatory retirement for fed jobs? From what I've read, a lot of boomers are clinging to their jobs, either out of financial necessity (getting wiped out when the economy tanked) or just not wanting to retire. Edit: ah, forgot about select law enforcement positions. grover fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Jul 18, 2010 |
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Jul 18, 2010 03:57
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Does having non-competitive eligibility really help me out that much? What is the best way to take advantage of it?
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Jul 18, 2010 04:00
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TheMadMilkman posted:IRS Goon here. Go ahead and add me to the OP.  There is actually a surprisingly high ratio of us in the IRS.
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Jul 18, 2010 04:24
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Pompous Rhombus posted:
For jobs considered Law Enforcement, which are covered under "6c" or "12d" retirement laws, YES, the mandatory retirement age is currently 57. You must not have reached your 37th birthday prior to starting one of these jobs. This covers Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Marshals, Border Patrol, Secret Service, FBI, ATF, IRS Criminal Investigations Division, Offices of Inspector General, etc, etc, etc.....
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Jul 18, 2010 04:47
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fivetwo posted:You must not have reached your 37th birthday prior to starting one of these jobs. Just remember that prior military or federal service is excluded from his rule.
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Jul 18, 2010 05:30
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Homie S posted:Just remember that prior military or federal service is excluded from his rule. This is not true. Military time and regular federal service does NOT stop the clock on 6c/12c jobs. From USAJOBS: • Individuals selected for Criminal Investigator positions are covered under special law enforcement provisions. This requires that applicants not exceed the maximum age for entry. The date immediately preceding an applicant's 37th birthday is the final date for selection. The age restriction does not apply, providing the appropriate documentation is submitted, if: A. You served in a Federal civilian (not military) law enforcement officer (FLEO) position covered by special civil service retirement provisions, including early or mandatory retirement, and after subtracting these covered time periods (years/months) of prior Federal service worked in a primary law enforcement position, you are less than 37 years of age. The maximum entry age limit was established in accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 3307 and does not violate age discrimination laws. The intent of the maximum age limitation is to ensure that a Federal law enforcement officer will have the opportunity to work 20 years and therefore be eligible to retire at 57, when mandatory retirement applies to Federal law enforcement officers. OR B. You are a preference-eligible veteran.
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Jul 18, 2010 05:42
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grover posted:No, but the old retirement plan (CSRS) is so damned good, they have next to no incentive to stay at work. Wasn't CSRS phased out in the 80s, though? How many of the Boomers in the civil service actually were around to be grandfathered into that plan?
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Jul 18, 2010 06:05
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I am really interested in 1811 jobs and know a lot about them, so, without further ado: THE 1811 MEGAPOST! What is 1811? All jobs in the federal government are assigned a number, which corresponds to a title. "1811" jobs are "Criminal Investigator Series." Who cares? Only people who want to make $100k+ in 5 years max, have weekends and federal holidays off, and the best pension in the Fed. What agencies have "series 1811" jobs, and how do the jobs vary by agency? (list is by no means exhaustive) FBI (Special Agent) -Has investigative authority over every federal crime. Is organized into directorates with specific focuses. Over 13,000 active special agents. "Always hiring." DSS (Special Agent) -Diplomatic Security Service. Investigates passport fraud and provides for the protection of foreign dignitaries, I think. Hires rarely. NCIS (Special Agent) -Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Investigates crimes involving the U.S. Navy and Marines, domestic and abroad. Hires rarely. AFOSI -Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Like NCIS, but for the Air Force. Hires rarely. DEA (Special Agent) -Works Title 21 (Drug) cases. Lots of foreign involvement. Tons and tons and tons of money. Lots of undercover work. Just had a hiring announcement, and may be hiring again this fall. DCIS (Special Agent) -Defense Criminal Investigative Service. Deals with contractor fraud, etc. FDA OCI -Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations. Investigates prescription drug industry and FDA matters. I'd imagine there is a decent amount of overlap with the DEA when it comes to prescription narcotics? U.S. Postal Inspection Service (Postal Inspector) -Investigates any crime that as an integral part of the offense involves the United States Postal Service. So, child porn, bombs, anthrax, mail theft, mail fraud, drugs, etc. Big variety. Hires rarely. U.S. Marshals Service (Deputy U.S. Marshal) -Investigative fugitives of the U.S. Courts and state fugitives through district warrant squads and Regional Fugitive Task Forces. Also maintain custody of unsentenced federal prisoners, and runs the Witness Protection Program. A federal Sheriff's Department. Recently tasked with investigating violations of the Adam Walsh Act (sex offenders that have fled across state lines and not registered). Just finished hiring hundreds of Deputies to deal with the Southwest Border prisoner population. ATF (Special Agent) -Guns. Lots of focus on the Southwest border with all the hardware going down to the cartels. ATF has a lot of involvement in Violent Crimes task forces across the country and always seems to be infiltrating an outlaw motorcycle gang. Last hiring announcement, I believe, was early this year/late last year. Not sure when hiring will resume. OIG offices (Special Agents) ((An OIG office is a subdivision of a particular agency that focuses on things like corruption, procurement fraud, waste, and abuse. DHS, NASA, Health and Human Services, Social Security, FDA, Department of Education, and Securities and Exchange Commission are just a few of the 60+ OIG shops)) Someone is usually hiring, but most OIG shops are small, so who you know may be important. ICE (Special Agents) -Illegal aliens and customs imports/exports offenses. Should be hiring a lot of agents for the border this fall. IRS Criminal Investigation Division (Special Agent) -Taxes. I don't remember the last time they hired, but I don't really pay attention. Secret Service (Special Agent) -A lot of people think the Secret Service just does protection. While protection is their primary duty, they do a lot of investigations, as well. They are the primary agency for investigating the counterfeiting of U.S. currency and obligations. They also cover other financial crimes like access device fraud, credit card fraud, and check fraud. Additionally, they work online child porn. Is hiring often, and is probably gearing up for the new campaign season in 2012. Lots and lots of travel, though... Qualifications Moreso than other federal jobs, 1811 hiring is VERY competitive. You will be going up against current and former local and federal cops; people with language skills; people with advanced degrees, including law degrees; etc. However, you can't really predict whether or not you'll be hired, because college kids ARE hired, as well as private sector people looking to make a transition to something different. As long as you meet the minimum requirements (which is almost always: a 4-year degree, being under age 37, being in good health, and having a clean background), APPLY, APPLY, APPLY. Persistence is key. Expect constant rejection. Hiring Process MOST agencies have most of the following steps: 1.) Some sort of written exam. The most common is the "Treasury Enforcement Agent" Exam, which combines academics and investigative skills. Numerous study guides are available for purchase. ARCO sells the most popular one. Check Amazon. It isn't expensive. 2.) An panel interview. 3.) A full-field background investigation. Almost all 1811 jobs use the Standard Form 86: http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf86.pdf. Don't omit, don't lie. 4.) A polygraph examination. 5.) A medical examination. Even if you have some health problems, you should be alright. What will happen is that, after you get a once-over by the contract physician, he/she will send paperwork to the hiring agency's medical review board. You'll probably get some paperwork back asking "Tell us more about your knee surgery/high blood pressure/bad eyes/etc etc." This will require you to go to your personal physician at your own expense and have him write something up clearing you for a predefined list of activities. 6.) A physical fitness test. As far as I know, only FBI, DEA and the United States Marshals Service does this. They consist of a run (FBI and USMS 1.5 miles; DEA 2 miles) with a time limit based on your age; pushups and situps with minimums based on your age; and possibly pull-ups. This is easy to pass because it's something you just practice for. Each of the aforementioned agencies have the exact fitness test standards posted to their websites. Benefits All agencies listed above, with the exception of the U.S. Marshals Service, reaches a "journeyman" level of GS-13 (which is about $101,000 for the lowest locality rate). They all start no lower than the GS-5 level (usually GS-7). U.S. Marshals currently reach a journeyman level of GS-12 (about $86,000 at the lowest locality rate). All pays include a 25% "LEAP" pay, which stands for Law Enforcement Availability. This means you're salaried and work 50 hours a week, so you get extra pay automatically. Your journeyman level is what you reach automatically without having to promote. After journeyman, you can promote further by competing. All agencies have opportunities up to SES (Senior Executive Service, which is higher than GS-15 and pays a ton). It takes one year to reach each grade, and one grade is skipped in between, except for 12 to 13. That means, if you start at GS-5, after exactly 1 year you move to GS-7, then after one more year you reach GS-9, then GS-11, then GS-12, then GS-13. So, conceivably, if you start at GS-7, which is not hard to do (having a 3.0 grade point average on your college degree would qualify you, or prior qualifying experience), you would be at GS-13 in exactly 4 years. 1811 jobs, like all federal law enforcement jobs (and federal firefighters), have better pensions than regular federal workers. Your pension accrues at 1.7% for the first 20 years, and then 1 percent thereafter. So, if you work 25 years, that equals 39%. You will be paid for the rest of your life 39% of the average of your highest 3 years salary. So if you made 150,000 your best 3 years, you'd be paid $58500/yr until you die. And, since you have mandatory retirement at age 57, that's pretty good. Training All aforementioned agencies besides the Postal Inspection Service, FBI, and DEA (Postal goes to its own facility in Maryland, and FBI an DEA use Quantico, of course) go to the Criminal Investigator Training Program at FLETC in Glynco, Georgia. It's about 12 weeks of training covering evidence, arrests, the constitution, etc. After this, you'll go to an agency-specific add-on course, either at FLETC or at another location (Secret Service add-on school is in Maryland; IRS, ATF, and U.S. Marshals stay at FLETC; etc.). Some academies are "stress" academies, and some are more academic. I guess just do your best to be in shape and mentally prepared when you get there. Don't get in a fight at a bar or do anything else retarded while in training. Well, not ever, but especially not while in training! More Info I find the Officer.com forums and 911Jobs.com forums are good for people looking to get one of these jobs. They're both filled with people applying to different agencies and have lots of tips and advice. fivetwo fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Jul 18, 2010 |
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Jul 18, 2010 06:15
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fivetwo posted:IRS Criminal Investigation Division (Special Agent) There was a job posting for this the year I was hired, and I think there was a VERY brief posting last year. It almost always tends to fill up internally before being posted to USAJOBS.
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Jul 18, 2010 06:31
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How would a Class C misdemeanor for minor in possession of alcohol at age 19 look on applications, so long as you were honest and disclosed everything? Judging by some of the posted decisions I think it would be all right, but I'd just like to hear a second opinion.
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Jul 18, 2010 08:14
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MothraAttack posted:How would a Class C misdemeanor for minor in possession of alcohol at age 19 look on applications, so long as you were honest and disclosed everything? Judging by some of the posted decisions I think it would be all right, but I'd just like to hear a second opinion. http://www.dod.gov/dodgc/doha/industrial/ is a great site. It shows security clearance decisions for DOD employees done by DOD adjudicators (which follow the same guidelines as security clearance adjudicators for other agencies). You can see that people get away with some crazy poo poo; it's all about being open and honest, and getting help if necessary. Here are the guidelines used by adjudicators: http://www.tscm.com/access.html One of the primary concerns of an adjudicator is determining how susceptible a person is to blackmail. So, if you have any skeletons in your closet (mental treatment, arrests, weird sexual stuff, shady poo poo, etc), it helps greatly if multiple people in your life know about these things. If they aren't a secret to begin with, a foreign influence can't use them to blackmail you and get you to give up security info. fivetwo fucked around with this message at 10:08 on Jul 18, 2010 |
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Jul 18, 2010 09:59
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Please note: there are two facets to your background. SUITABILITY and SECURITY. Just because you pass one doesn't mean you pass the other. That is, you may have smoked pot a few times within the last year, and may be eligible for a security clearance nevertheless. However, certain agencies may still not find you SUITABLE, despite their security office clearing you. Security = can we trust this person with sensitive information? Suitability = does this person's past conduct indicate maturity/integrity/responsibility?
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Jul 18, 2010 10:05
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I've never seriously considered working for the government before checking out this thread. Looks pretty interesting, what would be something that I could realistically do with an applied math degree? The USAJobs site is kinda confusing, and the requirements are... well, all over the place. A lot of the science/engineering jobs that I looked at officially require, at the minimum, a bachelors' where I'd expect to see a grad degree required. Also, how exactly does Schedule A work? I might qualify for it (deaf), so that's something I want to look into.
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Jul 18, 2010 12:00
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fivetwo posted:This is not true. Military time and regular federal service does NOT stop the clock on 6c/12c jobs. Whoops, You're correct; I should have explained what I said a bit more. So where have you applied?
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Jul 18, 2010 13:11
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Gawain The Blind posted:
So can you tell me/us about what your job is and how you got it? Are you IRS CID? I really, really want to work for the IRS.
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Jul 18, 2010 13:13
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prussian advisor posted:So can you tell me/us about what your job is and how you got it? Are you IRS CID? I really, really want to work for the IRS. Well, i'm pretty low on the pay band so I can only tell you very basic stuff. I'm a GS-5 Tax examiner, which means I set at a desk for 10 hours a day (i'm on a 4/10 schedule) and try and puzzle out your bullshit. I am not CID. Those jobs are really, really hard to get, and to qualify you need a lot more education/law enforcement background than I have. (Or a lot of experience within the IRS) The majority of IRS gigs are a lot like the job I do, just one cog in a many-geared machine. Your tax documents pass through a bunch of hands, of which I am only one, until they are ultimately stored in a dark climate-controlled cave. Essentially my job is trying to figure out what the person who filed the form was TRYING to do, and then (depending on the form) either decide if they qualify for whatever it is they were trying to do, or send it on to somebody who can decide that. I make a lot of editing marks all over the form to make it "easier" for the data entry people to read and that is basically my whole job. It's incredibly boring, but also very easy. The IRS is FILLED with jobs just like that, people who perform a specific task and then pass the form down the line to the next guy. Everyone who starts at the IRS has this vision of sitting at a desk with a massive adding machine from the 1700s and working on a single form for each taxpayer with some kind of encyclopedic knowledge of tax laws and regulations. In reality, it's much more of an assembly line process, with each team only handling specific items, and handling them over and over and over, thousands of times a day. Whatever boring scenario you imagine, trust me it's worse. The IRS is a giant lumbering beast of an agency, and generally speaking, one side of it has absolutely no idea what the other side is doing, and they like it that way. This isn't true of everything. If you have a law degree or accountant degree you might be able to slide into one of the more esoteric gigs, like CI or Innocent Spouse or something, where you deal with cases rather than forms. Those are the fun gigs, but they're also harder to get, and are generally at the top of, or above the GS pay grade. More than anything, the IRS prefers to hire from within, and there are all kinds of roadblocks and requirements in place to make sure that happens rather than hire from USAJOBS. Not to say that they DON'T hire from outside, they do, but generally only for either entry level stuff (clerks and such) or for specific jobs that require certain degrees or certifications that they can't fill internally for whatever reason. But those jobs generally pay better in the private sector so they have a difficult time filling them. (or at least they used to. I don't know anymore with the economy as bad as it is). I think it's important to mention that at least for the IRS, the time between applying for a job and actually starting the job can be MONTHS. I think it was something like 4 months before I even heard anything, and 5 months before I actually started. I had actually given up and was working a another gig when they called me. This is the second time i've worked for the IRS and I was sort of expecting it, but even so I had just assumed my application had gotten lost somewhere. (I think the first time around, they called me back within a couple months) If you want a clerk gig at the GS-3, GS-4 level, then you can get one. It will pay in the 10-13 dollar an hour range, and you may or may not qualify for benefits depending on the job. These are EASY to get, and you just have to monitor usajobs for openings. Generally around November to February is when they start kicking it into high gear and posting openings, but some places have postings year-round. You don't need any special education or experience, and as long as you aren't a felon you don't need to worry about your background check (hell, I think you might be able to get a clerk gig even if you were a felon). You DO have to worry about being audited on your taxes, because you will be. In fact, the chance of you getting audited every single year you work for the IRS is very high. If you failed to pay your taxes one year or didn't report something that they catch, you will be required to pay it before you can start. If you purposely cheated on your taxes, you will not only be refused a job but they will probably kick it up to CI and then your life becomes audit hell. If you happen to live in or near Andover, good news! This ridiculous new building will probably be needing people soon. Digital Prophet fucked around with this message at 15:01 on Jul 18, 2010 |
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Jul 18, 2010 14:58
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more friedman units posted:Wasn't CSRS phased out in the 80s, though? How many of the Boomers in the civil service actually were around to be grandfathered into that plan? CSRS was more of a pension- you work the years, you get x% of your salary; works out to getting roughly 2/3 of your salary to retire. (CSRS do not get social security under CSRS; they do get it if they worked other jobs.) There will sometimes be incentives to cut jobs without layoffs, which are the coveted "early out" every CSRS employee dreams of- extra years of service added to their pension and a lump of cash incentive to retire early. Early outs can decimate entire departments and leave them hiring like mad. Even without the early out, CSRS people past retirement age are essentially working for 30% of their salary and frequently bail to work for a contractor where they can collect full salary + pension and make a killing until they retire for real. FERS is more of a 401k; you get 1% of your salary for every year of service; work 35 years, you get 35% of your salary as a pension. You also get social security. The main part of FERS, though, is TSP, which is akin to a 401k. FERS employees get matching funds up to 5%- you put in 5% of your base salary, gov matches it with 5%. If the market holds, FERS > CSRS. If the market tanks, CSRS blows FERS away. It's at least still better than most commercial retirement plans out there. grover fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Jul 18, 2010 |
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Jul 18, 2010 16:12
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I think Diplomatic Security Service hires like once a year, maybe October-ish? I remember that's when they opened up a couple of the DoS jobs, I applied for the courier position last year (a man can dream  )Omits-Bagels posted:Does having non-competitive eligibility really help me out that much? What is the best way to take advantage of it? Also interested to know about this. Does it basically boil down to: knowing someone on the inside of whatever organization who would go to bat for you, who also has some pull with management/HR?
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Jul 18, 2010 16:54
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Also interested to know about this. Does it basically boil down to: knowing someone on the inside of whatever organization who would go to bat for you, who also has some pull with management/HR? I can't speak for other agencies, but as far as I know, knowing somebody in HR at the IRS doesn't help you in any way, other than maybe you get a heads up when something is about to post, so you can get a jump on applying for it, or maybe they double check to make sure all your forms are in order for your application. The actual decision process as to who gets the job is all very systematic and point-based on specific criteria, and being friends with somebody never enters into it. Edit: Jobs above the GS level have an extensive interview process and usually (again as far as I know) the decision process comes down to a panel of people, usually supervisors and your potential immediate boss. I suppose at that point knowing somebody might give you an edge. Having Non-Competitive eligibility means that you can apply for internal jobs that people WITHOUT NCE can't even apply for, and I think it gets you ahead of anyone off the street for jobs that they can apply for. (Though i'm not 100% sure on that last one) Digital Prophet fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Jul 18, 2010 |
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Jul 18, 2010 18:17
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fivetwo posted:AFOSI Could you possibly elaborate a bit on what this is/does? I'm going into the Air Force but want to get a federal job afterwards and this sounds like it might be up my alley.
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Jul 18, 2010 19:24
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Gawain The Blind posted:I can't speak for other agencies, but as far as I know, knowing somebody in HR at the IRS doesn't help you in any way, other than maybe you get a heads up when something is about to post, so you can get a jump on applying for it, or maybe they double check to make sure all your forms are in order for your application. The actual decision process as to who gets the job is all very systematic and point-based on specific criteria, and being friends with somebody never enters into it. The way it's been explained to me, a federal employer can create a position for you without having to advertise it to the general public, and you don't count towards their hiring quota. I know that you can use it for applying for those internal jobs as well, but it seems outside applicants (without relevant experience in the private sector, I guess) wouldn't generally be qualified for those jobs anyways :-\
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Jul 18, 2010 19:28
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Gin_Rummy posted:Could you possibly elaborate a bit on what this is/does? I'm going into the Air Force but want to get a federal job afterwards and this sounds like it might be up my alley. Has both active duty and civilian (1811) Special Agent jobs. If you can get into it as active duty (not sure if it's enlisted or officer), it would obviously be much easier to move to the civilian agent job after you separate. From Wiki: Threat detection AFOSI manages offensive and defensive activities to detect, counter and destroy the effectiveness of hostile intelligence services and terrorist groups that target the Air Force. These efforts include investigating the crimes of espionage, terrorism, technology transfer and computer infiltration. This mission aspect also includes providing personal protection to senior Air Force leaders and other officials, as well as supervising an extensive antiterrorism program in geographic areas of heightened terrorist activity. Criminal Investigations The vast majority of AFOSI's investigative activities pertain to felony crimes including murder, robbery, rape, assault, major burglaries, drug use and trafficking, sex offenses, arson, compromise of Air Force test materials, black market activities, and other criminal activities. Economic crime investigations A significant amount of AFOSI investigative resources are assigned to fraud (or economic crime) investigations. These include violations of the public trust involving Air Force contracting matters, appropriated and nonappropriated funds activities, computer systems, pay and allowance matters, environmental matters, acquiring and disposing of Air Force property, and major administrative irregularities. AFOSI uses fraud surveys to determine the existence, location and extent of fraud in Air Force operations or programs. It also provides briefings to base and command-level resource managers to help identify and prevent fraud involving Air Force or DOD resources. An AFOSI Interview. Information Operations The Air Force is now countering a global security threat to our information systems. Our role in support of Information Operations recognizes future threats to the Air Force, and our response to these threats, will occur in cyberspace. AFOSI's support to Information Operations comes in many facets. AFOSI's computer crime investigators provide rapid worldwide response to intrusions into Air Force systems. Technology Protection The desires of potential adversaries to acquire or mimic the technological advances of the U.S. Air Force have heightened the need to protect critical Air Force technologies and collateral data. The AFOSI Research and Technology Protection Program provides focused, comprehensive counterintelligence and core mission investigative services to safeguard Air Force technologies, programs, critical program information, personnel and facilities. Specialized Services AFOSI has numerous specialists who are invaluable in the successful resolution of investigations. They include technical specialists, polygraphers, behavioral scientists, computer experts and forensic advisers. Defense Cyber Crime Center AFOSI is the DOD executive agent for both the Defense Computer Forensics Laboratory and the Defense Computer Investigations Training Program, which together comprise the Defense Cyber Crime Center. The forensics laboratory provides counterintelligence, criminal, and fraud computer-evidence processing, analysis, and diagnosis to DOD investigations. The investigations training program provides training in computer investigations and computer forensics to DOD investigators and examiners Check out the AFOSI website at http://www.osi.andrews.af.mil/
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Jul 18, 2010 19:31
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Pompous Rhombus posted:The way it's been explained to me, a federal employer can create a position for you without having to advertise it to the general public, and you don't count towards their hiring quota. I know that you can use it for applying for those internal jobs as well, but it seems outside applicants (without relevant experience in the private sector, I guess) wouldn't generally be qualified for those jobs anyways :-\
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Jul 18, 2010 19:33
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grover posted:Some positions are considered merit promotions, and are only advertised within an agency/department. Others are advertised to the general public. May also be Excepted Service jobs that they're doing through a special hiring authority, rather than traditional Competitive Service positions.
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Jul 18, 2010 19:34
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I apologize if I missed this somewhere, but my google search results were rather opaque. I guess everyone gets some level of clearance, but in what ways would on-going mental health treatments affect your clearance/job-seeking? Most of the results I found mainly talk about what seems to be treatments or whatever in the past, not on-going. I know I fail the requirement to join something such as law enforcement, but would that be an accurate reflection in general of federal employment?
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Jul 18, 2010 20:11
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Synnr posted:I apologize if I missed this somewhere, but my google search results were rather opaque. Won't hurt you, really. Look at the last page of the SF86: http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf86.pdf This only allows the background investigator to ask the question stated (Is the mental health issue going to cause this person to be a security risk?). Your doctor is going to answer honestly, so hopefully you haven't spent the last 5 years telling him how you have obsessive fantasies about being a Russian spy. And I wouldn't say you were disqualified from law enforcement, but I'm not an authority on it. If you were applying for a law enforcement job that required a medical exam, you would also have the agency's doctors asking for very detailed notes about the treatment, prognosis, etc. Also, if you are currently taking meds, I guess that would be a consideration as far as your response time/cognition. Either way, your personal doctor's opinion is going to be crucial to the way things play out.
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Jul 18, 2010 20:23
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Gawain The Blind posted:This isn't true of everything. If you have a law degree or accountant degree you might be able to slide into one of the more esoteric gigs, like CI or Innocent Spouse or something, where you deal with cases rather than forms. Those are the fun gigs, but they're also harder to get, and are generally at the top of, or above the GS pay grade. Are these entry level paths for people with law or accountancy degrees? Do you know folks in these roles who got into them from out of law school? I'll be graduating law school relatively soon, but the IRS hires few attorneys from straight out of school and I'm looking for alternative ways to get hired so I can (hopefully) move internally into an attorney position later. I imagine that's a much more reasonable path, since everyone I've talked to (including you) has emphasized the IRS's preference for doing internal hiring.
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Jul 18, 2010 20:39
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fivetwo posted:Won't hurt you, really. Look at the last page of the SF86: http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf86.pdf I fully aware that I am disqualified from law enforcement for the most part. I brought that up as something that I came across at some point, just sort of as a reference. What I'm interested in isn't exactly top secret, but working with the military as non-enlisted would probably require some clearance. I just wasn't sure as to what extreme clearance and the like would be necessary. Working in an overseas military hospital for instance. I'm a Type 1 rapid cycling Bipolar, though obviously extremes like Schizophrenia would be deemed unfit. Partially I'm curious whether I would even hear anything back telling me it was because of that.
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Jul 18, 2010 21:07
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Synnr posted:I fully aware that I am disqualified from law enforcement for the most part. I brought that up as something that I came across at some point, just sort of as a reference. What I'm interested in isn't exactly top secret, but working with the military as non-enlisted would probably require some clearance. I just wasn't sure as to what extreme clearance and the like would be necessary. Working in an overseas military hospital for instance. I'm a Type 1 rapid cycling Bipolar, though obviously extremes like Schizophrenia would be deemed unfit. The criteria for a clearance doesn't change when you go up to higher security levels, only how deep the anal probe goes. The same things that would disqualify you from a Top Secret clearance would disqualify you from Secret or Confidential as well.
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Jul 18, 2010 22:28
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prussian advisor posted:Are these entry level paths for people with law or accountancy degrees? Do you know folks in these roles who got into them from out of law school? I'll be graduating law school relatively soon, but the IRS hires few attorneys from straight out of school and I'm looking for alternative ways to get hired so I can (hopefully) move internally into an attorney position later. I imagine that's a much more reasonable path, since everyone I've talked to (including you) has emphasized the IRS's preference for doing internal hiring. I wish I could tell you but I don't know, really. I know one guy who is now in CI, and he had previous law enforcement administrative experience. He worked with me a while as a TE because there weren't any CI openings, and then as soon as one popped up he applied and got in (note that it was actually several months before he "got in.") From what I understand, most of the really good jobs go up on the internal board for a while before they hit USAJOBS and they usually fill up before they get that far. So yes, applying from within is better. On the other hand, applying from within means that you're up against people who have been working there for a bunch of years and the IRS is really, really big on promoting people who have the years in. On a completely unrelated note, the IRS is apparently doing away with their internal hiring database and everything will be going to USAJOBS sometime (supposedly) in September. The only difference between internal postings and external postings at that point I guess will be the single check mark for "non competitive." None of us believe it will really happen when they say it will. Generally it takes them a LOONG time to actually implement a big change like that. They still have some stuff posted on Career Connector, and that was supposed to be phased out like two years ago.
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Jul 18, 2010 22:45
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Gawain The Blind posted:On a completely unrelated note, the IRS is apparently doing away with their internal hiring database and everything will be going to USAJOBS sometime (supposedly) in September. The only difference between internal postings and external postings at that point I guess will be the single check mark for "non competitive." None of us believe it will really happen when they say it will. Generally it takes them a LOONG time to actually implement a big change like that. They still have some stuff posted on Career Connector, and that was supposed to be phased out like two years ago.
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Jul 18, 2010 22:52
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