Operating Manual

Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions

GENERAL POLICIES AND INSTRUCTIONS

Part E.3.(h) - E.3.(q)

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(h) Crediting teaching experience for non-teaching positions--In evaluating teaching experience for credit as specialized experience, the nature of the material taught and the responsibility, scope, and knowledge required by the teaching position should be compared to the requirements of the appropriate standard. To be creditable as specialized experience, the teaching and non-teaching activities should have provided the applicant with the same type and level of KSA's that would be required to perform qualifying work in the field. Normally, teaching experience would have to be at the college level to be creditable for professional positions.

(i) Education and experience gained concurrently-- When qualifying education and experience have been gained concurrently, credit is given for each based on the time spent and merit of each. In many instances, supervised experience is required as part of an academic curriculum or course work (e.g., nursing, teaching, or social work). An applicant cannot receive full credit for this supervised experience as education and additional credit for the supervised experience as experience, except as may be provided in a particular standard, since the practical experience is integral to the educational curriculum. The applicant can, however, receive full credit for supervised experience that was not considered as part of the qualifying education. (Also see paragraph (j) below.)

(j) Crediting work-study experience for initial appointment--Experience gained by graduates of work-study programs can be credited towards meeting specialized experience requirements if the work-study experience was related to and integrated with education above the high school level and contributed to the development of competence in the specialized field of the position being filled. To meet the specialized experience requirements, the applicant must have 12 months of work experience in a work-study program, with at least 2 months (320 hours) of work equivalent to the next lower grade level or band in the normal line of progression for the position to be filled.

(Undergraduate work-study experience is normally comparable to experience gained at GS-5 or below.) Work-study experience is creditable, even when it is a mandatory requirement of the school, unless academic credit, i.e., grades or credit hours, has been given for such experience. Note that credit cannot be granted both as education and experience for the same period of work. (See paragraph (i) above.)

(k) Military experience--Military service that is creditable for veterans' preference or that is the basis for restoration to the former civilian position should either be evaluated as an extension of the work the individual was doing immediately before entry into the Armed Forces, or on its own merits, whichever is more beneficial to the individual. In instances where employment in an occupation interrupted by military service was on a part-time basis, the extension of that experience is creditable on the same part-time basis. (See 5 CFR 353 for more information on restoration rights and crediting military service.)

• Extension of prior civilian experience--Creditable military service can be counted as an extension of the work the individual was engaged in immediately prior to entry into service. ("Immediately prior to" is defined as within the 90-day period preceding entry into military service.) In instances where an individual accepted fill-in employment while awaiting induction, he or she is considered as having been employed in his or her regular occupation "immediately prior to" entry into military service, if the period of fill-in employment did not exceed 90 days. In crediting time spent in military service as an extension of time spent in civilian occupations, military service can be credited either as an extension of the regular employment or of the fill-in employment, whichever is more advantageous to the individual. All military experience evaluated on this basis will be credited at the same level of difficulty and responsibility as the prior civilian experience.

• Military experience on its own merits--If the actual military experience is to be evaluated for credit, it is particularly important that it is evaluated on the basis of the duties performed, rather than on the basis of the military rank of the individual.

(l) Crediting experience gained on detail--Experience of employees who have been detailed to another position is credited in much the same way as military experience, described above. That is, the experience is credited as an extension of the work the employee was doing immediately prior to the detail, or on its own merits, whichever is more beneficial to the employee. Employees continue to be incumbents of the positions from which detailed. Thus, they should not be penalized for a detail to a position that may differ in duties and responsibilities from those of their regular position.

(m) One-year specialized experience provision for General Schedule grades--At GS-5 and above, the qualification standards for most occupational series call for 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression. Applicants need not meet any cumulative years of experience requirements or general or lower level specialized experience requirements to qualify. They must, of course, meet any minimum educational, licensure, or other special qualification requirements and selective factors established for the position being filled. To be creditable, an applicant's 1 year of specialized experience must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for successful job performance. When applicants meet the experience requirements for a given grade level, they also meet the experience requirements for positions at lower grade levels in the same occupation. This provision applies unless the qualification standard for the occupation or position specifically states that more or less experience is required. It applies to both initial appointments and inservice placement actions. (Also see paragraph (n) below.)

(n) One-year specialized experience provision for banded positions--If groups of positions have been placed in pay or grade bands that group two or more General Schedule grades together, agencies will need to define the type and level of experience required to perform the work of the position to be filled. Applicants need only 1 year of the identified experience, either equivalent to a lower level within the band or to the next lower level band. (Also see paragraph (q) below.)

(o) Determining level of experience required in one-grade interval series--For most one-grade interval occupational series, the qualification standard calls for at least 1 year of specialized experience as described in (m) above. Sometimes, however, there is no position in the normal line of progression in an organization that is one grade lower than the position being filled. In such instances, 1 year of specialized experience at the second lower level is creditable for inservice applicants. However, for outside applicants (i.e., those without current or prior Federal competitive or excepted service), 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower level is required. (See p. II-19, E.8.(d) on crediting inservice applicants' experience in one-grade interval series.)

(p) Determining level of experience required in two-grade interval series--Most two-grade interval occupational series follow a progression pattern of GS-5, GS-7, GS-9, GS-11, GS-12, GS-13, etc., with two-grade intervals occurring from grades GS-5 through GS-11. Applicants need 1 year of experience equivalent to at least the GS-5 grade level to qualify for GS-7, 1 year equivalent to at least the GS-7 grade level to qualify for GS-9, and 1 year equivalent to at least the GS-9 grade level to qualify for GS-11. However, some positions in two-grade interval series are established at the intervening even-numbered grades, i.e., GS-6, GS-8, and GS-10. If an agency has established positions at an intervening grade as part of the normal line of progression in a series, then applicants applying for the next higher grade would be required to have 1 year of experience at that even-numbered grade. For example, if an agency advertised for a GS-9 position and had an established GS-8 in the normal line of progression, applicants would be required to have 1 year of experience equivalent to at least grade GS-8. A year of experience equivalent to GS-7 would not be considered qualifying for that position. On the other hand, if an agency advertised for a GS-10 position and had an established GS-8, but no intervening GS-9 position, applicants would be considered qualified if they had 1 year of experience at least equivalent to GS-8.

(q) Determining level of experience based on crediting required KSA's--Most jobs are classified and graded on the basis of the duties that constitute the primary reason for establishing the position. However, a position may include many other significant duties that are not grade-controlling, i.e., that are not the duties that determine the particular grade assigned to a position. Some of these duties may be similar to those performed at lower grade levels, or in positions in other series. Applicants must have experience performing the grade-controlling work at the next lower grade level, and work experience that demonstrates possession of the other required KSA's at the appropriate level. However, they should not be screened out if their background does not reflect 1 year of experience at the next lower grade level performing all of the duties in a position.

For example, a position is classified as a GS-12 Exhibits Specialist. The grade-controlling duties as described in the position description might be planning and preparing gallery spaces for exhibits, but the position also involves analyzing how various exhibits were received by the public and providing written reports and recommendations on how such exhibits could be improved in the future. If an applicant has at least GS-11 level skill in planning and preparing gallery spaces for exhibits, and has GS-9 level experience analyzing work processes and methods and writing reports, he or she can be considered qualified if the GS-9 level experience was sufficient to perform the GS-12 Exhibits Specialist job, as described in the position description.

In systems where groups of positions have been placed in a pay or grade band, all of the duties and responsibilities of a position would typically fall within the same band. However, agencies would still need to determine the duties that constitute the primary reason for placing a position within a particular band and the level of the qualifications required to perform the work of the position.

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