Career Opportunities
eRecruit Applicant Guide

Table of Contents

NSF ERECRUIT QUESTIONS

1. Personal Information
2. Demographic Questions (Optional)
3. Core Questions
4. Job-specific Questions

• First Name, Middle Initial (optional) and Last Name: You must use your LEGAL NAME on your application. Legal name is the name which appears on your social security card. There is a Federal requirement to use this name on all employment documents, and it is critical for verification of eligibility for NSF employment. If you have never updated the Social Security Administration after a name change (e.g., marriage), you are strongly encouraged to do so.



• Date of Birth: use drop downs to select month/day/year



• SSN: Submission of social security number is voluntary; however, failure to provide your correct SSN may effect your consideration for jobs in eRecruit (see Social Security Number in Section II above).



• Address 1, Address 2: self-explanatory



• City, State, Zip Code, Plus 4: self-explanatory



• Phone: This number may be used to contact you for a telephone interview; be sure to use an active telephone number and update it, if necessary.



• Email: Failure to provide a valid, unblocked email address may result in our inability to contact you regarding your application and may result in your loss of further consideration.
• Citizenship: self-explanatory



• Military Service and Veterans' Preference: Select the most appropriate answer. For more detailed information, go to the website indicated.



• Start of Service, End of Service: use drop downs to select month/day/year

Demographic data are requested for aggregate reporting and tracking purposes and are not associated with your application. These questions are optional and the decision not to answer them will not affect your consideration in any way.

• Ethnicity
• Race
• Sex
• Physical disability
• Designation of targeted disability

Core Questions

1. Are you either a preference eligible OR a veteran who was separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after completing an initial continuous tour of duty of 3 years (may have been released at 2 years, 11 months)?



• This information helps us to determine if you are eligible to apply for certain types of vacancies based on your military service.



2. If you are a current Federal civilian employee, by what agency and organization are you employed?



• Please select "National Science Foundation" only if you are currently appointed to an NSF position (not an IPA).



3. If you are a Federal civilian employee, under what type of appointment are you currently serving? Read these definitions to help determine the appropriate answer:



• Permanent – Career/Career-Conditional: You are currently on a Federal civilian appointment without time limit which is in the competitive service. You can determine if this is the case by looking at your most recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50), to see if item #24 is either 1 or 2 and item #34 is 1. If so, you are likely in this category.



• Permanent – Excepted Service: You are currently on a Federal civilian appointment without time limit which is in the excepted service. You can determine if this is the case by looking at your most recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50), to see if item #24 is either 1 or 2 and item #34 is 2. If so, you are likely in this category.



• Veterans' Recruitment Appointment: You are currently on a Federal civilian appointment, without time limit, which was made under the authority of the Veterans' Recruitment Appointing Authority. You can determine if this is the case by looking at your appointment Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50), to see if item #5-B is either 'Transfer,' 'Exc Appt,' or 'Conv to Exc Appt' and item #5-C is 'J8M.' If so, you are likely in this category.



• Time Limited Appointment: You are currently on a Federal civilian appointment with a time limit. You can determine if this is the case by looking at your appointment Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50), to see if item #5-B includes a date following 'NTE.' If so, you are likely in this category.



• If you are unsure, refer to your most recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) or ask your servicing Human Resources Office.



4. If you are NOT currently serving in the competitive service as a permanent career or career-conditional Federal employee, are you eligible for reinstatement based on career or career-conditional Federal status in the competitive service?



• Please select "yes" only if you are eligible for reinstatement into the Federal civilian competitive service. You can determine if this is the case by looking at any of your Notifications of Personnel Action (SF-50), to see if item #24 is 2 and item #34 is 1 and you are within 3 years of your most recent separation from Federal service; or if item #24 is 1 and item #34 is 1. If so, you are likely eligible for reinstatement (this will be confirmed by review of your documents).



5. If you are, or ever were, a Federal civilian employee, what is the pay plan of the highest graded position you held on a permanent basis?



• If your pay plan is/was not General Schedule (GS), please select "Other." Be sure to use the pay plan of the highest grade or level position you held on a permanent basis (that is, not a temporary promotion or detail or an appointment that had a specific time limitation).



6. If you selected "Other," please enter the pay plan.



• If you selected "Other" in the previous question, please fill in the pay plan (for example: NH, GG, FS).



7. If you are, or ever were, a Federal civilian employee, please indicate the highest grade level or pay band you held on a permanent basis.



• Remember to use the highest grade or pay band you held on a permanent basis (that is, not a temporary promotion or detail or an appointment that had a specific time limitation).



8. If you are, or ever were, a Federal civilian employee, please indicate the dates of the position you listed in the previous question (MM-YYYY to MM-YYY or MM-YYYY to Present, or N/A if not applicable).



• Enter the 'from' and 'to' dates you served in the position you referenced in the previous question.



• Time-in-grade restrictions may apply to your eligibility to be considered for positions under merit promotion procedures (see Time-in-grade in Section I above).



9. If you are, or ever were, a Federal civilian employee who held a General Schedule (GS) permanent position in the competitive service, what is the highest full performance level (promotion potential) grade of that position?



• Select the highest grade (or highest full performance level grade) position you held permanently in the competitive service. This means either the highest grade you actually held or the highest full performance level grade (i.e., promotion potential) of your position.



• You must have held the position on a permanent basis in the competitive service (i.e., SF-50 item #24 must be either 1 or 2 and item #34 must be 1).



• If you are using your highest full performance level grade instead of the grade which you held, that grade will be shown in the 'Remarks' section of the SF-50 which documents your initial placement in that position.



10. If you are, or ever were, a Federal civilian employee who held a non-General Schedule (not GS) permanent position in the competitive service, what is the highest full performance level (promotion potential) grade of that position?



• Provide the pay plan and highest full performance level of the non-GS position you held. This information will be used in determining to which GS grade your position was equivalent.



• You must have held the position on a permanent basis in the competitive service (i.e., SF 50 item #24 must be either 1 or 2 and item #34 must be 1.



• If you are using your highest full performance level grade instead of the grade which you held, that grade must be shown in the 'Remarks' section).



11. If you answered the previous question, what is the agency and organization by which you were employed?



• Provide the name of the agency where you held the position so that we may access and review the pay schedule used at that agency.



12. Are you a Federal retiree receiving an annuity?



• This information is important so that we may advise you correctly regarding any impact on either your annuity or your salary, if you are selected for the position.



• With certain types of disability retirement and for certain types of Federal appointments, your annuity could be suspended while you are federally employed. For details on the impact Federal employment may have on your annuity, please go to http://www.opm.gov/fers_election/facts/ri83-12.htm.



• For most reemployed annuitants who continue to receive an unreduced annuity based on civilian Federal service, their NSF salary will be reduced by an amount equal to their annuity. (For example, if you are receiving a $20,000 per year Federal annuity and accept an NSF GS-11 position with a salary of $55,000, you will actually be paid $35,000.)



13. Have you accepted a buyout from a Federal agency within the past 5 years?



• In most cases, if you have accepted a buyout from a Federal agency within the past five years, you are required to repay it prior to Federal reemployment.



• You may want to speak with a Human Resources representative to determine whether or not you are required to repay the buyout and how much would be due if you accepted a position at NSF.



14. Are you eligible for noncompetitive appointment under a Special Appointing Authority? (Special appointing authorities permit NSF to noncompetitively appoint applicants or convert them from temporary or excepted service appointments. The following authorities are available to NSF (click on the links for more information about eligibility criteria for the first three):



• Veterans' Recruitment Appointment: See Veterans' Recruitment Appointments (VRA) formerly Veterans Readjustment Appointments) under 'Special Appointing Authorities for Veterans.'



• Disabled Veterans: See 30 Percent or More Disabled Veterans under 'Special Appointing Authorities for Veterans.'



• Persons with mental retardation, severe physical disability or psychiatric disabilities: See http://www.opm.gov/disability/appointment_disabilities.asp.



• Student Career Experience Program (SCEP): Under this program, a student who has fulfilled the education requirements (that is, completed the program upon which the SCEP appointment was based) and worked the required 640 hours, is eligible for conversion to a permanent position at any agency within 120 days of satisfactory completion of course requirements.



• Presidential Management Fellow Program (PMF): Under this program, an individual who has successfully completed the requirements of the PMF program is eligible for conversion to a permanent position at any agency within 120 days of satisfactory completion of the program.



15. If you are eligible for noncompetitive appointment under a Special Appointing Authority, and wish to apply for such an appointment, please indicate for which authority you wish to be considered.



• You will be asked to provide supporting documentation.



16. Are you eligible for appointment under an interchange agreement or other similar authority?



• Interchange agreements between the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and other agencies with established merit systems prescribe conditions under which employees may be moved from one system to another. OPM has agreements with the following agencies:


• Tennessee Valley Authority



• Nuclear Regulatory Commission



• Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs



• Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS)



• Non-appropriated Fund (NAF) employees of the Department of Defense



• Federal Aviation Administration



• Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration



• Corporation for National and Community Service



For more information and/or to determine if you might be eligible for movement from one of the above systems to NSF's competitive service, click here.


• There are some additional noncompetitive authorities not listed in the above 'Interchange Agreements' for which you may be eligible. They include:



• Miscellaneous Regulated Authorities (for more information, and/or to determine if you might be eligible for movement from one of these systems to NSF's competitive service, click here).



• Appointment of Foreign Service employees



• Career or Career-conditional appointment under special authorities (such as Peace Corps volunteers, former overseas employees, incumbents of positions brought into the competitive service)



• Conversion to career or career-conditional employment from other types of employment (such as employees formerly appointed via competitive examining and appointments leading to noncompetitive conversion).



• Miscellaneous Not Regulated Authorities (for more information, and/or to determine if you might be eligible for movement from one of these systems to NSF's competitive service, click here).



• Postal career service employees



• Postal Rate Commission employees



• Government Accountability Office (GAO) employees



• Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts employees



• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employees





17. If you are eligible for appointment under an interchange agreement or similar authority, please identify the organization for which you work(ed).



18. Are you a displaced employee?



• For more information and/or to determine if you might be eligible as a displaced employee from NSF (CTAP), click on this link: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp#ctap



• For more information and/or to determine if you might be eligible as a displaced employee from another agency (ICTAP), click on this link: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp#ictap



• Applicants eligible for selection preference under the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) must meet the agency definition of "well qualified." At NSF, this means a score of 90.0 or higher.



• If you claim eligibility for one of these plans, you will be asked to provide supporting documentation.

• Yes/No: These questions address a variety of topics about your background, but you should be sure that your education, experience & background reflect that you meet the full intent of the question.



• Applicant Assessment: These questions ask you to identify your level of expertise in a particular field. Your application should show that you fully meet the qualifications at the level chosen.



• Multiple Choice: Choose the single most appropriate answer.



• Multiple Answer/Multiple Choice: You may select as many answers as are applicable, but you should choose only those answers that are supported by your application package.



• Short Answer (limited to 250 characters): Provide a brief narrative response to the question asked. Do not cut and paste from your résumé or position description.



• Long Answer (generally limited to 4000 characters): Provide a concise, direct answer to the question being asked; be specific and provide examples, where appropriate.



• The key to an effective long answer question is not the length of your answer, but the extent to which it addresses the issues raised by the question. For example, if the question asks for an example, provide one good example that best reflects your expertise and ability. It is not necessary to select more than one example.



• Do not cut and paste from your résumé or from a position description. The purpose of a long answer question is to obtain information that is not already in your résumé, although it may elaborate on items mentioned more briefly there. The long answer also gives the selecting official a sense of your ability to express yourself effectively in writing, so you should review your response to be sure it is clear, appropriate, and grammatically correct.



• Here's a helpful format for providing work examples in narrative responses to long answer questions:



• Challenge: What was the challenge you faced? What role did you have?



• Context: With whom were you working? In what environment?



• Action: What action(s) did you take to address the challenge?



• Result: Describe the result(s) of your actions. What changes were made? What improvements resulted?

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