Work is professional when it requires the exercise of discretion, judgment, and personal responsibility for the application of an organized body of knowledge that is constantly studied to make new discoveries and interpretations, and to improve data, materials, and methods.
Examples may include an attorney, engineer, or a biologist.
Administrative: Administrative work involves the exercise of analytical ability, judgment, discretion, and personal responsibility, and the application of a substantial body of knowledge of principles, concepts, and practices applicable to one or more fields of administration or management. While these positions do not require specialized education, they do involve the type of skills (analytical, research, writing, judgment) typically gained through a college level education, or through
progressively responsible experience.
Administrative work may be performed as a part of the principal mission or program of an agency or subcomponent, or it can be performed as a service function which supports the agency’s mission or program. Employees engaged in administrative work are concerned with analyzing, evaluating, modifying, and developing the basic programs, policies, and procedures which facilitate the work of Federal agencies and their programs. They apply a knowledge of administrative analysis, theory, and principles in adapting practice to the unique requirements of a particular program.
Examples may include a personnel management specialist, budget analyst, or a general supply specialist.
Technical: Technical work is typically associated with and supportive of a professional or administrative field. It involves extensive practical knowledge, gained through experience and/or specific training less than that represented by college graduation. Work in these occupations may involve substantial elements of the work of the professional or administrative field, but requires less than full knowledge of the field involved.
Technical employees carry out tasks, methods, procedures, and/or computations that are laid out either in published or oral instructions and covered by established precedents or guidelines. Depending upon the level of difficulty of the work, these procedures often require a high degree of technical skill, care, and precision. It does not require the application of knowledge and skills equivalent to those required for two-grade interval work.
Examples may include a forestry technician, accounting technician, or a personnel assistant.
Clerical: Clerical occupations involve structured work in support of office, business, or fiscal operations. Clerical work is performed in accordance with established policies, procedures, or techniques; and requires training, experience, or working knowledge related to the tasks to be performed.
Clerical work typically involves general office or program support duties such as preparing, receiving, reviewing, and verifying documents; processing transactions; maintaining office records; locating and compiling data or information from files; keeping a calendar and informing others of deadlines and other important dates; and using keyboards to prepare typewritten material or to store or manipulate information for data processing use. The work requires knowledge of an organization’s rules, some degree of subject matter knowledge, and skill in carrying out clerical processes and procedures.
Examples may include a secretary, office automation clerk, data transcriber, or a mail clerk.
Other Kinds of Work: There are some occupations in the General Schedule which do not clearly fit into one of the four other categories (professional, administrative, technical or clerical). Included among these are series such as Fire Protection and Prevention Series, GS-081, and Police Series, GS-083. The series definition or classification standard should indicate whether the series is one- or two-grade interval.
RELATED TOPICS: Classification Standards; General Schedule Classification System.
General Management EEO Classification Labor Relations Employee
Relations Staffing Employee
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Revised: 11/18/98
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