Technical Information Specialist, GS-1412
Definitions:
EXPERIENCE: One year of work experience is twelve months working full-time (at least 35-40 hours per week). Part-time experience can be pro-rated (i.e., a year at 20 hours per week is credited as 6 months of experience). If your position consisted of mixed duties, experience credit is given for the percentage of time that you spent on qualifying duties (i.e., if you held a position for 2 years, full-time, consisting of 25% personnel work and 75% budget work, and then applied for a budget position you could calculate your experience as follows: 2 yrs = 24 months. 24 months x 75% [percentage of time spent on budget duties] = 18 months of qualifying experience.)
UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION: A year of undergraduate education is 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours or the equivalent of college study. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent was a prerequisite.
GRADUATE EDUCATION: In the absence of specific graduate program information, a year of graduate education is 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours of graduate level college course work, or the number of credit hours the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full time study. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Applicants must meet A, B or C below to satisfy the basic requirement for Technical Information Specialist, all grade levels.
A. A full 4-year course of study that meets all the requirements for a bachelor's degree with major study in the subject matter field of the position to be filled.
**OR
B. Four years of experience that provided a knowledge of the basic principles, theories, practices, techniques, and terminology of a discipline or subject matter field of the position to be filled; an understanding of the standard methods, procedures, and techniques of research and analysis in the subject-matter field of the position to be filled; and where appropriate, ability to read and comprehend nontechnical material in one or more foreign languages. Such experience must have been equivalent to that which would have been gained through a 4-year college curriculum.
**OR
C. A combination of education and experience as described above. The combined education and experience must be comparable in type, scope and thoroughness to that acquired through successful completion of a 4-year course of study as described in "A" above.
For GS-09:
In addition to the basic requirement as stated above, applicants must meet one of the following to qualify for the GS-09 level:
**2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education or master’s or equivalent graduate degree, e.g., LL.B. or J.D., related to the position to be filled that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for successful job performance.
**Or one year of specialized experience that is equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in the Federal service.
Specialized experience must have demonstrated the ability to perform, supervise, or direct on or more of the functional areas of work covered by this series; to understand the concepts, theories, new developments, and co-relationship of information in related fields; and to maintain up-to-date information on the state of the art. For positions where foreign language proficiency is needed, applicants must be able to read and/or translate material in the appropriate specialized subject-matter field.
Examples of GS-07 level work may include: 1) analyze scientific articles containing commonly understood scientific concepts and principles; 2) organize information using standard reference tools and established techniques and practices, such as application of existing indexing terms, and customary reference interviewing techniques; 3) participate in workshops, technical meetings, and related outreach functions; 4) respond to a broad range of general requests from other Federal agencies; and 5) research scientific and technical publications, bibliographies, indexes, card catalogs, trade journals, and reference books.
For GS-11:
In addition to the basic requirement as stated above, applicants must meet one of the following to qualify for the GS-11 level:
**3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education (54 semester hours, 81 quarter hours or the equivalent) or doctoral degree (Ph.D., M.D., or equivalent) related to the position to be filled that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for successful job performance.
**OR one year of specialized experience that is equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal service.
Specialized experience must have demonstrated the ability to perform, supervise, or direct one or more of the functional areas of work covered by this series; to understand the concepts, theories, new developments, and co-relationship of information in related fields; and to maintain up-to-date information on the state of the art. For positions where foreign language proficiency is needed, applicants must be able to read and/or translate material in the appropriate specialized subject-matter field.
Examples of GS-9 level work may include: 1) retrieving physical science information that was readily available using standard search strategies; 2) finding background information on earth science issues where information sources were readily available, of limited technical complexity and involved concepts and principles that were fairly well understood; 3) assigning indexing terms where the decisions on choice and number of terms were apparent from the content of the article. For examples 1-3, the supervisor made assignments by defining objectives, priorities, and deadlines and assisted with unusual situations that did not have clear precedents. Problems and deviations in these work assignments were handled in accordance with instructions, policies, previous training or accepted information practices. Interpretation and adaptation of the guidelines to specific cases, problems or situations was required. Completed work was usually evaluated for technical soundness, appropriateness, and conformity to policy and requirements.
**OR a combination of successfully completed graduate level education, as described above, that is beyond the second year of progressive graduate study and specialized experience, as described above. (CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO COMBINE GRADUATE EDUCATION & SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE)
For GS-12:
In addition to the basic requirement as stated above, applicants must meet the following to qualify for the GS-12 level:
**One year of specialized experience that is equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal service.
Specialized experience must have demonstrated the ability to perform, supervise, or direct one or more of the functional areas of work covered by this series; to understand the concepts, theories, new developments, and co-relationship of information in related fields; and to maintain up-to-date information on the state of the art. For positions where foreign language proficiency is needed, applicants must be able to read and/or translate material in the appropriate specialized subject-matter field.
Examples of GS-11 level work may include: 1) determining the number and depth of indexing terms to assign to journal articles on groundwater that enabled researchers to identify only those materials directly related to research projects; 2) identifying patterns of new terminology usage in physical science literature in order to recommend new terms and accompanying hierarchy of broader and narrow terms; 3) responding to requests for information concerning research in specific science areas that required considerable analysis to determine the specific research area and the types of information that most directly met the requester's needs. For examples 1-3, the supervisor set the overall objectives. Assignments were planned and carried independently, resolving most conflicts that arose. Interpretation and adaptation of the guidelines to specific cases, problems or situations was required. Work was reviewed from an overall standpoint in terms of feasibility, compatibility with other work, or effectiveness in meeting requirements or expected results.