Basic Requirements for all grades, GS-5 and above

Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree with a major (or a combination of courses totaling at least 24 semester hours) in international law and international relations, political science, economics, history, sociology, geography, social or cultural anthropology, law, statistics, or in the humanities; or 12 semester hours in one of the above disciplines and 12 semester hours in statistics/quantitative methods.

Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, or a combination of related courses totaling at least 24 semester hours, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

The quality of the combination of education and experience must be sufficient to demonstrate that the applicant possesses the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform work in the occupation, and is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study with a major in the appropriate field. In addition to courses in the major and related fields, a typical college degree would have included courses that involved analysis, writing, critical thinking, research, etc. These courses would have provided an applicant with skills and abilities sufficient to perform progressively more responsible work in the occupation. Therefore, creditable experience should have demonstrated similarly appropriate skills or abilities needed to perform the work of the occupation.

OR

Equivalent experience: Four years of appropriate experience in one or more of the fields listed above in work associated with international organizations, problems, or other aspects of foreign affairs.

Click here for information on how experience and education may be combined.

In addition to meeting the basic entry qualification requirements, applicants must have specialized experience and/or directly related education in the amounts shown in the table below:

Specialized Experience: Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of Specialized Experience: The following types of work experience may qualify as specialized experience:

For GS-7: 1) Applying basic principles, theories, and concepts of a professional occupation (e.g., economist, historian, social science analyst, etc.) to carry out basic studies or analyses or prepare routine statistical surveys or tabulate and process data or prepare simple charts, tables, etc., in connection with international organizations, problems, or other aspects of foreign affairs; 2) Collecting and identifying geographic information concerning the physical and cultural features of foreign countries; or 3) Applying basic occupational safety and occupational health principles, practices, and techniques in performing routine inspections in foreign countries where low safety and occupational health risks are anticipated such as buildings or facilities.

For GS-9: Analyzing and interpreting socioeconomic statistics and drafting simple reports explaining the findings or compiling and arranging specified information from a variety of readily available sources, and making rough preliminary analysis according to precise instructions or assisting in carrying out larger studies or research involving foreign affairs issues.

For GS-11: Performing independent foreign affairs assignments of segments of larger projects such as applying analytical methods and techniques sufficient to provide senior staff members with factual information and writing brief analytical reports on nuclear proliferation and/or non-proliferation concerning a foreign country.

For GS-12: Applying established analytical and investigative methods and techniques to research, formulate and present public policy issues concerning international affairs or independently responsible for planning and carrying out a project of moderate scope or a segment of a major program to collect and report economic and social political data involving foreign issues.

For GS-13: Collecting and analyzing information concerning the technical aspects of foreign nuclear reactors, and the relative costs/benefits of different technologies or work developing criteria to recommend international occupational health and safety standards for specific hazards or performing analytical and interpretive work in collecting, evaluating, analyzing, interpolating, and correlating data involving a variety of foreign geographic phenomena.

For GS-14: Planning, analyzing, formulating and implementing a foreign technical cooperation projects (e.g., nuclear nonproliferation, fissile material disposition, arms control, international nuclear safety, etc.) or developing policies and guides to implement technical cooperation project proposals or negotiating agreements for technical cooperation projects.

For GS-15: Formulating, implementing, and operating large-scale international cultural exchange programs or foreign economic assistance programs or planning and conducting independent cost and economic analyses for foreign weapon systems or planning, coordinating, and conducting policy studies involving the assessment of foreign proposals or programs.

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