Federal Jobs

Hello, Just had a quick question about federal positions(GS). Does anyone know how much certifications count towards increasing experience? For example, a student fresh out of high school without a degree, but has a CCNA. Does the CCNA count as experience? If so, about how many years...?

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nosoup4u

On the federal jobs I see posted around here, they only seem to accept graduate level coursework as an experience replacement:

Education may be substituted for Specialized Experience (SE) as follows:

GS 7: Applicants must have one (1) full year of graduate level education or superior academic achievement (SAA). SAA is based on: (1) the cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher upon completion of your four year (bachelor's) degree; (2) class standing-must be in the eh upper third of the graduating class; or (3) honor society membership.

GS 9: Applicants must have two (2) full years of progressively higher level graduate education OR Master's degree OR equivalent graduate degree (such as LL.B or J.D.).

I'm sure it varies though...

Success101

nosoup4u wrote: »

On the federal jobs I see posted around here, they only seem to accept graduate level coursework as an experience replacement: I'm sure it varies though...

I saw that as well. However, on various job descriptions I have seen "Intensive training, such as IT certifications can qualify as experience".

dmoore44

You can usually claim a cert as a year of experience. But keep in mind, you're going to be competing against people with the experience/degree requirement AND certs...

rwmidl

It may count however the odds of you landing a GS position are extremely low (do you have any "real" experience?)

the_Grinch

Generally speaking, they will really want to see actual experience in the technology field. A lot of times when you apply, they'll ask you to select certifications that you have and obviously that will help. But education and verifiable experience is the surest way of getting a response.

coty24

To answer the question, college is paramount, certs not so much; dmoore44 is on the money.

<rant> I work with a ton of GS employees and I find that the selection process is a joke; pretty bad corruption.... A good bit of the time from what I saw, the vacancy USUALLY has been soft-filled; it is protocol and courtesy to post it. With that being said incompetence is rampant, at least where I work. But ALOT of GS workers are not incompetent, they professional and great at what they do; let me make that clear. </rant>

zrockstar

dmoore44 wrote: »

You can usually claim a cert as a year of experience. But keep in mind, you're going to be competing against people with the experience/degree requirement AND certs...

...AND veteran's preference. If you are a civilian applying for a GS job and not former military, you need to have all the checks in the box (I used to be a GS). Those checks are a college degree (usually masters for GS09 and above), and a year of experience doing tasks directly related to the grade lower than what you are applying for. Certs will help and will be recognized after the screening process. To even get an interview, you usually have to fill out a questionnaire. The questionnaire is just checking to make sure you have the required education and experience. The questionnaires are then screened by computer. If you don't have all the right checks in the box, your application doesn't get forwarded. If you do, it does. If you say you do, but you don't, they will find out later and you could be barred from applying with that agency again. Applying for the government isn't one of those things where you can just impress someone with your current knowledge and willingness to learn. You have to meet the requirements, or no dice.

ptilsen

I do not and have never worked for any government agency. However, I have seen both federal and state positions that listed specific certifications desired, and even placed a sort of arbitrary value on them in terms of being equivalent to years of experience.

Maybe it's just a fluke that I've seen them, but I've definitely seen several. I have seen others that were pretty much degree-or-a-whole-bunch-of-experience or bust.

the_Grinch

On the Federal side, sometimes they will list certs. Seems more like the exception then the rule, but if they need something specific it will be listed.

zrockstar

If certs are listed they generally aren't in lieu of a degree. Certs are required in federal jobs and vary depending on what IAT level they are.

MrBishop

I don't know the actually dollar amount but I do know that you'll be compensated for your certifications. I don't see anyone coming out of high school without any education or military experience landing a government position. There's just way to many qualified applicants out there with years of experience and education for them to select a graduating high school student. Here is the website that posts anual salaries for government positions according to GS level and state. 2012 Salary Tables and Related Information

jdballinger

**DISCLAIMER**
This post is my own opinion, and does not represent those of the US Government, Department of Defense, or Department of the Air Force in any way whatsoever, and should not be taken as an endorsement or lack thereof of anything at all in any way shape or form, etc. etc.
****END*****

I'm a Federal employee, and I can tell you that at least within the Department of Defense, there is no compensation for additional certifications. My job requires that I maintain my Security+ and that's it, anything I do above and beyond that is on me. They won't pay for learning resources or even he cost of a cert test. Obtaining my CCNA, A+, Project+, and I'm sure my 70-680 (after test centers are open again,) will net me zero additional dollars in my check or responsibility at work. Now bear in mind this doesn't mean it's that way through the entire government, and I've heard stories of other agencies who compensate their folks for progression, just not any out of DoD.

DACP_tim

jdballinger wrote: »

**DISCLAIMER**
This post is my own opinion, and does not represent those of the US Government, Department of Defense, or Department of the Air Force in any way whatsoever, and should not be taken as an endorsement or lack thereof of anything at all in any way shape or form, etc. etc.
****END*****

I'm a Federal employee, and I can tell you that at least within the Department of Defense, there is no compensation for additional certifications. My job requires that I maintain my Security+ and that's it, anything I do above and beyond that is on me. They won't pay for learning resources or even he cost of a cert test. Obtaining my CCNA, A+, Project+, and I'm sure my 70-680 (after test centers are open again,) will net me zero additional dollars in my check or responsibility at work. Now bear in mind this doesn't mean it's that way through the entire government, and I've heard stories of other agencies who compensate their folks for progression, just not any out of DoD.

I'm a federal employee as well and agree completely. I just need to keep my A+ & Sec+ to maintain IAT Level 2 and that's that. Anything further is for my own good for future jobs.

spiderjericho

The coty24 rant is pretty spot on. The screening process is so terrible.

And the only requirements are if your organization is enforcing 8570. Mine doesn't. The organization I was at previously required Sec+, Net+, ITIL Foundations and whatever cert aligns to your job like CCNA or MCT.

I lol when one of the GS in my office was talking to one of the desktop contractors. They were discussing something and it was making me laugh. The GS was talking about a peripheral and had no clue about the connector (which I can't remember at the moment) like something random like PS2 smart card reader. Oh yeah, I remember VGA keyboard. Something an A+ would know. This person has a masters but definitely not a proficient technician.