Active Position: A position that opens up regularly.

Announcement Number: A unique number assigned to each vacancy announcement. The announcement number can vary in length and style according to the agency's requirements. It is essential that this number be referenced on your application.

Area of Consideration: Who may apply for a job; for example, those with competitive status or with a Notice of Results Rating. One of 5 codes may be used on a vacancy announcement to indicate the area of consideration: A=Agency only (you must be currently employed in that agency); AQ=All Qualified (anyone may apply); CS=Competitive Service (you must successfully complete a specific examination for the job); DoD=a Department of Defense job; RE=Reinstatement Eligibles only may apply (a former Federal employee who has retained full competitive status and is eligible to apply for a Federal job on a noncompetitive basis)

Contact: Who you should call or write for more information about the vacancy announcement. If it is indicated that more information is required, always contact the source, you may need to provide additional background information on specific forms to be considered for the job.

Duties: What your duties and responsibilities will be in the job position.

Duty Location or Duty Station: The geographical area in which an employee is assigned. If the application indicates more than one duty location, you may be assigned to any of those shown, unless you are requested to indicate your preferred geographical work location. Some vacancy announcements show duty location as regional, national, or worldwide; take this into consideration when applying for such a job.

Forms Required: The forms required for positions in the Federal government may vary, according to the position. Read this section of the announcement carefully so you do not leave out any required forms, otherwise your entire application package may be refused.

Grade Level: The level (representing work experience and/or education) within a salary rate schedule or system. Represents classes of positions that, although different with respect to kind or subject matter of work, are related closely enough in (1) level of difficulty and responsibility and (2) level of qualification requirements to warrant inclusion within one range of basic compensation rates. In this case the applicant would begin the job at grade 11, with the promotion potential to 13 on the General Schedule.

Job Series: Those job titles related closely enough to be designated by the same number in the Federal job classification system. This will be a 4-digit number, in this case 0801. May also be called the "series of classes." When applying you must refer to the job title, job series number, and grade level. You will often see a sequence like the one shown GS-0801-11/12. GS indicates the General Schedule (white-collar) salary table used, 0801 is the job series (engineers), and 11/12 indicates the grade level at which the applicant can be hired.

Job Title: The formal name of a position as determined by official classification standards in that agency.

Open Period: The time period set by the agency in which they will accept job applications. Usually has an opening date and a closing date. If a job is continuous open, the closing date will be indicated in the announcement as "open continuously" or "open until filled" or "indefinite" as in this case. If an actual closing date is included in the announcement, it may be the date the application has to be received by the agency or it may be the date that a mailed application must be post-marked. Always check to determine the meaning of the actual closing date, or you may miss the application open period.

Promotion Potential: The likelihood of eventual promotion into an upper-level job. The announcement will indicate the grade level that you could promote to in this job title.

Qualification Requirements: Education, experience, and other prerequisites to employment or placement in a position.

Remarks: Some vacancy announcements may include special remarks, providing additional information for the job candidate, such as special job requirements or an unusually large number of applicants needed, or if the job is part time or seasonal, etc.

Salary: Salaries for Federal jobs are based on Federal Pay Schedules. A number of pay schedules exist: for example white collar, wage grade, Veterans Administration, executive level jobs, and others. An applicant may be placed at a variety of salary steps within a grade level, depending on experience and background, or previous Federal service. A job location may require a salary adjustment, based on a location-specific pay schedule.

Special Qualifications: Requirements added to the minimum standards for a position to distinguish among minimally qualified candidates. Frequently referred to as "knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs), "ranking factors," "selective placement factors," or "evaluation factors."

Vacancy Announcement: Job announcement issued by a specific agency, usually for a job that is currently available. You can respond to a Vacancy Announcement for a continuous open job at any time.

Where to File: Follow the directions in this section. If your application package is to be mailed by a certain date, ensure that you do so, taking into consideration mail time. If no phone calls are requested, do not call, but mail all of your documents to the appropriate address.