Competitive versus Noncompetitive Appointments

Noncompetitive appointments get you hired much faster than competitive appointments.

In the Federal service, a job is called an appointment. And there are two types of appointments: competitive and noncompetitive.

Competitive appointments are filled through open competitions from vacancies usually posted on USAjobs.com. Applicants are ranked based on their qualifications and veterans preference. The most highly candidates get interviewed. The best one gets a job offer.

But competitive appointements are time-consuming, and, well, competitive. You may be competing against 100 other applicants. Not very good odds.

Noncompetitive appointments are not filled through open competitions. But you still need to have the minimum qualifications for the job.

The types of job seekers that are eligible for noncompetitive appointsments are: vets (VEOA), disabled vets, displaced federal employees, bilingual applicants, students (for internships), and current or former federal employees.

The reason an agency uses noncompetitive appointments is that they are required to hire a certain number of candidates from the above mentioned groups. Each vacancy announcement will list the number of noncompetitive appointments for a vacancy. But not all noncompetitive appointments are published!

You can contact a specific agency's Selective Placement Coordinator to learn of published and "unpublished" noncompetitive appointments. Go to USAjobs.com for more information.