Finding Your Federal Linguist Career on USAJOBS
If you’re looking for a linguist position (or any position) in the federal government, then you need to be familiar with USAJOBS and how to navigate its postings.
USAJOBS is the federal government’s official employment site that “connects job seekers with federal employment opportunities across the United States and around the world.” Federal agencies use USAJOBS to host job openings and match qualified applicants to those jobs.
But, it can be intimidating or overwhelming to navigate at times. This blog post will give you an overview of the main features of USAJOBS, teach you how to search for open positions, and share some tips on how to read the job announcements.
How to Search USAJOBS
When you visit the USAJOBS.gov homepage, you’ll see two search bars right at the top of the window.
You can search by job title, department, agency, series or occupation. In keywords, you can search for job titles or occupations like “Translator.” You may want to search several times using different keywords such as “Translator,” “Interpreter,” “Linguist,” or “Language Specialist,” as agencies use different titles for their linguist positions. You can also search for your working language(s) by entering “Russian,” or “Chinese,” for example. You may find occupations in which you can contribute your language skills that you never considered before.
You can also add a location or indicate that you’re willing to work remotely. That will help narrow your search and filter only the open positions that are relevant to you. Check out the How to Search page for more information on how to further filter your search.
Reading the Job Announcement
Once you find a job announcement that looks interesting, you should read the full job announcement carefully. At the top, you will see a Summary of the position. On the right, you will see an Overview that includes important information such as the announcement’s closing date, the salary range, the location, whether the job is remote work or telework eligible, the work schedule, and other conditions of employment. It will also say how many vacancies, or open positions, there are for this job.
Some job announcements may also have application caps and will close when they receive a certain number of candidates, which may be earlier than the announcement closing date. Because of that, it’s always better to apply earlier rather than later.
The This job is open to section is also important. Many job announcements are open to the public, but some are only available to federal employees (internal promotions), veterans, military spouses, individuals with disabilities, or other specific hiring pathways. This can save you time from applying to positions for which you do not qualify.
The Duties section will outline all of the job duties you will be expected to do in this position. For example, an “Interpreter” position may only require interpretation, but a “Language Specialist” position may require the candidate to translate, interpret, and transcribe. This will help you assess whether this position is a good fit for your skills.
The Requirements section explains all of the conditions of employment. Some agencies may only hire U.S. citizens, while others may also hire U.S. residents (Green Card holders). Depending upon the position, there may also be a background investigation, a financial clearance check, a residency requirement.
The Qualifications section outlines what education or professional experience is required for the position at that grade, or level of difficulty. The posting also covers the Benefits, How you will be Evaluated, and the Required Documents you will need to submit to support your resume and application.
Creating an Account and Setting up Notifications
You can create an account on USAJOBS even before you are ready to apply to a job. If you create an account in advance, you can upload documents such as your resume, transcripts, and any relevant certificates or certifications. That way, when you do see a job that interests you, you have all your documents ready to go in the system.
Did you know you can also set up notifications for future job announcements? You can save a search for a keyword–such as “Translator” or “Arabic”– and location and agree to receive email notifications. You will then get an email if a new job is posted that matches what you are looking for. If you save a search, you will have a better chance of knowing when new jobs are posted.
Learn More
Some agencies host sessions to share information about employment opportunities. The Office of Personnel Management regularly holds an event to help you prepare your resume for federal jobs, which have specific guidelines. Go to the Events page and look for the Writing Your Resume for Federal Jobs.
Now that you are familiar with USAJOBS and how to navigate its postings, take some time to explore the website and kickstart your search for your linguist career in the federal government!