Competitive Service
Displaced/Surplus Employees
Displaced Employees
Displaced employees are current or former career or career conditional competitive service employees at the grade level GS-15 or below, and facing reduction in force separation or involuntary separation for declining a directed reassignment or transfer of function outside the commuting area.
Surplus Employees
Surplus employees are current career or career conditional competitive employees at the grade level GS-15 or below in a position or occupation identified by the employing agency as "surplus" and therefore face future potential reduction in force separation.
Excepted Service
Federal Employment for Persons with Disabilities
Excepted Service Appointment
Reinstatement Eligibility
Special Appointing Authorities
Status Candidates
Type of Appointment
Career Appointment, Competitive Service
A term used to describe an employee's status within the Federal government. It includes all employees in the competitive service who have completed 3 years of substantially continuous Federal service.
Career Appointment, Excepted Service
A term used to describe an employee of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's status. It includes all OCC employees in the excepted service who have completed 1 year of substantially continuous Federal service.
Career Conditional Appointment, Competitive Service
A term used to describe an employee's status within the Federal government. It includes permanent employees in the competitive service who have not completed three years of substantially continuous service to become a full career employee.
Career-Conditional Appointment, Excepted service
A term used to describe an employee of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's status within the Federal government. It includes permanent employees in the excepted service who have not completed their first year of employment.
Excepted Service Appointment
Pathways
Short for the Pathways Program - A term used to refer to a new series of programs developed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to reform the student hiring programs across the government. The Pathways Programs contains three main hiring options: Internship Program, Recent Graduate Program, and the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program.
Temporary Appointment
An appointment lasting one year or less with a specific expiration date.
Term Appointment
An appointment that refers to when an employing agency hires an employee to work on a project of a non-permanent nature for a limited period of time. Normally, the appointment period is for more than one year but no more than four years.
Veterans' Recruitment Appointment (VRA)
A special authority by which agencies may appoint an eligible veteran without competition. The candidate must meet the basic qualification requirements for the position and can be referred directly to a hiring manager for consideration. The use of the authority is entirely discretionary and no one is entitled to a VRA appointment. VRA appointees initially are hired for a 2-year period. Successful completion of the 2-year VRA appointment leads to a career appointment.