People get jobs in the Federal Government in the same way that they get most jobs in the private sector: by finding openings and submitting a resume or application. But searching for a Federal job can be more complicated than other job searches. That’s because of regulations designed to keep the hiring process fair. Job titles are standardized. Resumes are more detailed. And job qualifications are more specific.

When hunting for a Federal career, you have a myriad of choices. Federal jobs are spread across more than 100 agencies and bureaus, each with its own mission and each overseeing its own hiring and recruitment.

Jobs are found throughout the Nation and across the world. About 87 percent of Government jobs are outside of the Washington, DC, area. About 3 percent are in foreign nations.

In nearly all cases, Federal employees must be U.S. citizens. Beyond that, qualifications vary.

The coding systems used to classify jobs vary by agency, but the most common system is the General Schedule (GS). The GS assigns every job a grade level from 1 to 15, according to the minimum level of education and experience its workers need. Jobs that require no experience or education are graded a GS-1, for example. Jobs that require a bachelor’s degree and no experience are graded a GS-5 or GS-7, depending on an applicant’s academic credentials and an agency’s policies.

The table below shows the GS levels for entry-level workers with different amounts of education and little or no work experience.

GS levels by education

College degrees only qualify you for a particular grade level if they are related to the job. For occupations requiring general college-level skills, a bachelor’s degree in any subject can qualify you. But other occupations require a specific major.