Non-Government Job Websites

The following websites are non-governmental:

Government Job Information

The Federal Office of Personnel Management website (www.usajobs.opm.gov) has information on jobs and lists many of the open positions in government agencies. You may create a resume online, search for jobs by agency or series, and find information about pay scales, student programs, and necessary qualifications.
Once you have begun to create an online resume you have the option to “create job search agents.” This option allows you to receive notification of any job openings that fit the parameters you select. The parameters you may select are specific locations, categories, agencies, etc. While searching, your agent will be as specific or general as designed.
Some jobs you may find when searching require your resume to be submitted in a format other than the one you can create online, so it may be best to search for your job first, and then create your resume if needed.  You can still use the agents as long as you begin a resume, you need not waste time completing it if you want to use this feature, just start it and save it for later.
 

Federal Agencies that Commonly Hire Our Students

Go to www.usajobs.opm.gov and click on “Search Jobs,” and then the “Agency Search” tab to search by agency. 
 
These agencies include:

Agriculture, Department of
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
Forest Service
Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS)         
Interior, Department of
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Bureau of Reclamation
National Park Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
 

Some Common Federal Job Series

Go to www.usajobs.opm.gov and click on “Search Jobs”, then the “Series Search” tab and select the desired series.

0404 Biological Technician

0499 Biological Student Trainee

0482 Biologist, Fishery

0486 Biologist, Wildlife

1370 Cartography

0408 Ecology

0460 Forestry

0462 Forestry Technician (can be a fire or a forestry job)

1812 Game Law Enforcement

0401 General Biological Sciences

0150 Geography

1350 Geology

1315 Hydrology

1316 Hydrology Technician

0807 Landscape Architect

5035 Livestock Ranching/Wrangling

0023 Outdoor Recreation Planning

0025 Park Ranger

0455 Range Technician (can be a fire or a range job)

0454 Rangeland Management

0189 Recreation Aid and Assistant

0188 Recreation Specialist

0485 Wildlife Refuge Management

You can also do a “Series Number Search” where you can look for all available jobs in a certain series.
For example, you can type in “04” and search for all Biological Science jobs (range, wildlife, fisheries, forestry).

04 Biological Science (range, wildlife, fisheries, forestry)

13 Physical Science (hydrology, geology, etc.)

00 Misc. jobs (Park Ranger, Recreation Technician, etc.)
 
Another good technique in finding job listings is to search under the “keyword search” option under “job search” at www.usajobs.opm.gov. Some examples are as follows:

Seasonal wildfire technician

Grand Teton plants

Idaho fire

Etc. (you may be as vague or specific as you want)

 
Federal Pay Scales

 

Educational Requirements

Temporary and seasonal jobs are generally GS-03 or GS-04 positions. Permanent positions are generally GS-05 or above. The required experience for such positions is found on each job announcement. Position requirements are as follows:

GS-01 None
GS-02 High school graduation or equivalent
GS-03 Six (6) months of general experience OR successful completion of 1 year of study that included at least 6 semester hours in any combination of courses, such as range management or conservation, agriculture, forestry, wildlife management, engineering, biology, mathematics, or other natural or physical sciences.
GS-04 Successful completion of 2 years of study that included at least 12 semester hours in any combination of courses such as forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources, outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire science OR 6 months of general experience and 6 months of specialized experience OR 4 seasons of specialized experience.
GS-05 Four academic years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree, or Bachelor's degree
GS-07 Bachelor's degree with superior academic achievement for two-grade interval positions or one year of graduate education (or law school, as specified in qualification standards or individual occupational requirements)
GS-09 Master's (or equivalent graduate degree such as LL.B or J.D. as specified in qualification standards or individual occupational requirements), or two academic years of progressively higher level graduate education
GS-11 PhD or equivalent doctoral degree, or three academic years of progressively higher level graduate education, or for research positions only, completion of all requirements for a master's or equivalent degree (See information on research positions in the qualification standard for professional and scientific positions)
GS-12 For research positions only, completion of all requirements for a doctoral or equivalent degree (see information on research positions in the qualification standard for professional and scientific positions)
GS-13 and above Appropriate specialized experience is required for all positions.


For more information visit the US Office of Personnel Management

Note that many permanent federal job series have specific educational requirements, which can be found on the following web pages. Find the series you are interested in and click on the IOR link (Individual Occupational Requirements).

Links to all other job series educational requirements can be found at:
  www.opm.gov/qualifications/sec-iii/a/num-ndx.htm

 

Other Federal Job Resources (Good Fire Job Resources)

FIRES (Fire Integrated Recruitment Employment Systems)
This Department of the Interior site is similar to the BLM quickhire site but specializes in fire jobs. You must complete a series of online questions to compose a profile and then you can apply for jobs.

http://jobs.quickhire.com/scripts/doiff.exe
www.firejobs.doi.gov

Forest Service Jobs
The Forest Service also advertises temporary jobs on their own website through a centralized online application process. 
www.fs.fed.us/fsjobs/openings.html

Bureau of Land Management (non-fire jobs)
The BLM also has an online application program for temporary non-fire jobs.
http://jobs1.quickhire.com/scripts/blm.exe

 

Student Hiring Authority or STEP

Students who will be returning to school may also wish to call different offices where they may be interested in working even if there are not positions advertised. The selecting officials may not know it but they have the authority to hire a student through the STEP program without advertising a position. For information on the STEP and SCEP programs, see the following websites:
www.fs.fed.us/fsjobs/employ.html
www.usajobs.opm.gov/students.asp

 

State Employment Links