CHEMIST (FORENSIC EXAMINER)

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Basic Requirement for a Chemist (Forensic Examiner):

A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in the physical sciences, life sciences, or engineering that included 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by course work in mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics.

OR

B. Combination of Education and Experience: Course work equivalent to a major in the physical sciences, life sciences, or engineering, including at least 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

Specialized Experience:

GS-11: One year of specialized experience which includes analyzing and processing of casework that involves suspected legally controlled substances, drugs of abuse and other similar miscellaneous evidence material. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-09).

OR

Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: [insert applicable field(s) of study].

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages.

GS-12: One year of specialized experience which includes processing physical crime scene evidence; conducting examination involving the following types of evidence: suspected legally controlled substances, drugs of abuse and other similar miscellaneous evidence; preparing written report of findings. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-11).

GS-13: One year of specialized experience which includes examining, analyzing and processing of casework that involves suspected legally controlled substance, drugs of abuse and other similar miscellaneous evidence materials; providing expert court testimony, consultation, crime scene support, and forensic training; reporting on the analysis of forensic evidence. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-12).

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For the GS-12 and GS-13 grade level, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas: