Internal Placement Transfers
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Federal government employees under certain conditions may request
reassignment from one organization or geographic location to another. This is a
considerable benefit to the employee and it can also benefit the agency as well.
If you desire to transfer to a larger office that has more developmental and
career advancement opportunities or simply to relocate to a more desirable area
you can use the Internal Placement Process (IPP). Some agencies call the program
Employee Requested Reassignment (ERR). Every Department has their own internal
program however they all follow similar guidelines as outlined here.
Consideration shall be given to IPP requests according to the needs of the
Agency. This means that if you are in a critical federal government job and the
position you now occupy is understaffed, you may have to wait until staffing
improves at that location before the agency will approve your request. The
location you choose must also have positions available or projected vacancies in
the job series and grade that you request consideration for. It’s also important
to realize that the government may not fund your Permanent Change of Station
(PCS) move since the move will be at your personal request. However, the agency
may fund the PCS if funds are available and if the move is determined to be
beneficial to the government.
Career and career-conditional employees located in the continental United
States may request reassignment at any time to any other Agency position for
which they are qualified. Employees occupying excepted positions may request
reassignment only to other excepted positions, unless they are eligible to apply
for positions in the competitive service because of having previously acquired
civil service status.
Internal IPP Requests
Your organizational unit (an area office, systems management office, or
district office for example) may include a number of field offices located
throughout a large geographic area. If you wish to initiate an IPP request to
another location within the same organizational unit you must submit your
written request through your immediate supervisor to your organizational unit’s
manager (area office, systems management office, or district office manager).
Consideration shall be given in accordance with the reassignment practices of
the program area involved.
Employee Requests and IPP Processing (Detailed procedures are outlined in
Take Charge of Your Federal
Career by Dennis V. Damp. This book is available for $17.95 plus
shipping toll free at 1-800-782-7424 (ORDERS ONLY).
A career or career-conditional employee of one agency may transfer, without a
break in service of a single workday, to a competitive service position in
another agency without competing in a civil service examination open to the
public. A transfer eligible may apply under vacancy announcements open to status
candidates. An employee may transfer to a position at the same, higher, or lower
grade level.
The key to successfully transferring to another position is professionally
packaging your federal style resume. You must
tailor your work histories and KSAs to the job announcement or position's
required duties and qualifications that you are targeting. Use the all
new 10th edition of The Book of U.S. Government
Jobs to take you step-by-step through analyzing the job announcement to
writing your work histories and KSAs. You can also hire a
professional resume writing service to assist you if desired.
Transfer Eligibility
- Federal employees who are serving in the competitive service under a
career or career-conditional appointment have eligibility for transfer to a
position in the competitive service.
- To transfer, you must meet the qualification requirements for the
position. Written tests are not common but if one is required, arrangements
will be made for you to take it.
- Employees must be found suitable for employment in competitive service
positions. If your current appointment is subject to a suitability
investigation, that condition continues after you transfer.
- Generally with a transfer, a career employee remains a career employee,
and a career-conditional employee remains a career-conditional employee.
Applying For Transfer
To apply for a transfer you must first conduct your own job search.
Individuals usually apply to agencies in response to vacancies announced under
the merit promotion program. Some agencies accept applications only when they
have an appropriate open merit promotion announcement, while others accept
applications at any time. If you are seeking a higher grade or a position with
more promotion potential than you have previously held, generally you must apply
under a merit promotion
announcement and rank among the best-qualified applicants to be selected.
Status applicants include individuals who are eligible for transfer.
Also, transfer eligibility does not guarantee you a job offer. Hiring
agencies have the discretion to determine the sources of applicants they will
consider.
Finding Agency Merit Promotion Announcements
Merit Promotion announcements are posted on
USAJOBS and individual agency web sites
when jobs are announced outside of an agency's own workforce. Agency recruiting
sites provide worldwide job vacancy information, employment fact sheets, job
applications and forms, and have on-line resume development and electronic
transmission capabilities. In many instances, job seekers can apply for
positions on-line.
On the web site, job seekers can access worldwide current job vacancies,
employment information fact sheets, applications and forms, and in some
instances, apply for jobs online. Complete job announcements can be retrieved
from the web site. You will also find various Online Resume Builder features.
Using the resume builder, job seekers can create online resumes specifically
designed for applying for Federal jobs. I recommend writing
your federal style resume off line first and then copy and paste into the
online resume builders. Resumes created on the online resume builders can be
printed from the system for faxing or mailing to employers; and saved and edited
for future use. For many of the vacancies listed on the site, job seekers can
submit resumes created through these resume builders however you should be aware
that there are differences between agency resume builders. A comprehensive
listing of 141 agency world wide recruiting web sites for jobs and employment
information, may be accessed at
www.federaljobs.net/federal.htm.
Probationary Period
An employee is not required by the civil service rules and regulations to
serve a new probationary period after transfer. However, the employee continues
to serve the remainder of any probationary period which he/she was serving at
the time of transfer. In most cases, an employee must wait at least three months
after his/her latest non-temporary competitive appointment before he/she may be
considered for transfer to a position in a different line of work, at a higher
grade, or to a different geographical area. OPM may waive the restriction
against movement to a different geographical area when it is satisfied that the
waiver is consistent with the principles of open competition.
Positions Restricted to Veterans
Some positions in the competitive service such as guard, messenger, elevator
operator, and custodian have been restricted by law to persons entitled to
preference under the veteran preference laws. Generally, a non-veteran employee
cannot be transferred to such positions if there are veterans available for
appointment to them. This restriction does not apply to the filling of such
positions by the transfer of a non-veteran already serving in a federal agency
in a position covered by the same generic title. For example, a non-veteran who
is serving in the position of guard may be considered for transfer to the
position of patrolman, guard, fireman, guard-laborer, etc.
Hardship transfers can be requested by employees that are experiencing
personal problems at their current duty station. There are many reasons that
people request hardship transfers; to care for sick parents; lack of medical
facilities at your location for specific treatments for you or your family
members; to get closer to your children after a divorce when your ex spouse has
custody; and any number of other reasons that create an undue hardship on you or
your family.
The key to successfully transferring to another position is professionally
packaging your federal style resume. You must
tailor your work histories and KSAs to the job announcement or position's
required duties and qualifications that you are targeting. Use the all
new 10th edition of The Book of U.S. Government
Jobs to take you step-by-step through analyzing the job announcement to
writing your work histories and KSAs. You can also hire a
professional resume writing service to assist you if desired.
The procedure is similar to the IPP process except that you must describe the
hardship in your cover letter. Prepare a cover letter requesting the hardship
transfer along with an application (OF-612, federal resume, or SF-171) and give
it to your immediate supervisor. Include the desired duty location in the cover
letter, job series and grade of the position at the new location, and a copy of
your training history. Your supervisor will forward it to the next level of
management with his/her recommendation.
There must be a position available or an anticipated vacancy at the new
location for the request to be considered. Check with your Human Resource
department for your agency’s hardship transfer procedures. Each agency has
written policies that describe the process in detail.
Internal Placement Transfers
/ Hardship Transfers / Transferring to Other Agencies
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