HANDBOOK FOR THE FEDERAL JOB OPPORTUNITIES BOARD (FJOB) An Electronic Bulletin Board That Provides Federal Employment and Job Information U.S. Office of Personnel Management Employment Services Staffing Service Center Macon, Georgia 31298 October 1995 THE FEDERAL JOB OPPORTUNITIES BOARD TELEPHONE NUMBERS System Access (Data Line) (912) 757-3100 Help Desk (912) 757-3090 Help is available Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. INTERNET ADDRESS FJOB.MAIL.OPM.GOV FJOB TABLE OF CONTENTS FJOB Telephone Numbers .........................................2 Federal Job Opportunities Board............................... 4 Equipment Requirements........................................ 4 Accessing the FJOB............................................ 5 Dialing-Up the First Time and Registering..................... 5 Using the FJOB................................................ 6 General Instructions.......................................... 6 Figure 1. Federal Job Opportunities Board Main Menu. 7 Designated Keys....................................... 8 Feedback to Sysop...................................... 8 Selection 1. Federal Jobs.................................... 8 Item 1. Job Opportunities Files and Messages ............ 8 Figure 2. Federal Jobs Menu ......................... 9 Item 2. Job Search ..................................... 10 Figure 3. Sample Job Record ..........................12 Forms Requests ......................................13 Vacancy Announcements ................................ 13 Item 3. Application Information and Forms; Other Employment Topics....................................................... 14 Selection 2. Conferences and System Functions............... 14 Item 1. Conferences (Formerly POSH)..................... 14 Figure 4. Conferences and Systems Functions Menu .. 15 Item 2. Electronic Mail................................. 16 Item 3. Bulletins/Utilities/System Functions............ 16 Item 4. Human Resource Systems........................... 16 Logging Off the Board..........................................17 User Survey ...............................................17 FEDERAL JOB OPPORTUNITIES BOARD The Federal Job Opportunities Board (FJOB) is an electronic bulletin board operated by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. It is one of three components of the Governmentwide employment information system that includes the Career America Connection telephone system [(912) 757-3000 or TDD service (912) 744-2299] and the Federal Job Information Touch Screen kiosks that are located at OPM offices and in some Federal buildings. The FJOB provides up-to-date Federal employment information as well as bulletins, notices, and messaging. There is no charge for the information provided, however, you will be paying for the long-distance telephone charges. The Board is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There may be brief periods during the night when system maintenance is performed and the board is unavailable. The FJOB is a U.S. Government Computer system, intended for the purpose of conducting Federal Government business, particularly as related to employment and job information. Mischievous use of this system is a violation of federal law, and can be punished with fines or imprisonment (Public Law 99-474). Please report suspected violations to the Help Desk. EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE COMPONENTS NEEDED: 1. Personal computer with 2400 baud or higher modem. 2. Telephone line. NOTE: 300 and 1200 baud modems are still supported, but we recommend using a faster modem for the communications connection. SOFTWARE NEEDED: 1. Communications software package. (Procomm Plus, Procomm, Telemate, Bitcom, Crosstalk, Smartcom, Telix, Qmodem and Reflections are a few of the major telecommunications programs available for the IBM compatible PC. Zterm communication software is available for the MacIntosh; Modem manager is available for the Apple II; there are many others). 2. Datacomm settings: Parity = none; data bits = 8; stop bits = 1. If you will want to download files from the Board, you will need to be familiar with the capabilities of your communications software. ACCESSING THE FJOB You may connect to the FJOB by calling: (912) 757-3100. If you get a busy signal, wait a few minutes, dial again, and you should connect to the FJOB. Certain days of the week and times of the day are busier than others. Mondays and Tuesdays are busier than other days. The best times to call are early morning (Eastern Time) and in the evening. The best days to call are Saturday and Sunday and holidays. The FJOB is also available through Internet. The address is FJOB.MAIL.OPM.GOV for telnet, internet mail, and limited FTP. For full FTP access, the address is FTP.FJOB.MAIL.OPM.GOV. There are 10 ports assigned for Internet access. This is an inbound connection only. You will only be able to come in to the bulletin board from the Internet. You will not be able to go out to the Internet. This connection supports Telnet, FTP and electronic mail. The Federal job files are available for FTP access. DIALING-UP THE FIRST TIME AND REGISTERING When you dial up the board the first time you will be asked to register. After you register, you will be given access to information on job vacancies, application procedures, and other employment matters. When you first connect with the FJOB you will be asked the following questions: First name? Last name? Calling from (City, State)? VT-52 IBM PC VT-100 TERMINAL Mac Generic Mac ZTERM Atari Commodore IBM, ANSI ANSI-BBS Enter letter of your terminal or PC, if not listed: If you are using an IBM compatible PC, select "B", "I", OR "J". If you are not sure which option to select, choose "D". If you are unsure how to answer a question, press and you will be prompted for additional information. If, when you type your first and last name, the system asks if you are calling from a specific city, you have either registered previously OR someone else has registered with the same name. If you have not registered before, answer "N." When requested, type your name again, using a shortened version of your name, adding a letter, or changing the spelling (whatever will be the easiest for you to remember). Once your name can be distinguished from others in the system, you will be allowed to register as a new user. If you need additional help, please call the HELP DESK. The phone number is listed on page 2 of this manual. After completing the questions, the system will then ask for your password: Please enter a 1-8 character Password to be used for future logons. This password may have any printable characters you wish. Lower case is considered different from upper case and imbedded blanks are legal. REMEMBER THIS PASSWORD! You will need it to log on again). After providing a password (and typing it a second time to confirm it), you will be asked to provide more information. Please complete the registration by answering all questions. Be careful in typing your address and telephone number. Registration information is as follows: Your first name: Your last name: Your agency/company name (if any): Your street address: (2 lines) Your city: Your state (2-letter abbreviation code): Your ZIP/postal code: A voice telephone number where (you can be reached): USING THE FJOB To make selections from the various menus, type the character that is highlighted on the menu or within the carets: < >'s. You will discover that some features are available from several menus. Two major selections are shown on the main menu. (See Figure 1.) You may choose either selection. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS This manual is intended only as a guide. Because bulletin boards are dynamic in nature, menus and options change. The Board is designed to provide the information you need on each screen so that you can move through and perform functions without referring to an instruction manual. Each menu and sub-menu includes instructions for the functions shown; those instructions are not repeated in this manual. Figure 1. Federal Job Opportunities Board Main Menu MAIN MENU FEDERAL JOB OPPORTUNITIES BOARD ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ Ü 1 Federal Jobs 2 Conferences and System Functions Goodbye Who's on line Show Recent Callers Help Feedback to Sysop Alter Settings Roadmap Internet Address: FJOB.MAIL.OPM.GOV Command: DESIGNATED KEYS. The following keys work the same throughout the FJOB menu structure: Typing "M" will bring you back to the main menu. Typing "P" (for previous) or a "-" (minus key) will move you back one menu level. Typing "G" (for goodbye) will send you to the logoff menu. In this guide, commands to be used on the bulletin board are identified as characters or words shown in quotation marks. Most commands will be single characters (alpha or numeric) from the keyboard. When a carriage return (or enter) is required, the command is shown with . FEEDBACK TO SYSOP. The Main Menu includes one special feature, Feedback to Sysop. This feature allows you to leave messages to the Systems Operator using Electronic Mail. You can use this option to report problems, ask questions, or send a comment. Please feel free to try any option. A help function is available throughout the system to provide instructions whenever you are unsure what to do. SELECTION 1. FEDERAL JOBS By pressing "1" from the Main Menu, you will be taken to the menu for Federal Jobs. (See Figure 2.) Items 1-3 on this menu are open for general use: job vacancy listings, application information, and a download capability for information in the job vacancy listings. Item 4 is restricted to authorized agency users. ITEM 1. JOB OPPORTUNITIES FILES AND MESSAGES This selection contains job vacancy files that can be downloaded to your computer. Instructions for completing the download are provided on the screen. Files in this area are comprised of data files used for offline processing. In order to download files, you may need to check your communication software manual for download procedures and "protocols." Figure 2. Federal Jobs Menu FEDERAL JOBS ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ Ü 1 Job Opportunities Files and Messages 2 Job Search 3 Application Information and Forms; Other Employment Topics 4 Agency Jobs Entry System * Goodbye Previous Menu Main Menu Help Ways to look for Federal jobs (Help) Command: *This option is used by Federal agency personnel to enter job vacancies. It requires special authorization from the System Operator. JOB OPPORTUNITIES FILES AND MESSAGES 1 Job Files for all Open Competitive and Merit Promotion Positions 2 Job files by State 3 Job files for Senior Executive Service Positions 4 Messages Files ending in .ZIP are compressed with PKZIP, and must be decompressed using PKUNZIP. Files ending in .EXE are self-extracting files; type the name of the file to decompress it. For jobs files, the decompressed file name will end with .DAT or .TXT. (Files are updated daily, Tuesday - Saturday). PKZIP and PKUNZIP files can be found by selecting "2" (Conferences and System Functions) from the Main Menu and then "3" (Bulletins), "2" (Utilities) and File Area "1"; instructions for downloading are provided in that area. ITEM 2. JOB SEARCH This search provides information for job vacancies that are currently open. Records are updated nightly; job entries that are closed are removed and new open ones are added. Records do not appear before their opening date. The program will first ask whether you are searching for jobs that are Open Competitive, Merit Promotion, or a combination of the two. After identifying the type of vacancy listing you desire, the system will prompt you: Online Federal Job Search There are xxxx job announcements in the database today. The database was last updated on mm/dd/yy. SEARCH OPTIONS: 1. Search by Job Series 2. Search by Job Title 3. Search by Agency 4. Browse Job Announcements by Series 5. Browse Job Announcements by Title 6. Search for Summer Jobs - Series = 9999 7. Display Federal job announcements by state 8. Request forms (MUST know OPM 6 character control number) 9. Search for Senior Executive Service (SES) positions V. View text of announcement (Need OPM 6 character control number) C. Browse job announcements that have complete text D. Date to use in Search - ALL H. Help on Search Options J. Help on Series and Titles Q. Quit Enter the number of your choice: Searches are done by job series, job title, agency, or State. When you search by SERIES, the program will find all jobs identified by the four-digit series code, regardless of the job title. When you search by TITLE, the program will only find jobs that include the key word you provided. For example, if you type "Program", the system will bring up all titles that include that word: Computer Program Analyst, Computer Programmer, Program Analyst, Program Manager, Social Science Program Specialist, etc.; however, it would not bring up a related job that did not include that word -- such as Computer Specialist. Searches by AGENCY are done by agency sub-organization; if you request listings for Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, it will not bring up jobs from another Department of Justice unit, such as Marshal's Service. If you select the STATE search, the program will only provide vacancy information on jobs that are in that state. It will not provide information on vacancies that are in close proximity or just across the state line. For example: the Washington Metropolitan Area includes locations in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Searches by series will provide the most reliable listing. If you don't know the series code, you may use "H" from the menu to receive help in identifying the series, or search by the title to identify the series and then search by series. Select a number from 1-7 to begin a search; select "8" if you know the OPM control number for an announcement and wish to request a copy of the full text for an announcement. Before performing the search, the system will ask you for additional information to narrow your search by grade level and location. You can leave these blank and you will receive information on ALL grades and locations fitting the search limits you have set. When you have responded to both questions, the system will ask whether you wish to Enter V to view them online or D to write them to a file to download later: After you have indicated your preference, the system will search for the vacancies fitting your criteria. If you have indicated "V", the first job record will appear on the screen. (See Figure 3.) Figure 3. Sample Job Record FEDERAL JOB OPPORTUNITIES - OPEN COMPETITION ANNOUNCEMENTS JOB TITLE SERIES/GRADE OPENS - CLOSES CONTROL ---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- PROGRAM ANALYST GS-0343-07/11 05/08/95-05/22/95 EG0567 AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER: 95-ER-63-117 DUTY LOCATIONS: GERMANTOWN, MD FOR APPLICATION INFORMATION CALL JANE DOE................... AT (202)111-1234 OR CONTACT: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AD-525, ROOM F-126 19901 GERMANTOWN ROAD GERMANTOWN, MD 20874 REMARKS: VACANCY IS OPEN TO COMMUTING AREA. TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, CALL THE DOE VACANCY HOTLINE NUMBER ON 202-586-4333 APPLICATIONS OR RESUMES MUST BE POSTMARKED OR RECEIVED BY THE CLOSING DATE OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT. DESIRED REQUIREMENT: WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF SOLAR ENERGY PROGRAMS. Press ENTER to view next job announcement. Type FORMS and press ENTER to request application materials. Type VACANCY and press ENTER to view complete vacancy announcement. Type EXIT and press ENTER to quit searching. NOTES: The "Agency Announcement Number" is used by the issuing agency to identify the announcement. Please use this number when requesting the vacancy announcement and forms directly from the agency. The VACANCY option will only appear when an announcement is on file. The job record (see Figure 3) identifies the announcement number, an OPM control number, the job series, job title, grade(s), location, closing date, and office to contact for copies of the complete announcement. Frequently, remarks have been added to provide important information about the job; for example, shift work; part-time or temporary appointments; required tests; background investigations; or special requirements, such as technical knowledge or licenses, certifications or memberships. Many vacancy announcements require the applicant to address "Knowledges, Skills and Abilities (KSAs)" or "Quality Ranking Factors" that identify work experience or education related to the vacancy. You will need the full vacancy announcement containing the quality ranking factors or information on special application forms to provide this information. The vacancy announcement may be available in the system, or you may request a copy by calling or writing the agency directly or by requesting the announcement from a specific job record. At the bottom of each vacancy listing, you have several choices to assist you in your research. FORMS REQUESTS. By typing "FORMS" and pressing , you will enter a request screen that is used to provide your address to the contact agency so they can send you the full vacancy announcement. You may confirm OR change your mailing address. Requests from the FJOB are faxed to the agency and information is sent out FROM the agency TO you. VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENTS. The on-line job search will allow you to view or download complete vacancy announcements for many positions listed. If a vacancy announcement is on file for a job you are viewing, an on-screen prompt will appear to ask if you would like to see the announcement. With complete vacancy announcements in the system, you can readily make more informed decisions about what positions to pursue and apply for those jobs more quickly. Important Note: The addition of full text vacancy announcements to the system is presently voluntary for Federal agencies. If you don't find attached vacancy announcements for the positions in which you are interested, please contact agencies directly or use the automated forms request feature. HOWEVER, when you find vacancy announcements available, please do not use the automated forms request. In the near future, the forms request option will be shut off when vacancy announcements are available. We suggest that you write down the announcement number, contact name, phone number, and address shown on the job record in case you wish to contact the agency for additional information. If the vacancy will close within the next 5-7 days and the announcement is not available on-line, we recommend that you call the agency to request the announcement directly. ITEM 3. APPLICATION INFORMATION AND FORMS; OTHER EMPLOYMENT TOPICS These text files provide application information, general employment information, and downloadable files that include several forms that can be used to apply for jobs. Software to produce, fill out and print the OF 612 is available. Option 4 provides information on a variety of employment subjects and copies of the Federal Employment Info Line. APPLICATION INFORMATION AND FORMS; OTHER EMPLOYMENT TOPICS 1 How to apply for a Federal job 2 Optional Federal Application Form (OF 612) 3 Other Employment Sources (EI-42) 4 Other Employment Topics 5 Download Federal Job Information Files SELECTION 2. CONFERENCES AND SYSTEM FUNCTIONS By selecting Selection "2" from the Main Menu, you will be taken to the menu for Conference and Systems Functions. (See Figure 4.) All four items are open for general use. Information and data contained in this selection is revised and updated from time to time. New conferences, bulletins and resource information will be added as necessary. ITEM 1. CONFERENCES (FORMERLY POSH) Conferences are divided into "Public" and "Private." Access to Private Conferences is limited; if you are interested in joining, you will need to call the Conference Moderator whose name appears when you attempt to access the listing. Presently, there are five Public Conferences: Staffing Operations/Policy, Affirmative Recruiting, RIF Conference, Veteran's Information, and Applications On-Line. Conferences may include messages and queries from participants, documents on the topic, and files for downloading. Figure 4. Conferences and Systems Functions Menu CONFERENCES AND SYSTEM FUNCTIONS ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ Ü 1 Conferences (Formerly POSH) 2 Electronic Mail 3 Bulletins/Utilities/System Functions 4 Human Resource Systems Goodbye Previous Menu Main Menu Help Ways to look for Federal jobs (Help) Command: ITEM 2. ELECTRONIC MAIL This feature of the board is provided to allow you to interact with others concerning employment information and related subjects. From the Electronic Mail menu, you may read your mail, search for a user's name, leave a message, or view your own mail box. If you have technical questions regarding the FJOB, you may leave a message for SYSOP (System Operations) either here, from the Main Menu, or before leaving the FJOB. General information questions related to employment may be directed to the user name "Employment Information." ITEM 3. BULLETINS/UTILITIES/SYSTEM FUNCTIONS The BULLETIN feature provides information on subjects related to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's mission. It also furnishes information on the locations of other Federal Bulletin Boards, a list of Federal agencies, and the addresses of Office of Personnel Management offices throughout the country. UTILITIES is a download area that includes files for several computer platforms (including IBM-compatibles and MacIntosh) and for such programs as PKUNZIP and several virus scan softwares. The SYSTEM function provides some basic information on the FJOB, including hours of operation and statistics on FJOB usage. ITEM 4. HUMAN RESOURCE SYSTEMS Summaries are available from 1990 Census data on the education, earnings, and occupations by State, gender and national origin. In addition, there is a list of historically Black Colleges and Universities and contacts for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. LOGGING OFF THE BOARD You may end your connection with the FJOB by typing "G" from the main menu or many of the sub-menus. USER SURVEY. Before logging off, the system will ask if you wish to participate in a user survey. This survey is designed to determine whether we are meeting your needs. It consists of five questions and takes approximately thirty seconds to complete. When you finish the survey or tell the system "N", you will be taken to a log-off screen with 3 choices: Would you like to leave a confidential message to the SYSOP? We are always open to comments and suggestions on ways to improve our board. Please take a moment and leave us some feedback. Yes No ... Terminate Session Abort ... Don't quit now Command: If you would like to leave a message for the Sysop, type "Y". To leave the FJOB, type "N"