Why This Archeologist Job Matters
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Archeologist Job Overview
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 11/13/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications: Basic Requirement GS-0193: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following: A. Education - 1. Degree - A degree that includes 3 semester hours each in the following course areas: 1. History of archeology, 2) Archeology of a major geographic area such as North American, 3) Regional Archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development, 4) Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques, 5) Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work. AND 6 semester hours of related course work in: 1) geography, geology, or cultural geography; 2) history; historiography, or historical archeology; 3) environmental studies; 4) scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or 5) surveying; AND Archeological field school. (You must submit a college transcript (official or unofficial) to verify this claim. Failure to include your transcript(s) will make you ineligible for this position). - OR- 2. Related Curriculum - A degree in Anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics); history; American studies: or a related discipline, provided the curriculum supplies academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements in A.1., including archeological field school (You must submit a transcript (official or unofficial) to verify this claim. Failure to include your transcript(s) will make you ineligible for this position). -OR- B. Combination of education and Experience - A combination of college-level education or training that provides the knowledge equivalent to that described in above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education. -OR- C. Experience - Four years of archeological work experience that demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional archeology. The work experience must have included archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeology survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials. Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher graded archeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as part of a larger archeological project. To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level: Specialized Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: (1) Conducting archeological site inventories and completing site records; (2) Preparing archeological survey and excavation reports; (3) Understanding of federal historic preservation laws; and (4) using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to record archeological site and features. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least 2 years of progressively directly related higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination: Successfully completed an appropriate combination of specialized experience and education (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level). To combine education and experience, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of completed graduate education beyond the first year by 18 (or 27 for quarter hours). The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. NOTE: You must include hours per week and transcripts. Volunteer Experience: 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). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.