When you are seeking a Federal Job, half the battle is understanding the terms. I want to clear up a big one for you in this article.

The term "GS" stands for (General Schedule) General Schedule is simply a pay-scale. It is the scale used for most of the "white collar" workers in the Federal Government. You will hear people tell you that GS stands for Government Service or Government Servant and I am sure a few more colorful phrases as well.

The GS exists to make it simple and easy and equitable to manage the rate of pay amongst Federal employees in all the various agencies of the Federal Government.

Can you imagine if every worker in every agency got a different salary even if they did the same job?

The government would be even more confusing than it already is! Yikes!

I've included a breakdown of the "current" Gs grades so that you can look it over. There are 15 levels with 10 grades each. This is accurate as of the end of 2006 and represents a "base" pay grade. There are other factors that can affect pay but this is a good reference point for you to have.

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Step 10
1 16630 17185 17739 18289 18842 19167 19713 20264 20286 20798
2 18698 19142 19761 20286 20512 21115 21718 22321 22924 23527
3 20401 21081 21761 22441 23121 23801 24481 25161 25841 26521
4 22902 23665 24428 25191 25954 26717 27480 28243 29006 29769
5 25623 26477 27331 28185 29039 29893 30747 31601 32455 33309
6 28562 29514 30466 31418 32370 33322 34274 35226 36178 37130
7 31740 32798 33856 34914 35972 37030 38088 39146 40204 41262
8 35151 36323 37495 38667 39839 41011 42183 43355 44527 45699
9 38824 40118 41412 42706 44000 45294 46588 47882 49176 50470
10 42755 44180 45605 47030 48455 49880 51305 52730 54155 55580
11 46974 48540 50106 51672 53238 54804 56370 57936 59502 61068
12 56301 58178 60055 61932 63809 65686 67563 69440 71317 73194
13 66951 69183 71415 73647 75879 78111 80343 82575 84807 87039
14 79115 81752 84389 87026 89663 92300 94937 97574 100211 102848
15 93063 96165 99267 102369 105471 108573 111675 114777 117879 120981

People of all levels work for the Federal Government, from Phd's to unexperienced high school grads.

Just like in the Real World Some positions require a Degree or specific college credit. Some jobs require just experience. But there are many jobs that require no experience or higher education to start.

To find out about these requirements you have to study the Vacancy Announcement. It will tell you all the requirements.

You can gain increase in GS level with Job experience as well as furthering your education.It is an accepted rule that 1 year of work related experience can bump you one GS level in some positions. In some positions the bump is two levels until you reach the GS-12 level.

Here is a (rough) breakdown of GS levels by your level of formal education

* GS-1: No high school diploma

* GS-2 (GS-3 for clerk-steno positions): High school diploma

* GS-3: 1 year of full-time study after high school

* GS-4: Associate degree or 2 years of full-time study after high school

* GS-5 or GS-7: depending on agency policy and applicant's academic credentials Bachelor's degree or 4 years of full-time study after high school

* GS-7: Bachelor's degree plus 1 year of full-time graduate study

* GS-9(GS-11 for some research positions): Master's degree or 2 years of full-time graduate study

* GS-9: Law degree (J.D. or LL.B.)

* GS-11(GS-12 for some research positions): Ph.D. or equivalent doctorate or advanced law degree

There you go these are the basics of the GS system. I hope that helps. Bookmark this page and use it while you are conducting your job search.