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 Thinking about your 
 
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 REMEMBER UNCLE SAM WHEN 
 IT COMES TO CHOOSING AN 
 
 EMPLOYER 
 
 THE LIBRARY PF Tjjf 
 
 jMOV 1 1^66 Pamphlet 5 
 
 July 1966 
 
 university of inmate 
 
 UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION 
 
to 
 
 HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS .. . 
 
 What do you plan to do after you finish high school? Go 
 on to business school or college? Take a job? Enter the 
 Armed Forces? 
 
 Whatever you plan to do immediately upon 
 graduation, sooner or later most of you will 
 have to think about earning a living. 
 
 The Federal Government is the largest single 
 employer in the Nation, with thousands of dif¬ 
 ferent kinds of jobs in thousands of locations. 
 Since 90 percent of Government jobs are lo¬ 
 cated outside Washington, D.C., you may find 
 Federal employment opportunities in or near 
 your hometown. Uncle Sam has much to offer 
 the young person looking for a good position. 
 
 The work the Government does is of critical 
 importance to every American citizen. To be a 
 
 part of this important work, to contribute to¬ 
 ward accomplishing the mission of a Federal 
 agency, is stimulating and satisfying. Many 
 people consider this the greatest attraction of a 
 career in Government. 
 
 People who work for the Government know 
 that Uncle Sam is a good, progressive em¬ 
 ployer. Pay for most jobs compares very favor¬ 
 ably with salaries for similar work in private 
 employment. You have a chance to work up 
 to better paying jobs. Many people who now 
 hold important Federal positions began their 
 careers in jobs such as this pamphlet describes. 
 
The leave system is liberal, with paid vaca¬ 
 tions and pay for sick leave. Other career fea¬ 
 tures are training and career development 
 programs, low-cost life insurance and health 
 benefits, incentive awards, and liberal retirement. 
 
 Most Federal jobs are under civil service, and 
 that means that they are filled through com¬ 
 petitive examination and that employment and 
 advancement are on the basis of merit. Ap¬ 
 pointments are made from among the people 
 who receive the highest passing marks. 
 
 This is the democratic way of choosing em¬ 
 ployees. It makes no difference who you are or 
 who you know — the Government is interested 
 only in whether you are able to do the job you 
 are applying for. All applicants are given 
 equal consideration — regardless of their race, 
 religion, color, sex, or any other nonmerit factor. 
 
 A civil-service examination is designed to test 
 your ability to do a particular kind of job. An 
 examination for a simple job would not be diffi¬ 
 cult. Also, many examinations are not written 
 tests — you would be graded on such things as 
 how much of the required education or experi¬ 
 ence you had or on a sample of work you would 
 
 be required to send in. The minimum age 
 limit for high-school graduates is 16. 
 
 On the inside of this folder is information 
 about jobs a high-school graduate could expect 
 to qualify for. Below is the starting salary for 
 each grade mentioned. Salaries are subject to 
 change to keep them comparable with private 
 industry rates for the same level of work. 
 
 Grade 
 
 Annual Salary 
 
 GS-1 
 
 S3,609 
 
 GS-2 
 
 S3,925 
 
 GS-3 
 
 S4,269 
 
 GS-4 
 
 S4,776 
 
 To find out what examinations are open, 
 check with your school’s vocational counselor, 
 a nearby post office, or a Federal agency where 
 you would like to work. The U.S. Civil Service 
 Commission, Washington, D.C., 20415, can tell 
 you about jobs in Washington, and a civil serv¬ 
 ice regional office can tell you about jobs in that 
 region. In writing about a job, always mention 
 the kind of work you want and the place where 
 you would like to work. 
 
 If you are going on to college, the back panel 
 has information that may be of interest to you. 
 
OFFICE MACHINE OPERATORS 
 
 Almost every Government agency employs office machine operators. 
 The agencies in which they are employed in the largest numbers are 
 the Post Office Department and the Departments of the Treasury, 
 Army, Air Force, and Navy. 
 
 The machines operated by these employees include addressing ma¬ 
 chines, graphotype machines, bookkeeping and calculating machines, 
 alphabetic card punch machines, electric accounting machines, and 
 tabulating machines. 
 
 No experience is required for jobs at GS-1. Applicants who can 
 pass an appropriate performance test or high school graduates in¬ 
 structed in the operation of the type of machine appropriate for the 
 position involved may qualify for jobs at GS-2. A written test is 
 usually given. 
 
 CLERKS 
 
 Clerks read and route mail, do indexing and filing, read proof, code 
 information for statistical purposes, or do related office work. Job 
 opportunities are good for both men and women. 
 
 Clerk examinations test skills you will need on the job, such as 
 alphabetizing, arithmetic, understanding what you read, writing and 
 spelling correctly, comparing names and numbers, and following 
 directions. 
 
 High-school graduates without work experience usually start at 
 grade GS-2. A written test is required for these jobs. 
 
 DRAFTSMEN 
 
 Cartography • Engineering • Statistics 
 
 4 
 
 Cartographic draftsmen prepare maps, engineering draftsmen prepare 
 drawings related to engineering or architectural activities, and sta¬ 
 tistical draftsmen do such work as lettering and illustrating charts, 
 graphs, and diagrams used for statistical purposes. 
 
 No experience is required for GS-1 jobs. High-school graduates 
 whose courses included a certain amount of study in mathematics 
 and other subjects (science, drafting, or surveying) may qualify for 
 jobs at grade GS-2. A written test is required. 
 
 POST OFFICE JOBS 
 
 No particular kind of experience or education is required for many 
 jobs in the postal field service, and you can qualify by taking a writ¬ 
 ten test. Local residents are preferred, and it may be possible to get 
 a job in your hometown. Examples of these jobs and the salaries 
 are: 
 
 Clerk, carrier, and special delivery messenger, $2.64 an hour. 
 Rural carrier, about $110 a week for an average of 58 miles, plus 
 an equipment allowance. 
 
STENOGRAPHERS • TYPISTS 
 
 Stenographers and typists will be required to pass a written verbal 
 and clerical abilities test. Those who submit acceptable certificates 
 of proficiency in typing or stenographic courses may be excused from 
 the additional requirement of passing typing or stenographic perform¬ 
 ance tests. 
 
 Typists normally enter at grade GS-2 and stenographers at grade 
 GS-3, provided they meet the requirements of high-school gradua¬ 
 tion or appropriate experience. To qualify for GS-3 typist and 
 GS-4 stenographer positions, applicants need additional experience 
 or 1 year of education beyond high school. 
 
 TECHNICAL AIDS 
 
 In Engineering • Physical Science • Cotton Technology • 
 Meteorology • Cartography • Biology • Forestry 
 
 These employees are hired to assist engineers, scientists, and tech¬ 
 nologists working in the fields mentioned above. 
 
 No experience beyond high school is required for some jobs start¬ 
 ing at grade GS-2. For other jobs, a high-school graduate may 
 apply if his education included such courses as mathematics, physics, 
 chemistry, drafting, biology, mechanical drawing, surveying, illus¬ 
 trative design, art, or cartography. The number and kind of courses 
 required vary for the different jobs. 
 
 A written test is usually required. 
 
 APPRENTICES 
 
 The Government’s industrial establishments, mainly under the Army, 
 Navy, and Air Force, train apprentices in many trades. 
 
 The minimum age limit is 16 years. No experience is required, 
 but a written test may be given. 
 
 Salaries vary from trade to trade and are set in line with local 
 wages. Examples are $2.30 an hour for apprentice electronic me¬ 
 chanic in San Francisco, Calif., and $2.11 an hour for apprentice 
 electrician in Washington, D.C. 
 
 Apprentices who do satisfactory work are promoted at intervals 
 and at the completion of apprentice training earn the salary of fully 
 qualified workmen in their occupation. 
 
 OTHER JOBS 
 
 Many other civil-service jobs exist that the high-school graduate may 
 be able to qualify for with little or no additional education or 
 experience. 
 
 Examples are— 
 
 Telephone Operator • Nursing Assistant • Library Assistant • 
 Carpenter’s Helper , Plumber’s Helper , etc. 
 
 Messenger and elevator operator jobs are other examples, but they 
 are reserved for veterans as long as veterans are available to take them. 
 
 And for young men and women who go on to college or gain 
 experience through working, there are opportunities in a large num¬ 
 ber of other fields. 
 
and if you are going on to COLLEGE 
 
 There are many opportunities in civil 
 service for college graduates, regardless of 
 their majors. Uncle Sam is looking for 
 outstanding college-caliber people every 
 year. The Government looks to them to 
 become the top administrators, scientists, 
 and technicians of the future. 
 
 The long-range program for recruiting 
 these able people is built around the Fed¬ 
 eral-Service Entrance Examination, used 
 in filling all but highly specialized posi¬ 
 tions in such fields as engineering, physical 
 science, and accounting. 
 
 Some agencies have planned work-study 
 summer programs that can lead to full-time 
 work after graduation. They are for col¬ 
 lege students who are majoring in subjects 
 related to the agencies’ programs. Selected 
 students work during the summer, are re¬ 
 
 leased in the fall to g 
 their own expense, a 
 following summer. 
 
 U S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1966 OF—218-616