The federal government is the nation's largest employer, with more than 2 million civilian workers before 2025, most of them outside Washington. Hiring them involves rules designed to ensure fairness and merit, which critics say also make the process slow, often taking more than three months.
This guide explains how federal hiring works, from job postings to probation, and the changes under way.
Most jobs are in the competitive service, which follows OPM's standard rules. The excepted service covers positions where competitive procedures are impractical, such as attorneys, intelligence officers, and certain medical and scientific jobs, and some entire agencies, such as the FBI and the Foreign Service, run their own systems. The Senior Executive Service, created in 1978, covers about 8,000 top career managers, and Schedule C covers lower-level political staff.
The Veterans' Preference Act of 1944 gives eligible veterans extra consideration in hiring and layoffs, and veterans make up about 30 percent of the federal workforce. Most white-collar employees are paid under the General Schedule, with 15 grades and 10 steps, adjusted by locality, while blue-collar workers follow a separate wage system. New employees generally serve a one-year probationary period, during which they can be removed more easily, and in 2025 the administration required agencies to certify that probationers should be kept.
Each new administration fills about 4,000 political positions, listed in a publication known as the Plum Book. Roughly 1,300 require Senate confirmation, including cabinet secretaries, deputies, ambassadors, and agency heads. The White House Presidential Personnel Office manages these appointments. Political appointees set policy, while career employees provide continuity and expertise across administrations.
On its first day in 2025, the administration froze most federal hiring, offered deferred resignations, and later conducted reductions in force, and the workforce shrank by roughly 300,000 during the year. A Merit Hiring Plan issued in May 2025 added short essays, including one on how applicants would advance the President's executive orders, which was later made optional, and emphasized skills assessments. Supporters said the changes cut waste and improved accountability, while critics said they politicized hiring and lost experienced staff.
In the nineteenth century, federal jobs were rewards for political supporters under the spoils system. After a disappointed office seeker assassinated President James Garfield in 1881, Congress passed the Pendleton Act of 1883, requiring that many jobs be filled through competitive exams and creating the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 replaced the commission with the Office of Personnel Management and the Merit Systems Protection Board and wrote merit system principles into law.
Agencies post most openings on USAJOBS, listing qualifications, pay, and who may apply, either the general public or current and former federal employees. Applicants submit a federal-style resume, often much longer than private sector resumes, and answer questionnaires. Human resources specialists and subject-matter experts rate applicants and place them in quality categories, and hiring managers select from the best qualified. Special hiring authorities exist for students and recent graduates, people with disabilities, and hard-to-fill jobs.
See the fight over job protections in Schedule F and the fight over the civil service, compare career and political jobs in civil servants vs. elected officials, or see the totals in the federal workforce by the numbers.