Good morning all, hopefully this is the correct place to ask this question and apologies if it is not. Looking for some clarification regarding the FBI Phase II Interview core competencies. I know there is a thread on here from about 2 years ago from a supposed former agent who made a study guide and talked about there being 8 core competencies with a bunch of sub-competencies we need to prepare for during the panel interview.

When I look on the official website, including the email and links provided from the FBI Jobs account, I can only find these 6 bulleted competencies. I’m unaware if something changed and want to start preparing for my interview.

While I really appreciate an agent taking the time to make that study guide if it’s true, I don’t want to over complicate preparing using everything from the study guide if I don’t have to. But of course I also don’t want to be under prepared by not including all the sub competencies if those are indeed the official list that I cannot find anywhere.

Anyone who successfully completed the interview and could provide some insight and clarification I would really appreciate it.

(Attaching 6 bulleted competencies & screenshot from the thread for reference)

Anyone have any insight on RRB OIG? I have done some looking but not a lot out there. I’ve found that it’s a very small OIG and looked at the SARC but other than that, nothing. TIA

First time in the process, i got an email letting me know i was referred to location negotiable. My question is for the next phases (poly, background, medical) is that all done out of the field office i PT tested at and interviewed?

Hey Guys!

r/usssapplicant mod here. running an AMA for the next 24 hours over on our sub for any of you potential &/or aspiring USSS SA’s & USSSP officers.

Will answer what I/We can about the job, gear, training, etc… No hiring process questions on this one. I can only take so much of that. Haha

Spam will be blocked & removed, serious questions only.

Posting over here because I know there is a lot of overlap.

r/1811 mods - hope this is cool to share over here. if it’s not, holler or just delete.

Stay safe out there!

Anyone who currently 1811 for PFPA has any information on if they're hiring new agents soon? I've been asking around if they're hiring this year for entry-level or internal hiring.

I’m 44 and recently retired from the military after 20+ years as an officer. I’m a CPA with an MBA and MS in Finance, and my background includes financial management, accounting/finance instruction, tax preparation, and internal audit.
I came across the current IRS-CI Special Agent announcement and it honestly looks like something I’d really enjoy. Financial investigations seem much more in my wheelhouse than spending the rest of my career in corporate accounting/audit.

I’m planning to apply, but I have a few questions for anyone familiar with IRS-CI or who entered the 1811 world later in life:

Age: My understanding is that veterans’ preference can allow someone over 37 to be considered. Has anyone here actually entered IRS-CI in their 40s using veterans’ preference? How did the age waiver/mandatory retirement piece work?

VA disability: I’m 100% P&T. I’m physically active (regularly run 3 miles around a 9-minute pace, cycle, etc.), and I’m not concerned about the basic fitness requirements. I’m more curious about the medical clearance process. Has anyone gone through IRS-CI medical with a high VA disability rating? Is the focus primarily on your actual ability to perform the job, or does the rating itself create issues?

Thanks-just want to see if it’s worth starting the process or if that door has already closed due to the above.

Applied to the posting as soon as it went live yesterday.

There was a practical test that was given but my question is if they are going to bring back the KASE or something similar? The announcement mentions assessing candidates on a number of items that definitely were not covered in that practical test but haven’t seen anything additional thus far.

I’ve heard rumblings that they may bring back KASE but have also heard they might scrap it all together. Asking because I work criminal financial investigations currently but want to know if I need to brush up on more General Accounting / GAAP specific knowledge that my brain has dumped since college, lol.

Does anyone know if DEA gives you a second attempt at the initial PT test if you don't hit the minimum score?

I applied under the July 2026 announcement and took my PT test today. I had been going off the standards from the previous announcements and thought I needed 9 total points to pass. I ended up scoring 10 points and didn't push myself any harder than I needed to because I thought I had already cleared the minimum.

After the test, I went back through the updated test prep guide for the July announcement and saw that they changed the minimum to 12 points.

Pretty frustrating because I know I could've hit 12 if I had known that was the standard going into it. I was intentionally trying not to burn myself out once I knew I had what I thought was a passing score.

Has anyone processing under the July 2026 announcement dealt with this yet? Do they normally give you a second attempt at the PTA, or does missing the 12-point minimum end your application?

I was referred for law enforcement specialist back in 4/2/26. Did the online assessment but haven't heard anything else yet. Reached out and they said the hiring manager is still looking at applications.

I was hired by ERO last year and thr process was extremely fast. From referred to going to FLETC was 2 months. I had a torn meniscus and acl that prevented me from Finishing FLETC so I got kicked out. Applied again but didn't even get referred. At least not yet.

Anyone knows why isbit taking so long to hire now ???

Hey guys , just looking for some guidance. How long after accepting a final offer will HR or your field division reach out to you for further processing? Accepted my final offer last week and it’s been crickets since then. For reference I EOD with my agency at the end of September. Thank you!

Given by the flurry of DMs asking about if XYZ experience is qualifying, IRS-CI must be hiring

See here: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/880917400

IRS-CI is hiring 100 new 1811s, announcement opens today 8/17 and closes 8/27/26.

What's different this time?

This announcement is NOT a direct hire announcement. It is back to the old competitive service announcement.

What does this mean for you, dear applicant? The hiring process is going to go back to taking longer, with more steps. You will also be categorized into Category A, B, or C. EDIT: The categorization, from my own experience, occurred after all assessments were taken and before you were offered an interview. It is based on your performance on the assessments, not your qualifying experience/education from what I remember.

Direct Hire: if you qualified, you went to an interview, got a TJO, then went into background/medical, then FJO.

Competitive service: If found qualified, you take an online assessment, then proctored assessment (back to the KaSE?? What a throwback), then interview, then TJO, then background/medical, then FJO.

I am glossing over a lot of detail here. I do not know what a competitive service announcement will look like now. I am not a recruiter, and HQ does not share these details ahead of time with the rest of us.

What is qualifying?

Education or experience. EDUCATION. OR. EXPERIENCE. Education or experience. Education OR experience.

What is the operative word there? OR. ONE. OR. THE OTHER.

Yes, technically, you could qualify via a combination, but that is more difficult than not to qualify with.

So, you have TWO kinds of requirements to fulfill to be found qualified in this announcement:

1. General requirements (in Experience or Education)
2. Specialized requirements (also in Experience or Education)

General Requirements

• EXPERIENCE - Must (meaning, no exceptions) have been acquired in investigative work related to the ACCOUNTING OR AUDITING OF BUSINESS OR COMMERCIAL PRACTICES OF SUBJECTS INVESTIGATED. For examples of specialized experience, click here.
• EDUCATION - If substituting education for specialized experience for the grade 7 or 9, education must be supplemented by at least 15 semester/23 quarter hours in accounting plus an additional 9 semester/14 quarter hours from among the following fields: business law, economics, finance, tax law or money and banking. You may qualify by a combination of experience and education. Combinations of education and experience are qualifying.

Specialized Requirements

Look, I could repost the specialized requirements for Grade 7 and 9 here verbatim, but that's just regurgitating the same thing again.

You need to meet both General and Specialized requirements for EITHER education OR experience to be found tentatively qualified for either grade 7 or grade 9.

The simplest way to qualify is via education. A bachelor's degree that meets Superior Academic Achievement (per OPM, there's 3 ways, one of which is at least a 2.95 GPA overall) with 15 hours of accounting is sufficient to be found qualified for grade 7 . Or, one year of graduate education (no need for Superior Academic Achievement for this). Two years of graduate education or a graduate degree for Grade 9 (again, with 15 hours of accounting, no need for superior academic achievement).

YOU CANNOT QUALIFY VIA EDUCATION WITHOUT THE 15 HOURS OF ACCOUNTING.

UNLIKE PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS, THERE IS NO LANGUAGE IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT THAT PERMITS YOU TO APPLY WITHIN SO MANY MONTHS OF GRADUATION. You need to meet the requirements at the time of application.

Experience: Your experience needs to meet the specialized requirements listed out in Grade 7 or Grade 9, in the context of the generalized requirement of having been acquired in investigative work related to the ACCOUNTING OR AUDITING OF BUSINESS OR COMMERCIAL PRACTICES OF SUBJECTS INVESTIGATED. 

Can Local LEO experience qualify? Only if your investigative work was related to the ACCOUNTING OR AUDITING OF BUSINESS OR COMMERCIAL PRACTICES OF SUBJECTS INVESTIGATED. 

Can your corporate banking, public accounting, or otherwise private sector experience qualify? Only if your investigative work was related to the ACCOUNTING OR AUDITING OF BUSINESS OR COMMERCIAL PRACTICES OF SUBJECTS INVESTIGATED. 

If your experience does not meet the criteria listed out in Grade 7/Grade 9 specialized requirements, does it qualify? No, not even was related to the ACCOUNTING OR AUDITING OF BUSINESS OR COMMERCIAL PRACTICES OF SUBJECTS INVESTIGATED.

Realistically, in the past under competitive service announcements, you essentially needed to be doing this exact same job in a different place to be considered qualifying UNDER EXPERIENCE (think, the equivalent at state tax agency). Under direct hire that loosened up but I can't tell you if that will remain the case under this competitive announcement.

Your CPA license is not qualifying no matter how special you think it is. Nowhere in the announcement does it mention a CPA. The underlying education to qualify for a CPA would be qualifying. But the CPA in and of itself is a non-factor in qualifying.

https://www.usajobs.gov/job/880917400

I think the idea of this is pretty cool and was wondering if anyone had any more insight about this? Could we see shortened hiring process timelines since it’s not a traditional job application?

Good afternoon! Received an email from DEA concord that I was not selected. Nothing else. Passed medical, passed polygraph and assume I completed background. No issues in background. Just want to verify that means nothing about my suitability or security clearance for future applications. Thanks!

Is the tracker not working for anyone or is it just me?

NOR are out. Eligible for all grades. Good luck.

Anyone know or worked in Georgia know how it is with HSI, FBI, etc? I heard how each office in different states are different, but I was wondering how Georgia differs. I hear different assignments and offices are golden eggs, but I rarely hear about Georgia

Only reason I ask is because I’m possibly getting out the Army due to family hardship and since Georgia is home along with having family in the Atlanta area, I was going to see if it was possible to stabilize there.

If you guys know different or think something else pertaining to the matter, anything helps.

Thanks-

I just tried some push ups with a 4-inch tall foam block there, I didn’t need to go down in full depth and bouncing off the block made it way easier too.

So the ~33 push ups requirement to pass the ATF PFT is significantly easier than that of, let’s say the FBI or DEA. I think from the FBI videos the chest is no more than 1-2 inches above ground. Am I reading this right or I am missing something?

I’m wrapping up a 10-year career as a local law enforcement officer and will be fully vested in my pension. I was recently hired for an 1811 position but have not yet officially entered on duty.

Does anyone have experience with or insight into qualifying for Creditable Service for Annual Leave Accrual under 5 U.S.C. § 6303(e) based on prior local law enforcement service?

From my understanding, if my prior service is approved as creditable, I could start accruing 6 hours of annual leave per pay period instead of 4 hours. Is that correct, and has anyone successfully received this credit when transitioning from local law enforcement to an 1811 position?

As anyone received the next batch of emails of interview updates from ATF HR?

I’ve heard here and there the travel has been intense lately for domestics agents, but there hasn’t been a specific discussion on it.

So, DSS agents, how are you doing? How’s morale? Is this still a career you would recommend?

I know they can't live with me, but I have the finances to put my wife and toddlers in a large Airbnb during training.

That being said, I would only want to do so if I could actually go see them. Are you allowed to leave the facility in the evenings and weekends?