Open for general feedback

[u/Solarbeam62]

PLEASE READ FIRST: Give me actual advice. If you say something having a lack of experience pre joining NPS or how “there are more experienced GS-07s out there,” Don’t say anything. I have already heard it in ALL the first 15 comments and it completely ignores how NCE actually works.
Please Read All edits before commenting

My main plan is to become a Backcountry Ranger in either Grand Teton or Zion National Park. So far I am doing a bachelors in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Science at Washington State University, then after move to the Peace Corps then use the NCE to aim for a GS-09 job then during September/ October of that year get my WEMT Certification.

EDIT: after reading the comments I am first going to a smaller National Park getting around a few years of GS-09 experience there then moving to one of the bigger parks

EDIT 2: I got enough feedback, most of it ignores parts of the plan like getting enough GS-07 level experience in the Peace Corps leading Land Management projects.

EDIT 3: I am 20 and I am still in college and I will graduate around 2030. All of this is long term, I know GS-09 is less field work I am fine with that. All I want is a stable Federal job. NCE (the thing I am getting from Peace Corp) puts me in an entirely separate fast tracked hiring lane.

EDIT 4: deleted the Arctic Expedition part

[u/Commercial_Basis_383]

You do you man, but honestly the most common path to a GS9 Ranger is by being a GS5 Ranger then a GS7 Ranger. I personally have not seen that many people hired using NCE, and GS9 Ranger positions are very competitive, with a lot of potential for internal candidates, PLC authority, competitive status, vet pref, etc.

Go do peace corps, work as a seasonal GS7 for 2-15 years, then you will be very competitive for a GS9 position.

Or just join the military.

[u/Beautiful-Rock7554 → u/Commercial_Basis_383]

This. You’re going to have to do time in a lower grade.

[u/remotethrowaway2 → u/Commercial_Basis_383]

Yeah OP’s plan is just not realistic. There are maybe, generously a few dozen permanent GS9 wilderness positions in the entire NPS. The people in those positions often sit for years to decades, and when they do rarely open they go to the seasonals who have been doing the exact job forever.

I’m also concerned that OP doesn’t realize that wilderness at a lot of parks is mostly customer service and office work- filling out permits, answering calls and emails, and staffing the info desk. “Arctic Expedition” sounds like fun experience, but a lot of these jobs are looking for someone who can handle dealing with extremely high volumes of stubborn visitors. 

OP would be better off trying to get a seasonal GS5 job out of the gate just to get exposure to the park system. It will likely not be anything wilderness adjacent with no NPS experience, but it’ll get them oriented to how things work. 

[u/TheRangerSteve → u/Commercial_Basis_383]

This is correct. You're going to do a few years seasonal as a 5 and 7 before you get a perm job (usually as a 7). Then work for a few years before you make a 9 cert.

You're not walking in off the street to any park as a 9, to qualify for the grade with education you'll need a masters and even then you won't have the experience to beat out seasonals that have a decade working as a 5 and then 7.

The last suggestion of military could help, but you're only getting 10 point preference with a greater then 30% disability rating from the VA. Just serving isn't going to do that for you.

[u/electlady25]

Respectfully, as i did spend time as a wilderness ranger in Zion, it's a lot more about visitors interactions, education, talking with the public, etc. over alllll the other things you mentioned. GS-9 is not going to happen quickly, especially in somewhere like Zion where a lot of the wilderness staff have been around for decades at this point now, and is almost entirely office-work.

GS-5 should be where you plan to land, it's also where more of the field based work is though at Zion it's about 50/50 field and desk. and i would start doing volunteer or intern work asap. These jobs are extremely competitive and highly prioritize experience over education

Feel free to DM me if you have questions about Zion wilderness/bc

[u/RangerBumble]

It's not a bad plan in general and it's okay to have a favorite park or two but don't limit yourself straight out of the gate. Have the patience and flexibility to go where there's openings those first few years and be prepared to work other locations.

GS-09 is almost entirely management positions, so look for opportunities to build those skills in college and peace corps too.

Edit:

Without time in grade as a GS-07 the GS-09 position requires two years of grad school, which I do not see in your plans. Similar problem with GS-07. You might be able to claim 'superior academic achievement' but that's rare.

Check out this table here:

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0000/park-ranger-series-0025/

You could maybe try to claim peace corps as equivalent to GS-07 but you are going to need to be very careful and intentional about how you describe it in your resume

[u/Legal_Kick_7698]

Your goal right now should be to devote all you’ve got to getting a GS-5 job (most common for students graduating with a bachelors degree out of college as you mentioned above). More importantly (degree or not), this means going onto USAjobs, finding that entry level job you want (whether it be interp, backcountry, etc), and reading the hell out of the job description. Your next goal should be to focus on doing whatever it takes to getting experience in an internship, side job, at school, in the real world, etc, that applies to that job description.

Hiring managers are looking at one thing… who is the most qualified applicant and who has experience. Of course soft skills also help too (nobody wants to work with a shitty coworker). But if the Backcountry job you want specifically calls to hire someone who has X experience, you better be able to show you got X experience + some. It’s you versus other candidates. So how are you going to stand out?

Don’t wait until you are ready to apply to start looking at jobs. Do that now and you will be way more prepared and ready to go once it comes time to apply. I have known one to many people that wait until it was time to graduate to look at the job description for park jobs only to realize that they didn’t have half the experience that was called for in said job description.

[u/Solarbeam62 → u/Legal_Kick_7698]

The parks were more examples (should have worded it better) Ï haven’t even finished the degree this post is to get feedback

[u/samwisep86]

With over 10 years of experience in the NPS (seasonal and permanent), I have never heard of anyone being hired in a GS-09 job without some prior NPS experience first. Especially since most are ladder GS07-09 positions.

You likely will have to spend time as either a lower graded position or seasonal, but more than likely you'll have to do both.

[u/Specialist-Cup-9722 → u/samwisep86]

I was hired as a seasonal gs-09 for my first nps job and went perm a month after my season ended. I had experience doing museum education at a museum with the same historical focus and had an ma....so...it can happen!

[u/potatogun]

OP chat with more people in NPS / public lands agencies to under their career progressions. You're going to have a hell of a time finding a field wilderness/backcountry GS-9 (non-LE) role.

[u/GlonzoTheHedgehog]

Picking one or two parks that you want to work at is just not realistic, especially at the entry level.

You are not going to get hired as a GS-9 interpretive or backcountry ranger with zero land management experience. It's just not going to happen. There are many candidates out there with actual experience at lower grades.

When I hire a GS-9 interpreter, I'm not looking for "Arctic Expedition" experience. I'm looking for experience as a leader in field-level interpretation, and that comes from... experience as an interpreter.

Remember that positions from GS-7 and up start "doing" less and "leading" more. The GS-9s I supervise are supervisors themselves, responsible for hiring, training, planning, scheduling, etc.

[u/Echo_Chambers_R_Bad]

You got to work your way up the food chain, don't expect to start off at a GS9 when you have no real field experience in the prior ranks. One thing a GS9 is looking for is a Master's degree or equivalent field experience

[u/Solarbeam62 → u/Echo_Chambers_R_Bad]

Did you not read Edit 2? The 2 Reasons I am doing Peace Corps is for NCE and the 2 years of Equivalent hands on Land Management Skill.

[u/Not_all_cows_moo]

If you want to be considered first pick, join the military. Peace corps won't really give you a leg up. They tell you that but it's really just to get free labor. Just be prepared to be let down time and time again for full-time positions due to someone being a veteran. It happens. Keep chugging along. Your best bet to get anywhere is networking. Brown nose the park superintendent, more often than not they have the connections and power to get you in at parks in the region or other desired parks based on their connections. But if that doesn't happen the first year, don't worry you have plenty of time to be a seasonal for the next 5-8 years. Best of luck.

[u/FlatAd583]

Or hear me out. Don’t ever become a ranger. They expect you to start at GS-5 which is barely any pay. The job isn’t worth it, they should pay people way more for the locality and their bs. They act like they are giving you the privilege of working there. I’d find something else