Instructional Systems Specialist (Start ASAP)

About FBI

Established in 1908, the FBI serves as an intelligence and security service agency to protect the U.S. from terrorist attacks, cyber operations, foreign intelligence, and cybercriminal activity, and to combat public corruption at all levels. FBI’s history is quite long and starts with establishing the National Bureau of Criminal Identification in 1896. 

Your role

• Serve as a consultant and advisor to training sponsors on instructional design and training development processes.
• Analyze, design, develop, review, and evaluate training courses and programs.
• Provide guidance and leadership on all aspects of the training development processes to peers, sponsors, and stakeholders.
• Plan, design, and implement evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness of training programs.

Training, development & rotations

As an incoming FBI agent, complete new agent training is needed as part of the bureau’s basic field training course including field training that features four major concentrations: academics, case exercises, firearms training, and operational skills. The operations skills concentration encompasses the hands-on work of the FBI, including surveillance, operations planning, and tactical driving. Firearms training is another major component of an agent’s education building knowledge in the fundamentals of marksmanship.

Training is essential for the FBI to achieve its strategic goals. It is the basis for the success of each employee, from Special Agents to analysts, and for the FBI as a whole. New agents complete a 17-week training program at the FBI Academy. In addition, the FBI provides training to state, local, and international law enforcement officials at the National Academy and hosts numerous training conferences.

Salary & benefits

People estimated the salary range of this position to be between US$126,233 - US$164,102. Apart from the salaries and other perks, the FBI offers several benefits to its employees such as:

• Paid Time Off 
• Work-Life Balance
• Transportation 
• Education Programs 
• Training 
• Health & Life Insurance options
• Pension Plan

Work-Life Balance

All FBI agents work full-time with a regular schedule of 40 hours per week. However, the job is very demanding and usually extends beyond the regular working hours and overtime is common as the public must be protected at all times. The work schedule is highly variable depending on the chosen career paths an agent follows. Because those investigating cyber criminals may spend most of their time in an office working on a computer, while others may have to spend more time in the field. They should also be flexible regarding traveling to other places on short notice and relocating several during the course of their career.

Culture & Vibe

Managing an organization as large as the FBI is quite a challenging task and that’s why the employees can expect a bit of discipline in every department. Also, diversity is something extremely prevalent in the organization as it needs to address all types of people coming from different cultural backgrounds. The work environment at the FBI is quite supportive and motivating as the agency needs to encourage its employees at every phase. It works on a core strategy of respect, leadership, accountability, compassion, transparency, integrity, and obedience to the Constitution. 

Career Progression

FBI agents begin their careers as GL-10 employees. One must gain some experience in superintending, keeping an eye on online activities, gathering proof and evidence, and conducting arrests of criminals. After that, he can be promoted to the GS-13 level which does not include supervision and inspection. Next, the individual becomes eligible for promotion to the FBI Senior Executive Service level and other positions that involve supervision and management. These positions fall under the GS-14 and GS-15 levels.

About you

• All degrees must be from an accredited college or university.  
• All applicants must verify completion of the basic requirement by submitting a copy of college transcripts by the closing date of the vacancy announcement.
• Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study or specific course requirements.
• A degree that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours appropriate to the work of the position to be filled.  

The course work must have included study in at least four of the following five areas:

• Learning theory, psychology of learning, educational psychology: Study of learning theories as they relate to the systematic design, development, and validation of instructional material.
• Instructional design practices: Study of the principles and techniques used in designing training programs, developing design strategies and models, and applying design methods to the improvement of instructional effectiveness.
• Educational evaluation: Study of the techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of instructional/educational programs, including developing written and performance tests and survey instruments, and determining the reliability and validity of evaluation instruments.
• Instructional product development: Study of the techniques appropriate for developing training materials, including identifying learner characteristics, specifying objectives, applying training strategy, validating training materials, and evaluating training.
• Computers in education and training: Study of the application of computers in education and training, including selecting appropriate computer software.
• Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above requirements provided you can show foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States.

In addition to meeting the Basic Education Requirement, the selectee must meet the following Specialized Experience.
Specialized Experience (SE):
Applicant must possess at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS - 13-grade level. SE is defined as follows:

• Expert knowledge of instructional design, adult education, and FBI-specific training guidelines/requirements.
• Experience developing instructional products to include conducting training needs analysis, task analysis, identifying learner characteristics, writing learning objectives, applying instructional strategies, and conducting an evaluation of training programs.
• Experience conducting training evaluation, including developing written and performance tests and survey instruments, and conducting level 3 evaluation.
• Experience leading projects through all phases of the training development process.

How to apply

To apply for this position, simply click the "Apply on employer site" button on this page.

The following instructions outline our application process:
Step 1:  Click the “Start” button to begin an application.  You will be prompted to either Sign In to continue the application or to register with FBIJOBS if you don’t already have an account.
Step 2:  Follow the Step by Step process to submit an application.  You will be guided through each step in the process.  You are required to complete all sections of the application to successfully submit your application.

Required Documents

To apply to this position, interested applicants must provide a complete application package by the closing date which includes:

• Your resume, specifically noting relevant work experience and associated start and end dates
• A complete assessment questionnaire
• Other supporting documents (if applicable):
• College transcripts, if qualifying based on education or if there is a positive education requirement

Source

The following sources were used in researching this page:

• bestaccreditedcolleges.org / FBI – Career progression
• Wikipedia / FBI - about
• apply.fbijobs.gov/ FBI - Salary
• onlinedegree.com / FBI - work-life balance
• criminaljusticedegreeschools.com / FBI - training, development & rotations