Master The Special Agent Exam

By Peterson's

Peterson’s Master The Special Agent Exam (12th edition)

Learn All About a Career as a Special Agent from this user-friendly guide.

Section 1. Overview of the test prep guide

In this section, you will learn:

• the basics about a Federal Government career in this field
• where the jobs are
• and details of the various written tests, interviews, polygraphs, and physical exams required for this job

Section 2. Diagnose your strengths and weaknesses

Diagnose your strengths and weaknesses for this exam by taking a practice test that covers the following subjects and offers a review and discussion of the right answers:

• Verbal reasoning and logical reasoning
• Quantitative reasoning and Arithmetic reasoning
• Problems for Investigation
• Full Answer Key and Complete Explanations

Section 3. Sharpen your knowledge and skills

This section focuses on Special Agent Math skills, including:

• Ratio and proportions
• Rate problems using distance and time
• Taxation and Payroll
• Profit and Loss, and
• Solving for the Unknown.

Section 4. Three Practice Tests to hone your test-taking skills

Three Practice Tests that focus on all parts of the exam.

Test yourself under timed practice to do your best on the real test!

Finally, there is a FAQs section about the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

Use Peterson’s Master The Special Agent Exam (12th edition) guide to maximize your chances on the all-important test for your career. Be prepared to succeed!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Peterson's
• Release date: Apr 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780768935134

Book preview

Before You Begin

HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED

A career as a special agent with the federal government offers an opportunity to serve your community and to help others. Special agent positions are available in a number of departments, including the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, the Interior, the Treasury, and Transportation. The U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, and the Transportation Safety Administration are just a few of the federal agencies that employ special agents. (For purposes of this book, we are including special agent, criminal investigator, U.S. marshal, and two uniformed officer positions in the Department of Homeland Security under the umbrella of special agent.) The job of special agent offers diversity, excitement, and, in most cases, some personal danger, as well as career security and growth opportunities.

To become a special agent with a federal agency, it is important that you not only pass the Treasury Enforcement Agent (TEA) exam or agency-specific exam but that you score well and complete all your interviews and applications satisfactorily. Peterson's Master the Special Agent Exam provides you with the necessary information and skills to excel, including:

Part I provides basic information about the structure of the federal government. You'll learn how the federal government is organized, where a special agent fits into this organization, what a career as a special agent is all about, and how to create a top-notch federal application.

Part II is a full-length Diagnostic Test that provides an opportunity to practice every type of question. It can show you where your skills are strong and where they need some shoring up.

Part III contains comprehensive review of every arithmetic topic you can expect to find in the Quantitative Reasoning/Arithmetic Reasoning section of the exam.

Part IV includes three full-length practice tests, including a sample Self-Descriptive Inventory Exam

The Appendixes provide information about the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Program.

SPECIAL STUDY FEATURES

Master the Special Agent Exam is designed to be as user-friendly as it is complete. To this end, includes several features to make your preparation much more efficient.

Overview

Each chapter begins with a bulleted overview listing the topics that will be covered in the chapter. This will allow you to quickly target the areas in which you are most interested.

Summing It Up

Each chapter ends with a point-by-point summary that captures the most important points contained in the chapter. This is a convenient way to review key points.

Bonus Information

As you work your way through the book, keep your eye on the margins to find bonus information and advice. Information can be found in the following forms:

NOTE

Notes highlight critical information about a career as a special agent and the application process.

TlP

Tips provide valuable advice for effectively handling both the job search and the application and examination processes.

ALERT!

Alerts do just what they say—alert you to common pitfalls or misconceptions.

YOU'RE WELL ON YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS

You have made a decision to pursue a career as a special agent. Master the Special Agent Exam ill help you select the agency to which you are best suited and will also guide you in finding, applying for, and landing the job of your dreams.

But a word of caution. Everything that you need to know and use to apply for a federal government job is available from the government itself. You have to be willing to spend the me and do the research necessary to find it. The information is free on federal agency Web sites, including the application forms and instructions on how to fill them out. The application process is also free. The federal government does not use employment agencies, so don't fall victim to a company that promises to get you a federal job. It can't. There are also companies, especially Internet businesses, which offer to write your resume and your Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA) document for a fee. However, no one knows you better than you do, so don't pay someone else to write what you alone know best. Guides like this one are your most cost-effective way to learn about and apply for federal government jobs including the job of special agent. Good luck!

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK

Peterson's publishes a full line of resources to help guide you through the civil service application process. Peterson's publications can be found at your local bookstore or library, and you can access us online at www.petersons.com.

We welcome any comments or suggestions you may have about this publication and invite you to complete our online survey at www.petersons.com/booksurvey.

Your feedback will help us to provide personalized solutions for your career advancement

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Chapter 1: The Basics

OVERVIEW

The structure of the federal government

Salary and benefits

Work schedules

Advancement opportunities

Summing it up

THE STRUCTURE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The federal government is divided into three branches: the Executive (by far the largest branch, it has the broadest scope and employs about 96 percent of all federal civilian employees); the Legislative (consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives); and the Judicial (the Supreme Court and lower courts). Most positions in national security, criminal investigation, and protective services fall within the Executive Branch.

The Executive Branch is divided into fifteen executive departments and ninety independent agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Social Security Administration. The fifteen executive departments are:

Three of these departments have missions that focus heavily on law enforcement, criminal investigation, and national security issues. These departments are:

Each of these three departments is further divided into a series of federal agencies and bureaus. These agencies and bureaus act as separate entities for filling job vacancies. Some work through the USAJOBS Web site (http://www.usajobs.gov) for hiring and some maintain their own hiring sites. However, all federal agencies and departments follow certain standardized federal hiring processes and guidelines. Three of the bureaus and agencies in particular require applicants to take and pass the Treasury Enforcement Agent (TEA) exam as part of the application and hiring process for certain jobs. They are:

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TIP

An excellent Web site that provides a clear and useful overview of the federal government's structure, with links to specific agency Web sites, is http://www.firstgov.gov.

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In addition, several other agencies and bureaus require applicants for special agent and criminal investigator positions to take written exams similar to the TEA. These are:

Customs and Border Patrol (Department of Homeland Security)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (Department of Homeland Security)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (Department of Justice)

U.S. Park Police (Department of the Interior)

Chapter 3 describes the special agent/criminal investigation and enforcement jobs, their required qualifications, and the hiring process for the various positions in each agency and bureau. Chapter 4 describes the various assessments for each job type.

SALARY AND BENEFITS

Excellent pay and benefits are one outstanding aspect of federal employment. The average annual salary for all full-time federal employees now exceeds $66,000, and many employees earn beyond the standard wages of the basic pay system. Most white-collar federal employees are paid according to a system known as the General Schedule (GS). It consists of a series of grade levels ranging from GS-1 to GS-15. There is a series of ten steps under each grade that an employee moves through, although at the GS-5, 7, 9, and 11 levels, employees often jump between grades rather than progressing through the steps. Federal employees who are not under the General Schedule pay system include postal service employees who are paid under the Postal Service rates, upper-level executives and political appointees who fall into the Senior Executive Service (SES), and hourly wage earners, who are paid according to the Prevailing Rate Schedule Wage Grade (WG) classification. Although certain law enforcement positions are paid at a slightly higher rate (see Salary Table 2009-GL (LEO) chart), they are still considered to be General Schedule positions.

Each position in the General Schedule pay system falls into a structured occupational group and has been assigned a particular job series classification. For example, General Schedule groups include the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group (GS-100 series) or the Biological Sciences Group (GS-400 series). Within the larger groupings are a set of more specific job series. For example, under the Biological Sciences Group there are the Forestry Series (GS-460), the Agronomy Series (GS-471), and the Fishery Biology Series (GS-482), among many others. There are 441 different white-collar occupations that fall into this classification system. Some federal law enforcement job series that come under GS Pay Schedule are the Criminal Investigator (Treasury Enforcement Agent) series (GS-1811) and the U.S. Marshal series (GS-0082).

A set of grade levels for each position is determined by the education and experience they require and by the duties, skills, responsibilities, and other factors they entail. Thus, when you apply for a particular position, human resources specialists will determine whether you are qualified for the position and what pay level you qualify for by matching your credentials against a set of qualifications standards. These standards are written by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and are contained in the Operating Manual for Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions, which can be found online at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/Standards/indexStandards.asp.

Typically, new employees with bachelor's degrees and no experience in a career field start at the GS-5 level or the GS-7 level if a B average was maintained. A relevant master's degree will earn hires a GS-9 position, and a doctorate qualifies hires for a GS-11 if the degree is directly related to the job to be filled. Career experience can also qualify applicants for higher salary grades. The general rule is that the career experience must be equivalent to the requirements for the next lower salary grade. For example, in order to qualify for a GS-12 position, one must have one year of related experience equivalent to GS-11.

Most federal positions requiring the TEA exam begin at the GS-5, GS-7, or GS-9 levels based on qualifications and education.

Base salaries for 2009, not including locality pay, which is allocated to workers in a number of major cities, are shown in the following Salary Table 2009-GS chart.

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Federal employees who work in law enforcement receive special base rates, called Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) rates, for GS-3 through GS-10. Below is the Salary Table 2009-GL (LEO), special LEO rate chart for 2009.

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NOTE: These special base rates for law enforcement officers (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5541(3) and 5 CFR 550.103) are authorized by section 403 of the Federal employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990  as amended, By law, these rates must be the basis for computing locality payments. (5 CFR part 531, subpart F.)

In addition to the significant increase in the special base rates, law enforcement officers also receive other significant benefits.

Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP)

LEAP provides a 25 percent increase in base salary added to any locality pay received. This program is designed to provide a simplified means of compensating law enforcement personnel for the long hours associated with enforcement activities. Agents eligible for LEAP receive higher basic pay, more take-home pay, increased earnings for retirement contributions, and a simpler overtime system.

Locality Pay Increases

Special salary rates are paid to employees in high-cost-of-living metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York. These pay adjustments are called locality pay. Thirty-one metropolitan areas are designated as high-cost-of-living areas eligible for locality pay. Federal law enforcement officer employees earn from 14 to 34 percent more than the Salary Table 2009-GS chart's base salary figures, depending on the area.

The highest rate in a recent year was the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland area at 34.35 percent and the lowest was Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus, Indiana with a locality pay rate of 14.23 percent. Those employed in the rest of the country receive a 13.86 percent rate of locality pay. Updated locality page charts and a complete list of the thirty-one locality pay metropolitan areas are located at http://www.opm.gov/oca/09tables/indexLEO.asp.

Foreign Language Award Program

This program authorizes cash awards for employees of certain agencies who possess and make substantial use of one or more foreign language(s) in the performance of their official duties.

Special Law Enforcement Benefits

Certain federal law enforcement employees are eligible to earn enhanced benefits, including low-cost life insurance and a special LEO Retirement Program. Please visit http://www.opm.gov for more information.

Cost of Living Adjustments

The federal government grants its employees cost-of-living adjustments each year. So while a GS-11 Step 1 (without locality pay) would earn $49,544 in 2009, a GS-11 Step 1 would likely earn about $50,980 in 2010 if the cost-of-living adjustment was 2.9 percent, the same as in 2009. Therefore, each year of federal employment promises two salary increases—the step or grade increase and the cost of living increase. While these cost of living increases vary from year to year, recent adjustments have been about 2.5 percent. A combination of the step and cost of living increases brings the federal employee an annual raise of about 5 percent.

Vacation, Sick Leave, and Holidays

Vacation days are earned according to the length of time of employment. Employees earn thirteen days a year for the first three years, twenty days a year for the next twelve years, and twenty-six days a year after fifteen years. A maximum of 240 hours may be accumulated and carried forward from year to year. Thirteen days of sick leave are earned each year with no limitation on the total accumulation. Federal employees are also granted ten aid federal holidays.

Health Benefits and Insurance Plans

Federal employees are offered a choice of hundreds of health plans that are administered by private insurers. Workers can select the plan that best suits them. The federal government pays a share of the premiums. Low-cost group term life insurance, called the Federal Employee's Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) program, is also available.

Retirement Benefits

Federal workers participate in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), a plan that not only includes Social Security but also a pension plan and a Thrift Savings Plan that allows employees to make government-matched tax-deferred contributions to retirement accounts. The Thrift Savings Plan is similar to a 401(k) program. Employees may choose to participate by having a percentage deducted from each pay check. The limit for contributions changes each year, but for 2009, it was $16,500. In addition, each agency automatically contributes the equivalent of 1 percent of an employee's salary to the plan and the federal government matches the first 5 percent of the employee's contributions. The contributions are tax-deferred and reduce taxable income by the amount contributed. For complete information on retirement benefits, check out http://www.opm.gov/retire/index.aspx.

WORK SCHEDULES

At the discretion of agency management, several schedule options are offered. These include full-time, part-time, flexible, and compressed schedules. Flexible works schedules, commonly called flextime, allow workers to vary their arrival and departure times. Compressed schedules allow employees to complete the basic work requirement of 80 hours in a two-week pay period in fewer than ten working days. The federal government is currently considering home-based employment options as well.

ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

When entering federal service, one's grade level and base pay (salary) are determined by one's education level and amount of work experience. As noted above, entry-level professional positions are normally filled at the GS-5 or GS-7 levels. New employees usually come in at the Step 1 rate for a given grade. However, people seeking positions in areas where there are shortages (engineers, physicists, chemists, metallurgists, and other scientific occupations) may be allowed to come in at a higher level

Progression in many professional positions occurs according to what is known as a career ladder. In a typical career ladder, one would be promoted accordingly: GS-5, GS-7, GS-9, GS-11, GS-12. GS-5 and GS-7 amount to an apprenticeship for gaining experience in a particular position. GS-9 and GS-11 are journeyman positions in which the employee is more experienced but still not completely capable of performing all the functions required for that position. At the GS-12 level, the employee is considered full-performance, that is, experienced in all aspects of the job.

Promotions along the career ladder come relatively quickly (about one promotion every year or two assuming good performance). These promotions occur automatically and are normally noncompetitive in that the employee is not competing against anyone else.

Promotions above a GS-12 are usually competitive. That is, all interested candidates have to formally apply for the position and a slot at that level must exist.

Supervisors and managers in grades 13 through 15 are under a pay-for-performance system. These positions are easily identifiable because they will have a GM rather than a GS designation on the vacancy announcement.

SUMMING IT UP

The federal government is divided into three branches: the Executive (by far the largest branch, it has the broadest scope and employs about 96 percent of all federal civilian employees); the Legislative (consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives); and the Judicial (the Supreme Court and lower courts).

Three agencies/bureaus require applicants to take and pass the Treasury Enforcement Agent (TEA) exam as part of the hiring process. They are:

U.S. Secret Service (Department of Homeland Security)

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (Department of Justice)

Internal Revenue Service (Department of the Treasury)

The following agencies/bureaus require applicants for special agent and criminal investigator positions to take written exams similar to the TEA. These are:

Customs and Border Patrol (Department of Homeland Security)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (Department of Homeland Security)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (Department of Justice).

U.S. Park Police (Department of the Interior)

Excellent pay and benefits are one outstanding aspect of federal employment.

Chapter 2: Getting Started

OVERVIEW

How to land a job

The federal application system

The federal resume

Scannable resumes, agency e-forms, and electronic submissions

What happens next?

Summing it up

HOW TO LAND A JOB

A career in the federal government can be a particularly enticing prospect in today's unsteady economic climate. Federal jobs offer a high degree of employment security and can be as rewarding and challenging as any private sector job. The federal government offers excellent benefits, a competitive pay structure, and the ability to make a difference by serving the greater good of the nation.

One area of federal employment that has been growing significantly and continues to have a strong outlook for growth is federal law enforcement. The federal government employs more than 188,000 law enforcement personnel in over forty job series, including more than 40,000 in criminal investigation and enforcement. Between now and the year 2014, that number is expected to grow by nearly 14 percent. A study by the Partnership for Public Service found that one of the five major areas of federal growth in coming years will be in security, enforcement, and compliance positions, which include inspectors, criminal investigators, police officers, airport screeners, and prison guards. The distribution of overall federal employment will continue to shift toward a higher proportion of professional, financial operations, and protective service workers.

In these and other fields, the federal pay rate is encouraging. Criminal investigators earned an average annual salary of $88,174 in 2009. These Positions can be found in the Departments of the Treasury, Homeland Security, and in the Justice Department, among others. And while many people assume that most federal jobs are located in Washington, DC, in fact nine out of ten federal jobs are located outside the DC area. These challenging and exciting federal law enforcement positions can be found throughout the United States and abroad.

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ALERT!

By going directly to government-wide job vacancy sites in search of open positions, job seekers tend to miss many other potential career options and important information.

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So if a federal career sounds appealing, and the federal government is hiring, how do you go from just thinking about finding a federal job to actually doing something about it?

Take heart. Landing a federal job in law enforcement today is much easier than it was st a short time ago. The advent of the Internet has reduced the burden of the job seeker significantly and made a once onerous and cumbersome process much more manageable. A federal job search today is really quite simple as long as you know where to look!

Know Where to Look

Because each agency has its own set of application procedures, the most efficient and effective job searches are done at the individual agency level, rather than searching broadly for open positions on job search sites such as USA JOBS or FEDJOBS.COM. Also, an agency may not post special agent jobs on the USAJOBS site. Choosing the agencies you want to work for and identifying job titles of interest is a proactive approach to the job search. Merely seeking out currently open positions is a reactive approach and a much less effective strategy.

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TIP

It certainly doesn't hurt to apply to several federal agencies simultaneously for positions that interest you. This can't hurt you as a job seeker and can potentially increase your chances of getting hired!

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Therefore, be sure to conduct your career search via specific agency Web sites rather an government-wide federal job sites. This strategy benefits you in several important ways:

It gives you a sense of how immense the career possibilities are with the federal government and what career ladders are available.

You often get a head start on job application procedures for positions that are not currently open but may open soon.

It allows you to discover new potential career options that you may not have been aware of.

You can gain a greater understanding of how federal agencies operate and interrelate and the scope of their missions.

Perhaps most important, it allows you to collect in-depth knowledge about the practical needs of the hiring agency, which you can use to write a better federal application and more tailored Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities points (KSAs). This knowledge will also be useful in the federal interview process.

Feel free to spend time exploring the agency Web sites you've identified as being of strong interest to you. Take a few minutes to read about the agency's mission, its history, and maybe a few of the more recent news stories or changes that the agency has been involved with. Pay attention, also, to other agencies that have similar missions or similar careers, and look up their Web sites as well.

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ALERT!

Many job seekers opt to go directly to the current openings. The Careers section often offers valuable information about various job titles that is not found in the current job listings! Visit this section first, even if you have already targeted a specific position!

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Explore Your Options

As you explore the Web sites of the agencies you wish to work for, you're likely to find two key job-related areas that are of special interest to you:

The Careers section of the agency Web site lists particular career tracks and specific job titles within the agency's major occupational fields. The information is helpful in creating a picture of the various career options that are available within the agency and what specific job duties each occupation consists of. It allows you to target the exact job titles of interest to you within the agencies where you'd like to work. This targeting process is of great value in helping you focus your energy exactly where it is needed and to avoid getting distracted by the thousands of job vacancies that are listed every day on the federal government-wide job sites.

The Current Openings, Jobs, or Current Vacancies section provides information about an agency's current job openings. Some agency Web sites list current vacancies within their agency only, while other agency Web sites link you directly to USAJOBS, the government-wide listing of federal job openings. Be sure you have targeted your interests by exploring the career options at each agency Web site first, so you have a specific job title in mind before you begin to browse the listings.

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TIP

To find positions relating to law enforcement, check out the Index to Qualification Standards on http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/ Standards/indexes/alphndx.asp. Click on Standards by Occupational Series in the left-hand sidebar, and then find the range 1800 to 1899 for the Inspection, Investigation, Enforcement, and Compliance series. To find out about requirements scroll down to Criminal Investigator—Treasury Enforcement Agent, and click on +IOR.

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The vacancy listings often provide information on many aspects of each job opportunity, including the following:

Qualifications. Law enforcement, special agent, and criminal investigator positions in the federal government require certain specific qualifying requirements, including:

Age: The date immediately preceding a person's 37th birthday is the maximum entry age for original appointment to most federal law enforcement positions.

Education: Minimum requirements for these positions include a four-year degree from an accredited college or university or three years' work experience in the criminal investigative or law enforcement fields that includes knowledge and application of laws relating to criminal violations or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Citizenship: Applicants must be U.S. citizens.

Conditions of Employment. Many federal law enforcement positions such as criminal investigator and special agent require the acceptance of certain employment conditions, including the following:

a requirement to carry a firearm and maintain firearms proficiency;

the potential for frequent travel, sometimes on short notice; and/or

the acceptance of assignments anywhere within the United States and overseas, potentially of extended duration and on short notice.

Training. Special agents, criminal investigators, and U.S. marshals must undergo several months of rigorous training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. During this training period, new hires are on probationary status (probation can last from one to three years).

Application Procedures. Applying for a job with the federal government is often quite extensive and confusing, so it is important to read the instructions carefully and follow them completely. You don't want to be rejected for a position because you omitted a required document.

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NOTE

Be sure to read each vacancy announcement carefully to understand the unique employment conditions of the position for which you are applying.

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Organize Your Search

The federal government, with more than 1.8 million civilian employees, is by far the single largest employer in the United States. Hundreds of thousands are recruited annually to fill occupations across nearly 200 federal agencies and bureaus. But many job seekers become overwhelmed and are unable to make sense of such a massive and complex employer. They don't know how to organize their job search efforts because they aren't sure how the government hiring system operates.

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TIP

Do not confuse basic job listings with the detailed vacancy announcement that federal positions include. Reading and responding to vacancy announcements is an important key to preparing a federal application package.

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The application process for a position in federal law enforcement typically involves several steps. Each step must be successfully completed before moving on to the next. While each step can be arduous and complex, some knowledge and preparation can make the process much more manageable.

THE FEDERAL APPLICATION SYSTEM

The process of applying for jobs in the federal government has become more simplified in recent years due to the fact that federal agencies can now conduct their own hiring. This new process, while easier on the applicant than the outdated centralized hiring system, is also a bit more confusing because of the differences in application procedures from one agency to the next.

Whatever agency you are considering and whichever job title you target, be sure to read the application procedures for each position carefully. Many job seekers who are unfamiliar with the federal hiring process can become daunted by the complexity of the language in a vacancy announcement and the multiple steps required in the application process. Luckily, the federal application system has some standard rules of the road that make traveling the job application path a lot simpler.

Apply to a specific opening. Federal agencies generally do not accept unsolicited applications. They simply don't know what to do with them. Certain job openings are assigned to certain staffing specialists, and if an application comes in that doesn't belong to a particular vacancy announcement, no one knows where it should go. The chances of sending in an application to a federal agency out of the blue and landing a