Supporting Statement

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

Department of State Application for Employment
OMB Number 1405-0139
DS-1950

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. The Department of State Application for Employment has been the primary form used by individuals to apply for certain excepted Foreign Service Specialist jobs at the Department of State. Section 1104 of title 5, United States Code, authorizes OPM to delegate this authority to other agencies, including the Department of State. With respect to Foreign Service specialist applicants, authority is given under 22 U.S.C. Section 3926 and 3941.

2. The information is collected by the Bureau of Human Resources and is used in determining the eligibility and qualifications of applicants for the Department’s Foreign Service Specialist positions, under merit principles. We wish to continue to utilize this form to clarify interpretation of applicant responses and how applicants became aware of our program opportunities. Upon selection, the information on the form will be used to establish basic personnel records.

3. USAJOBS hiring software allows for the electronic submission of responses through an online application. Subsequent electronic processing steps automate the loading of applications into the HR database and reduce evaluation workload for Department of State personnel. It is estimated that 19,000 out of the 22,000 applicants will use the USAJOBS online application option. The processing of this high volume of submitted applications is expedited by using the USAJOBS automated online application.

4. The Department of State’s Application for Employment paper version (DS-1950) serves as a vehicle to gather some of the unique information required to apply for the Department’s Foreign Service Specialist positions. Approximately 3,000 respondents use the DS-1950 annually. Due to the uniqueness of each respondent’s experiences, the information to be collected is not available elsewhere.

5. This collection of information involves no small businesses or other small entities.

6. This information cannot be collected less frequently, as it is used to determine the eligibility and qualifications of applicants. Information is submitted on a voluntary basis by individuals who are interested in working in certain jobs within the Department of State.

7. Not applicable. No such special circumstances exist.

8. The department published a 60-Day notice for public comments in the Federal Register at volume 75, No. 242, on page 79068-79069 (December 13, 2010). No comments were received.

9. Not Applicable. Gifts or payments are not provided to respondents.

10. All applications submitted to the Department of State are maintained in confidential files, subject to review only by personnelists and investigators, and by managers who are considering the individuals for appointment to specific positions. The forms are destroyed according to approved records disposition schedules if the applicants’ files become inactive. If an applicant is appointed to a Federal position in the Department of State, the Department of State Application for Employment becomes part of the employee’s Official Personnel Folder. The forms contain Privacy Act statements that comply with and contain information required by Section 552a of Title 5, of the United States Code.

11. Not applicable. This form does not request information of a sensitive nature.

12. Approximately 22,000 applicants for excepted service employment with the Department of State will each complete one application per year. It is estimated that 19,000 out of the 22,000 applicants will opt to use the USAJOBS online application option. The DS-1950 has an estimated burden of 30 minutes per application. Burden estimates were obtained by comparison with similar OMB-approved forms. The estimated total annual hour burden is 1,500 hours. A decrease of 8,500 hours since last collection, due to the transitioning of several vacancies to the USAJOBS online application.

13. There is no cost burden to the applicant for this form.

14. It is estimated that the annualized cost to the Federal Government is confined to the salary and benefits associated with the time spent by Department officials responsible for the administrative oversight and management of this information collection. The application processing staff consists of 3 employees with an average grade level of GS-12. The salary cost for the staff processing the application is approximately $30,616, based upon 1 hour of dedicated processing time each work day. A new database for processing the DS-1950 went into production on October 1, 2004. The final cost of the software (including installation, license fee, and support) used for processing this collection was $1,319,879. No recurring software costs are anticipated.

15. Transitioning several vacancies to the USAJOBS online application has resulted in a decrease of burden hours from 10,000 to 1,500. This represents a program adjustment.

16. This information is not used for public reports or publication.

17. The expiration date will be displayed.

18. No exceptions are requested to the certification statement.

B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

This collection does not employ statistical methods.