Moving to a 301 or 342 series in federal govt.? Pros and Cons

[Anonymous]

I may have the opportunity to transfer from my current federal series to a 0301 or 0343 series position. As I understand it, 0301 is a Miscellaneous Program and 0342 is Management and Program Analyst Series.

What are the ups and downs of being in either of these series? How may it affect promotion, transfer potential and the ability to apply for other jobs?

All thoughts and insights appreciated!

[Anonymous]

I spent 20 years as a 301 and found it to be wonderful... it's so flexible that you are not limited in your abilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I spent 20 years as a 301 and found it to be wonderful... it's so flexible that you are not limited in your abilities.

Were you able to move around? Are there many 301 jobs? I have not seen 301 at my work.

[Anonymous]

These are called “career killers” by some people, which shows how deeply ignorant many people are regarding federal pay series.


These positions exist at every single federal agency. At all grade levels. So, essentially, you can move anywhere with that code. And you can be any grade from 5 to 15. Also, your job series is completely irrelevant to what you do. Your qualifications are based on experience. The job codes are vastly differently used by agencies so they don’t much pay attention to them when you apply. They look at grade and qualifications. Just because you become a 343 doesn’t mean you are not a able to be a 2210 anymore.

[Anonymous]

I am an engineer(800 series) and became a PM a couple of years back of 301 series and it has been great.

[Anonymous]

I'm a 301 and GS14. I don't quality to apply for lateral jobs which are section supervisor positions and the only route to branch supervisor jobs. For the last several years, 99% of the section supervisor jobs require a science of technical job series.

How do I identify 301 jobs in other agencies/departments if these are so great?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I may have the opportunity to transfer from my current federal series to a 0301 or 0343 series position. As I understand it, 0301 is a Miscellaneous Program and 0342 is Management and Program Analyst Series.

What are the ups and downs of being in either of these series? How may it affect promotion, transfer potential and the ability to apply for other jobs?

All thoughts and insights appreciated!

What is your current series?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a 301 and GS14. I don't quality to apply for lateral jobs which are section supervisor positions and the only route to branch supervisor jobs. For the last several years, 99% of the section supervisor jobs require a science of technical job series.

How do I identify 301 jobs in other agencies/departments if these are so great?

You don’t look for them in particular. You just search on the job descriptors in USAJobs and then search openings that match your skillset. Don’t limit to the series.