Uncle Sam wants you (for a fraud examiner job)

Starting Out: For new and budding fraud examiners

Are you looking for that next job opportunity? The U.S. federal government has scores of employment possibilities for fraud examiners on USAJobs.gov.

In this and the next two columns, I discuss the three position classification categories that most often contain fraud examination responsibilities and opportunities:

• Accounting and budget (this column).
• Investigation and inspection (March/April).
• Program management (May/June).

If you understand the delineations for these jobs, you can better comprehend the federal job search process. You can search for specific job codes within entire categories to help narrow your search. You can then tailor your education, training and career experience to the requirements and keywords listed in vacancy announcements.

0500: ACCOUNTING AND BUDGET

This category includes exciting and meaningful positions that allow CFEs to apply the entire scope of prevention, identification and investigation of fraud plus examination of business records, financial transactions and government programs.

The 0500 job classification category includes accounting, auditing and budgeting. Within the category, it includes 0510 (accountant), 0511 (auditor) and 0512 (Internal Revenue Agent). In some agencies, financial investigators without law enforcement authority are also in this classification. Sometimes, agencies call them financial analysts.