CBP Hiring Process Explained

By Sabra Hunter

   Are you currently in the arduous hiring process for Customs & Boder Protection and find yourself with unanswered questions?

Or are you merely thinking about what all is involved in becoming a Customs & Border Protection officer, much less how to apply?

   This book will answer your questions—and more!  It's a comprehensive collection of details and explanations describing each of the hiring steps

in the process, with linked videos showing you—the applicant—what to expect in order to to successfully complete each step.

   Topics include: CBP Acronyms, the Hring Process Overview, the Job Bid, Resume Aid, Pay Grade Qualifications and how to document

them on your resume, and FLETC academy preparation.  There's a Pay Calculator, the 2024 Pay Tables.  Also included is a handy email/phone number list, as well

as a separate table of links to CBP's own Deep Dive Videos.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sabra Hunter
• Release date: Jun 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227074348

Sabra Hunter

Sabra Hunter, a veteran employee of Braniff, Western, and Delta Air Lines, has traveled extensively throughout a 44-year career that included several foreign temporary work assignments.  Her published travel stories are the result of journals kept during those trips. Sabra began her publication history with a piece called 'The Downside of Shearing' published in The Camelid Quarterly's inaugural issue of March 2002. Now, retired as well as an empty nester, she fills her days with housework, yardwork, and writing--not necessarily in that order.

Book preview

Acronyms

CBP – Customs & Border Protection

CBPO – Customs & Border Protection Officer

CAD – Credibility Assessment Division: administers polygraph exams

DD214 – Official military discharge papers

DHS – Department of Homeland Security

DT – Drug test

EOD – Enter on Duty date, essentially your date of hire

e-QIP – Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing (std form 86)

FGS – Fitness Graduation Standard used at FLETC

FLETC – Federal Law Enforcement Training Center

BI – Background Investigation

NDA – Non-disclosure Agreement

NOR – Notice of Results

PSD – Personnel Security Division

OFO – Office of Field Operations

OPR – Office of Professional Responsibility; a branch of the DOJ which investigates        

misconduct

OPM – Office of Personnel Management; an independent agency that manages the civilian    

workforce of Fed Govt.

PSD – Personnel Security Division: responsible for adjudicating Background Investigations

Return to TOC

CBPO Hiring Process Explained

https://youtu.be/oVHOUfHZSZc?si=hECRTcyiI1mcXcri

CBP, the acronym for Customs and Border Protection, is a department within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  There are more than 60,000 employees in this particular department, thus making it one of the world’s largest law enforcement organizations.  Simply put, its duty is to keep terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S. while facilitating lawful international travel and trade. 

The job bid to become an CBPO (Customs and Border Protection Officer) is fielded by the Applicant Contact Center under the Office of Field Operations. (OFO)  The job bid itself is posted online monthly and can be accessed by clicking through the cbp.gov website and looking under careers, but the most direct route is via USAJOBS.gov.  You’ll need to create an account in order to bid, which begins your individual hiring process and allows you to track your progress.  But you can access the bid any time to review the GS-5/7, GS-9, or the Veteran’s Preference job qualifications in order to ascertain which level you’d qualify for.

Incidentally, I keep hearing there’s no benefit anymore to applying for a Veteran’s Preference bid unless you’re active duty with a war-related disability.  That preference formerly allowed veterans to select any duty port whether it was available or not, but carried a 2-year post-academy probationary period for the privilege.  Post-pandemic, the duty port choice was removed but not the 2-year probationary period, whereas regular bids only stipulate a one-year probation.  (Looks like the government forgot to remove the extra year of probation when deleting the port choice preference. It could change again and align with the other bids or reinstate port preference. Formal inquiries have thus far gone unanswered.) If you’re considering bidding a Veteran’s Preference, I’d double-check with a recruiter beforehand.  To find these bids: cbp.gov > careers > OFO > Search Careers.

Or simply go to USAJOBS.gov.  Under Key Words, type either CBP or CBPO, (the ‘O’ is for Officer) then scroll down until you find Customs and Border Protection Officer bids.  Click each to access and start your research.  (If you’re a veteran, I’d consider applying for the GS-9.  Just make sure your resume reflects that you have the qualifying experience.)

The monthly bid contains a wealth of information giving an overview of what the job entails, specific qualifications needed: U.S. Citizen with a current, valid driver’s license and age less than 40 (excluding veterans) among other things.  Each bid contains several videos—two as soon as you begin reading about the department; the first Go Beyond from CBP’s own Office of Field Operations gives you a brief overview of the job itself.  The second, Your Journey to Becoming a Border and Protection Officer, gives more information regarding the steps that need to be successfully completed as you progress through the arduous hiring journey.

It is strongly suggested you watch the videos with an eye toward whether or not this job is something you truly want to do.  Yes, it pays well . . . but more than likely you’ll need to relocate considerable distance from home as part of the deal.  Yes, the 101-day (Mon-Fri) academy is paid for (technically you’ll be collecting your contracted salary while you attend) . . . but you’ll be on the hook to pay for the required two-week pre-academy accommodations and meals.  Even before you get that far, you’ll bear the cost of all expenses incurred for possible follow-up medical appointments (often with specialists), tests, X-rays, and the like.  You’ll also pay for overnight accommodations that might be necessary prior to a scheduled early morning 4-hour entrance exam, or to/from the testing site and/or a distant polygraph site. 

In addition, a four-and-a-half-month-long academy means you’ll be separated from family for a significant amount of time.  Any weekend visits will be (off campus) at your expense.  Better to discuss all the ramifications with your loved ones to prepare emotionally and financially before you apply, rather than slug your way through this long hiring process only to get to the academy and realize you can’t take the stress of separation while having to deal with a college/boot camp environment where weekly exams and timed PT scores directly impact your success or failure.

Incidentally, there is no two-tier PFT qualification threshold for males vs females.  Everyone is held to the same quals.  Period. 

Plain and simple, practice makes perfect.

The hiring process takes approximately one