Welcome to the Forest Service - New Hire Onboarding Guide

Real Jobs. Real Impact.

You are one step closer to caring for the land and serving people. This guide will help you navigate the onboarding process and prepare for your new job. It includes tips, video links, and resources that explain aspects of becoming a Forest Service employee.

The onboarding process generally takes 60-90 days from the time you receive your Tentative Selection Notification until your first day of work. After you start work, there will be additional onboarding tasks to complete within the first 90 days on the job.

Welcome! The following webpages incorporate the Forest Service’s New Hire Onboarding Guide. If you are a new employee to the Forest Service and possibly to Federal service, this guide is for you.

Watch your personal email for a series of messages that will expand your introduction to the Forest Service while supporting your onboarding activities.

The onboarding process can take approximately 60-days from the time you are selected for a position until you report to work.

And know help is a phone call away if you have questions. Your Human Resources case manager, your new supervisor, your Onboarding Specialist, and the New Hire Help Desk, whose number and email address is at the bottom of each page of this guide, are here to help you navigate the onboarding process.

Contractors, volunteers, and interns with a partner organization will follow different onboarding processes provided by their sponsoring organization.

If you are a temporary employee, you will find information in Phase 4 about how your temporary employment with the Forest Service may give you non-competitive temporary rehire rights in the future and make you eligible to compete for permanent jobs as an internal applicant.

Help Is Available: New Hire Help Desk

877-372-7248, Option 4

HRM_contact_center@usda.gov

Available weekdays from 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Mountain Time.