A type of appointment for federal employment. In the federal government, most civil service employees are members of the competitive service or the excepted service (5 U.S.C. §§ 2102-2103). To obtain a position in the competitive service, an individual typically must pass a civil service examination administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and be listed on a civil service register as an eligible candidate (5 U.S.C. § 3304; 5 C.F.R. § 337.101).

A hiring official from a federal agency filling a vacancy in the competitive service must select from among the three highest ranking candidates available for appointment, who are listed on a certificate of eligibles that the agency requests from OPM (5 C.F.R. § 332.404). A selected eligible is generally classified as "career-conditional" and becomes a career employee after the employee serves three continuous years in the competitive service (5 C.F.R. § 315.201).