This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/464669800. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan" by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate care to Veterans?
VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. Contact the Agency Contact on the last page of this announcement for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.
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02/23/2017 to 03/16/2017
$46,398 - $60,322 per year
GS 07
2 vacancies in the following locations:
Not required
No
Agency Employees Only
Full-time - Full Time
No
BH-17-PB-1917940-BU
464669800
The Health Technician in this position provides assistance to the ophthalmologists and optometrists in meeting the clinical needs of the patients served in the Eye Clinic of VA New Jersey Health Care System. While the incumbent is under the guidance of the professional staff of the Eye Clinic, he/she is required to work with a high level of independence. Duties include performing visual field testing, measuring ocular components, performing vision evaluations including pupil dilations, and assisting ophthalmologists with outpatient minor surgical procedures. In addition, the health tech orders eyeglasses and troubleshoots any patient complaints about the glasses, provides patient education, and performs general clinic duties including, but not limited to, those related to equipment, supplies, and the medical center environment. The work requires a thorough grasp of medical center, eligibility, and service-level policies and procedures as well as a high degree of skill in working with ophthalmic instruments and a thorough knowledge of normal and abnormal ocular anatomy and physiology.
There is one vacancy at the Brick Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) and one at the East Orange Campus.
Certification as an Ophthalmic Assistant is preferred.
Work Schedule: Full Time. Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm; hours may vary
Position Description Title/PD#: Health Technician (Eye Clinic), #7978-A
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: The position requires fine motor skills and dexterity necessary for working with ophthalmic equipment. The position requires the operation of several different devices under dim illumination for the examination of patients. These generally require that the operator sit opposite the patient, using one hand to support the eyelids in the static position while the body, head and other hand of the operator must be able to shift positions sometimes rapidly to obtain the optimal picture field. The operator's eye is employed in this arrangement and the combination of static position and adjusting movements can be stressful and tiring. There are extensive periods of regular and recurring standing, walking, sitting, bending, lifting, pushing and reaching. It may require pushing a patient in a wheelchair. Clinic duties require providing manual assistance in lifting and positioning patients, e.g., wheelchair-bound patients. Various equipment items and some heavy objects must be moved or relocated, e.g., visual field machine. It requires walking throughout the clinic environment to access faxing and printing equipment, etc. It requires frequent computer use. The individual must be able to work for sustained periods under pressure. The ability to be flexible in regards to patient needs is critical. The employee performs the duties of the position in an outpatient clinic office setting. Duties are in a climate controlled work area; however, incumbent is still somewhat subject to exposure to various illnesses and diseases. Special safety precautions and the use of protective clothing or other gear may be necessary. There are no other exceptional discomforts, risks or unpleasant situations other than that which would normally be associated with a clinical environment.
Time-in-grade: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements. For the GS-7 level, these applicants must have held at least the GS-6 grade or higher for a year. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service.
Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization (in this case, Grade 6). Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: performing procedures to evaluate patient's vision (for example, pupil dilation), measuring ocular components, performing visual field testing, maintaining ophthalmic equipment and making arrangements for major repairs when necessary, greeting and checking-in patients and maintaining patient flow in a clinic, educating patients about ocular conditions and procedures, electronically ordering eyeglasses, troubleshooting patients' complaints about eyeglasses, and assisting with outpatient minor surgical procedures
OR
One full year of graduate education or an internship which was directly related to the work of this position
OR
A combination of education and/or an internship and specialized experience.
Preferred Qualification: Certification as an Ophthalmic Assistant is preferred.
Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-7 level. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-07. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position
A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education.
Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.
It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.
You will be rated on the following competencies based on your application for this position.
Competency 1: Knowledge of ocular anatomy and physiology and the visual pathway.
Competency 2: Skill in operating ophthalmic clinical and diagnostic devices.
Competency 3: Knowledge of ophthalmic optics especially as it relates to the fitting and ordering of eyeglasses..
Competency 4: Skill in applying policies and procedures to accomplish tasks and resolve problems.
If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview.
Your résumé and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.
All applicants are required to submit the following supporting document type(s):
·Resume
Applicants may also submit the following supporting document type(s),which may not be required for all applicants:
If you are not a VANJ employee, but you ARE a VA employee, please submit your latest SF50 with your resume.
Please use this checklist to ensure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.
Veterans' Preference:
When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), or 10pt (CP/CPS, XPP, XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP), on the Occupational Questionnaire in the section(s) provided. A legible copy of your DD214(s) indicating character of service, disability certification, SF-15 (if claiming 10 pt. preference) or if you are currently serving on active duty and expected to be released or discharged within 120 days; documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), or dates of impending separation. Documentation is required for eligibility verification.
Faxing Applications or Supporting Documents: You are
encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and
track the status of your application. If you are unable to apply online or
unable to upload your supporting documents to your online application, follow
the directions located at the following site: Fax Options. The
Vacancy ID of the job opportunity announcement is 1917940.
NOTE: If you
applied online and your application is complete, do not fax the paper
application (1203-FX) as this will overwrite your prior online responses and
may result in you being found ineligible.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
All applicants are encouraged to apply online.
To apply for this position, you must complete the View Occupational Questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents
section below.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on
Thursday, March 16, 2017 to receive consideration.
1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or
log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS
resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational
questionnaire.
2. Click Submit My
Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your
responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is
submitted prior to the closing date.
To verify your
application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then
select the more information link for this position. The Details page will
display the status of your application, the documentation received and
processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this
application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the
virus scan process.
To return to an
incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update
Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume
and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be
incomplete.
After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. During our review, if your résumé and application package do not support your questionnaire answers, we will adjust your rating accordingly. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email (if provided); otherwise, applicants will receive a notification letter via the U.S. Postal Service. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USAJOBS account and clicking on Application Status. For a more detailed update of your status, click on more information. Information regarding applicant notification points can be found in the USAJobs Resource Center.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/464669800. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
Vacancy Identification Number (VIN) 1917940