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Economic Assistant (Part-Time)

Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Also being advertised as job announcement #MS-18-SF-BLS-030 for status applicants and Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA applicants; to be considered for each, apply to ALL jobs.

DOL seeks to attract and retain a high performing and diverse workforce in which employees' differences are respected and valued to better meet the varying needs of the diverse customers we service. DOL fosters a diverse and inclusive work environment that promotes collaboration, flexibility, and fairness so that all individuals are able to participate and contribute to their full potential.

THIS POSITION IS PART-TIME ONLY AND DOES NOT LEAD TO FULL-TIME.

Economic Assistants are paid the hourly rate depending on the number of hours worked. This position is a permanent part-time position. Some weekend or evening hours will be required. The weekly hours of work vary, but are expected to average 16-32 hours per week. The average weekly and/or total hours may increase or decrease. This is not a job opportunity for a person that needs full-time employment or whom cannot be available for work when work is required, including a mix of day, evening, and weekend hours.

This position has promotion potential to GS-07. There is no obligation to provide future promotions to you if you are selected. Future promotions are dependent on your ability to perform the duties at a higher level, the continuing need for an employee assigned to the higher level, and supervisory approval.

The selectee will be placed on a telework agreement, with a local reporting office to be identified in the telework agreement. The selectee will be required to travel throughout Los Angeles and Orange County, CA to perform data collection.

- This position in inside the bargaining unit

- Relocation costs will NOT be paid.

- At least 2 positions will be filled through this vacancy. If additional vacancies become available, additional selections may be made from this announcement.

NOTE: Work in retail store must be completed during business hours.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
05/04/2018 to 05/18/2018
Salary
$18.11 to - $23.54 per hour
Pay scale & grade
GS 05
Locations
2 vacancies in the following locations:
Los Angeles, CA
Orange County, CA
Travel Required
75% or less - Travel required for training. Travel may be required daily.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Part-time - Part-time (16-32 hours per week). Average hours per week will vary.
Service
Promotion potential
07
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Announcement number
DE-18-SF-BLS-030
Control number
498751600

This job is open to

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Duties

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Incumbent is responsible for the collection of primary data for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Economic Assistants collect process and related statistical data on a wide variety of commodities, services, and housing for the BLS CPI. Data for commodities and services are collected by conducting personal and telephone interviews with store managers, buyers, managers in auto dealerships, doctors, pharmacists, and other professionals. Data for the housing survey are obtained by personal visit or telephone interviews with either property managers, tenants, or home owners.

Duties include, but are not limited to: Visiting retails and service establishments such as department stores, supermarkets, medical offices and hotels to collect retail price data; contacting homeowners, renters, and apartment management companies by personal visit to neighborhood and follow up telephone interviews; and collecting and entering data on a hand held computer and obtaining voluntary cooperation from survey responders. The position requires travel throughout pricing areas in Los Angeles and Orange County, CA, including neighborhoods of all economic types. During the first year, travel to Washington office is necessary for training. There will be a 1 two-week trip, and 1 one-week trip. Additional travel outside of local area may be necessary, as needed, for training.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship.
  • Requires a valid drivers license.
  • Requires a probationary period if the requirement has not been met.
  • Appointment to this position may require a background investigation.

Applicants must meet all legal and regulatory requirements. Reference the "Required Documents" section for additional requirements.

Qualifications

GS-05: Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-04, in the Federal Service; OR successful completion of a full 4-year course of study with major study in Economics or 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as business law, statistics, algebra, precalculus, calculus, or economics; OR a combination of specialized experience and education.

Specializedexperience is defined as experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience is performing research or related work that involved collecting, compiling, verifying, analyzing, or reporting data.

Combination of specialized experience and education: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience are also qualifying. For GS-5 level positions, only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to l year of specialized experience.

Additional information

Additional Competencies (continued):

Planning and Evaluation - Organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements; determines short- or long-term goals and strategies to achieve them; coordinates with other organizations or parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors progress and evaluates outcomes.

Self-Management - Sets well defined and realistic personal goals; displays a higher level of motivation, initiative, effort, and commitment towards timely completion of assignment with minimal supervision.

Influencing/ Negotiation – Persuades others to accept recommendations, cooperate, or change their behavior; works with others towards an agreement; negotiates to find mutually acceptable solutions.

Stress Tolerance - Deals calmly and effectively with high stress situations (for example, tight deadlines, hostile individuals, emergency situations, dangerous situations). Manages engagement with contacts who may be reluctant or irritable making gathering of information challenging.

Refer to the following link for more information: GENERAL INFORMATION

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

If you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be evaluated against the evaluation factors below and will be placed into a category based on your vacancy question responses.

Category A - Meets the basic qualification requirements for the vacancy and has successful experience in the same or similar job that has demonstrated superior proficiency in applying critical competencies required by this position to work of increased levels of difficulty and complexity.

Category B - Meets the basic qualification requirements for the vacancy and demonstrates satisfactory proficiency in the critical competencies required by this position.

Category C - Meets the specialized experience described in the minimum qualifications requirements section of this announcement and demonstrates proficiency in the basic competencies.

Evaluation Factors (Competencies) - All qualified applicants will be evaluated on the following key competencies:

Decision Making and Problem Solving - Makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals.

Interpersonal Skills- Organizes work and sets realistic personal goals; displays a high level of initiative, effort, and commitment towards completing assignments in a timely manner; is motivated to achieve; and demonstrates responsible behavior.

Oral Communication - Shows understanding, professionalism, courtesy, tact, empathy, concern and politeness, even with individual who are difficult, hostile or distressed. Communicates with staff within the agency and customers.

For additional competencies required, refer to the "Other Information" section of this job announcement.

The information you provide may be verified by a review of your work experience and/or education, by checking references and through other means (ex. interview). The examining Human Resources Office (HRO) makes the final determination concerning applicant ratings. Your resume MUST provide sufficient information to substantiate your responses to the vacancy questions. If not, the HRO may amend your responses to more accurately reflect the level of competency indicated by the content of your resume. Your evaluation may also include a review by a Human Resources Specialist or panel and may include other assessments (ex. interview, panel review, written test, writing sample, etc.)

INFORMATION FOR ICTAP/CTAP ELIGIBLES ONLY: If you are eligible for special priority selection under ICTAP/CTAP, you must be well-qualified for the position to receive consideration. ICTAP/CTAP eligibles who are placed into Category B or higher will be considered "well-qualified".

Click Application of Veterans Preference for Category Rating Jobs for more information.
To preview questions please click here.

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