THE POSITION LOCATION WILL BE DETERMINED UPON SELECTION OF THE CANDIDATES
This is a twelve-month training program that may require travel throughout the State of LOUISIANA. Depending upon agency needs, candidates will be expected to relocate within the state when the training program is complete.
Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service Registered or Exempt.
Must be a high school graduate or equivalent.
Must be 18 years of age or 17 years of age for high school graduates.
Completion of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
Successful completion of one-year probationary period, if required.
Requirements:
Initial appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of training.
TRAINING PROGRAM: Applicants selected as County Operations Trainees (COTs) must sign an agreement to accept training assignment wherever located in the continental United States. Each COT shall satisfactorily complete a minimum 52-week training program. COT's who do not satisfactorily complete the required training shall be separated without prejudice.
The District Director, State Executive Director, State Committee, State Training Coordinator, State Office Specialist, and previous County Executive Director trainers will evaluate the trainee's performance at the end of the 52-week period. Based on this review, the trainee will be continued as a CO-5, CO-7, CO-9 or terminated.
Qualifications
Qualifications are in accordance with requirements in Handbook 27-PM.
Applicants must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements by the closing date in the announcement, including the following specialized experience and/or education, as identified below:
You may start at the CO-05 level if you have one of the following qualifications:
Four years of education above high school in an accredited business, college or university in any field in which high school graduation or the equivalent is a prerequisite: OR
One year of specialized experience, equivalent to CO-4 or GS-4, applying office methods and procedures to provide clerical and limited technical support to any farm or agricultural program. OR
Combination of education and experience described above. Experience that shows your ability to perform progressively more complex, responsible, or difficult duties: and that shows your ability to learn the specific work of this position. OR
Combination of education and experience described above.
You may start at the CO-07 level if you have one of the following qualifications:
Four years of education above high school in an accredited business, college or university in any field in which high school graduation or the equivalent is a prerequisite with a grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 point scale: OR
One year specialized experience equivalent to grade CO-6 or GS-6 applying office methods and procedures to provide clerical and limited technical support to independently perform a full range of farm program processes. Experience that shows your ability to perform progressively more complex, responsible, or difficult duties: and that shows your ability to learn the specific work of this position. OR
Combination of education and experience described above.
At CO-09, applicants must meet one of the following criteria in order to qualify for this position:
A Masters or equivalent graduate degree or two full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree from an accredited college or university: OR
One year *--specialized experience equivalent to grade CO-7 or GS-7 or be equivalent to grade CO-9 or GS-9 or above applying office methods and procedures to provide clerical and limited technical support to independently perform a full range of farm program processes. Experience that shows your ability to perform progressively more complex, responsible, or difficult duties, and that shows your ability to learn the specific work of this position. Experience in providing program interpretation, and instruction for an agriculture program area or operational phases of farm loan programs. Such work experience included acquiring data and providing information to producers, farm loan borrowers and farming operations; writing summary reports; assisting staff with policy guidance; arranging and scheduling activities of subordinates to complete technical/clerical review: OR
A combination of education and experience as listed above.
*--Examples of Specialized Experience would be experience in an FSA Supervisory position, COT position, or PT-in-Charge position within the last 5 years for a total of at least 52 weeks.
Education
Educational Qualifications:
College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education at the CO-5, CO-7 or CO-9 levels you must submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., bio 101, math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours, grade earned and GPA. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume.
You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. Please refer to the “How to Apply, Alternative Methods for Submitting Your Application Materials” section, for instructions on submitting the transcript. Please refer to the "Required Documents" section for further information.
NOTE: Your college transcript is used to verify successful completion of degree, or college course work. An official college transcript will be required before you can report to duty.
Additional information
Veteran's preference does not apply.
Relocation expenses are not authorized.
Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF 306) to determine your suitability for Federal employment.
When promotion potential is shown, the agency is not making a commitment and is not obligated to provide future promotions to you if you are selected. Future promotions will be dependent on your ability to perform the duties at a higher level, the continuing need for an employee assigned to the higher level, and administrative approval.
This is a Non-Federal, Non-Civil Service position.
Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
This announcement may be used to fill one or more vacancies.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact: USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How you will be evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Candidates will be evaluated on:
Knowledge of farming practices and customs.
Knowledge of FSA organizational structure, policy, and programs administered.
Skill and ability to provide leadership, direction, and coordination in carrying out assigned programs.
Ability and experience in meeting clients and speaking effectively before groups.
Skill and experience in effective methods of communication with both staff members and clients.
Training and experience in supervision of subordinates.
Skill and experience participating in local community activities and organizations.
HOW TO WRITE A KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES (KSA) All applicants will be considered on the basis of their education, experience, supervisory appraisal, training, awards and education as it relates to the qualification requirements and on the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) listed below. There are no special forms for these statements. They may be submitted on plain paper with your name and the announcement number at the top. You should include specific tasks performed, the dates you performed them, and where you were working at the time. KSA statements may not be more than 2 single-spaced pages per KSA.
Candidates who do not submit the supplemental statements will not be considered.
1. Ability to plan work and make decisions independently. 2. Ability to identify and resolve problems. 3. Ability to communicate both orally and in writing. 4. Ability to supervise and lead people. 5. Knowledge of or experience in Agricultural practices and customs. 6. Skill in providing customer service.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.
Resume that includes: 1) personal information such as name, address, contact information; 2) education; 3) detailed work experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; for current or previous Federal or FSA County employees, it should also include the title, Pay Plan, Series and Grade for each work experience entry; 4) supervisors phone number and whether or not the supervisor may be contacted for a reference check; 5) other qualifications.
For current or previous Federal or FSA County employees, you must attach a copy of your most recent Notification of Personnel Action (form SF-50 or SF-50B) that provides current position, grade level, and duty location. Award SF-50 or SF-50B will result in an ineligible rating.
NOTE: THIS IS REQUIRED FOR BOTH PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES.
Core Eligibility, Minimum Qualifications, Online Resume and Other documents are required if you are a current or former USDA employee.
Narrative KSAs.
Current and former USDA Employees must submit your most recently completed annual performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) which identifies the employee's official rating of record, signed by the supervisor, or a statement advising why the performance appraisal is unavailable. Do not submit a performance plan. Failure to do so will result in an ineligible rating.
If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit http://www.naces.org/members.htm. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
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.
Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin. The following instructions outline our application process.
You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.
We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. CT, Monday - Friday). Applying online is highly encouraged. If applying online poses a hardship, please contact our office at 318/473-7727during business hours well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages with supporting documents must be submitted no later than noon on the closing date of the announcement in order to be entered into the system prior to its closing.
This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact us if you are requesting this.
Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not have one) at www.usajobs.gov. It is recommended that as part of your profile you set up automatic email notification to be informed when the status of your application changes. If you choose not to set up this automatic notification, then you will have to log into your USAJOBS account to check on the status of your application.
Step 2: Create a resume with USAJOBS or upload a resume into your USAJOBS account. Customize your resume to ensure it documents duties and accomplishments you have gained that are directly related to this position in order to verify that qualifications are met. Your resume must support your responses to the core eligibility questions (you may preview these questions by clicking on the link at the end of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement).
Step 3: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the Core Eligibility Questions, Minimum Qualification questions and attach any additional documents that may be required. You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application” to continue. NOTE: Verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system. Once in the Agency's staffing system you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX).
Louisiana State Farm Service Agency
3737 Government Street
Alexandria, Louisiana, 71302
United States
Next steps
Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS account to check your application status.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.
Resume that includes: 1) personal information such as name, address, contact information; 2) education; 3) detailed work experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; for current or previous Federal or FSA County employees, it should also include the title, Pay Plan, Series and Grade for each work experience entry; 4) supervisors phone number and whether or not the supervisor may be contacted for a reference check; 5) other qualifications.
For current or previous Federal or FSA County employees, you must attach a copy of your most recent Notification of Personnel Action (form SF-50 or SF-50B) that provides current position, grade level, and duty location. Award SF-50 or SF-50B will result in an ineligible rating.
NOTE: THIS IS REQUIRED FOR BOTH PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES.
Core Eligibility, Minimum Qualifications, Online Resume and Other documents are required if you are a current or former USDA employee.
Narrative KSAs.
Current and former USDA Employees must submit your most recently completed annual performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) which identifies the employee's official rating of record, signed by the supervisor, or a statement advising why the performance appraisal is unavailable. Do not submit a performance plan. Failure to do so will result in an ineligible rating.
If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit http://www.naces.org/members.htm. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
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.
Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin. The following instructions outline our application process.
You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.
We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. CT, Monday - Friday). Applying online is highly encouraged. If applying online poses a hardship, please contact our office at 318/473-7727during business hours well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages with supporting documents must be submitted no later than noon on the closing date of the announcement in order to be entered into the system prior to its closing.
This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact us if you are requesting this.
Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not have one) at www.usajobs.gov. It is recommended that as part of your profile you set up automatic email notification to be informed when the status of your application changes. If you choose not to set up this automatic notification, then you will have to log into your USAJOBS account to check on the status of your application.
Step 2: Create a resume with USAJOBS or upload a resume into your USAJOBS account. Customize your resume to ensure it documents duties and accomplishments you have gained that are directly related to this position in order to verify that qualifications are met. Your resume must support your responses to the core eligibility questions (you may preview these questions by clicking on the link at the end of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement).
Step 3: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the Core Eligibility Questions, Minimum Qualification questions and attach any additional documents that may be required. You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application” to continue. NOTE: Verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system. Once in the Agency's staffing system you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX).
Louisiana State Farm Service Agency
3737 Government Street
Alexandria, Louisiana, 71302
United States
Next steps
Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS account to check your application status.
Fair and transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
