This is an excepted service appointment under the DOJ Pathways Recent Graduates Program. This position is located in the Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division. The incumbent will provide a variety of administrative and legal support to attorneys and paralegal specialists. Up to 4 positions may be filled from this announcement.
Summary
This is an excepted service appointment under the DOJ Pathways Recent Graduates Program. This position is located in the Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division. The incumbent will provide a variety of administrative and legal support to attorneys and paralegal specialists. Up to 4 positions may be filled from this announcement.
After successfully completing one year under the Program, recent graduates MAY be converted to a term or permanent appointment if the following program requirements are met: 1) successful completion of at least 1 year of continuous service; 2) completion of at least 40 hours of formal interactive training; and 3) demonstration of successful job performance. A recent graduate converted to a term appointment may be subsequently converted non-competitively into a permanent competitive service position before the term expires.
You will join a well-respected team that is responsible for performing a wide range of administrative and legal support tasks:
Use word processing software to create, edit, and format documents and correspondence.
Conduct online research that included collecting and sorting information into logical formats.
Review and assemble large volume of documents for review in preparation for specific projects.
Organize and maintain files.
Perform data entry in databases.
Arrange travel reservations and prepare necessary paperwork.
Recent Graduates are on a trial period for the duration of the program. An Individual Development Plan (IDP) must be completed and approved by the supervisor within 45 days of appointment and a mentor must be assigned within 90 days of appointment.
You must complete a background investigation to include drug testing.
Selective Service Registration is required, as applicable.
You will be required to serve a one year trial period.
You must maintain a bank account for direct deposit of salary.
If you do not submit school transcripts, you will be rated ineligible.
Qualifications
To be eligible for this Recent Graduate program, one of the following requirements must be met:
Recent graduates must have completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associate, bachelor, master, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution. You must have completed your degree or certificate on or before the end of the current semester. If you graduated prior to May 2017, you will not be eligible for this position.
Veterans unable to apply within two years of receiving their degree, due to military service obligation, have as much as six years after degree completion to apply.
Note: Current students may apply if they are in the final semester of degree/certificate program. You must include your expected date of graduation on your resume. You must receive your degree prior to appointment. If you are currently a student but cannot provide proof that you expect to graduate by the end of the current semester, you will not meet the program eligibility requirements for the Recent Graduate.
To qualify for the Legal Assistant (Recent Graduate) GS-5, applicants must have one of the following:
A. One year of specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-4 Federal grade level applying standardized rules, processes, and procedures concerning commonly utilized general reference sources and legal research tools to perform legal support work.This experience include preparing correspondence and administrative forms using proper format, grammar, punctuation, and spelling; or
B. Successful completion of 4 years of education above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. This education was obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university; or
C. A combination of specialized experience described in letter A above and qualifying post high school education described in letter B above. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours beyond the second year) is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience.
Typing Requirement: This position requires a qualified typist with a minimum typing speed of 40 words per minute. If you do not self certify on the occupational/assessment questionnaire that you have the required typing proficiency, you will be rated ineligible for this position.
This position requires office automation skills. Some examples of office automation skills including managing databases and using various word processing software packages (MS Office Suite: Excel, PowerPoint, and Word) and database applications.
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 skill and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
YOUR RESUME MUST support your responses to the online questionnaire. Failure to provide support may result in an ineligible rating. Your latest resume submitted for this vacancy announcement will be used to determine qualifications and supersedes previous submissions.
YOUR RESUME MUST provide specific details as to how your experience meets the specialized experience as described in the vacancy announcement if you are using experience to meet all or part of the qualification requirements. Please ensure that your resume includes the month and year that you began and ended each position held or that position will not be credited toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. Part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience. Failure to provide details will result in an ineligible rating.
Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.
Education
All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see www.ed.gov
Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to timely provide such evidence by submitting proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency with your application materials. More information may be found at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html
Veterans Preference: If you are entitled to or claim veteran preference (VP), you should indicate the type of veteran preference (5 or 10 points) you are claiming on your resume. In order to determine your eligibility, you can find additional information at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/veterans-services/vet-guide/
To verify your veteran preference entitlement, submit a copy of the Member Copy 4 of your DD-214; official statement of service from your command if you are currently on active duty; or other official documentation (e.g., documentation of receipt of a campaign badge or expeditionary medal) that shows your military service was performed under honorable conditions. If you are claiming 10-point preference, you must submit Member Copy 4 of your DD-214 in addition to the supporting documentation required and identified on the reserve side of the SF-15, Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference. If you are claiming 10-point DERIVED PREFERENCE as a relative you must submit Member Copy 4 of the veteran's DD-214 and an SF-15 in addition to the supporting documentation required and identified on the reverse side of the SF-15. If you fail to do so, you will receive consideration as a non-veteran.
Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. Additional information is found at: www.sss.gov
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.
Your application will be evaluated and rated under DOJ's Quality Rating and Selection Procedures. Your résumé and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are basically qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the Occupational Questionnaire.
Note - If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If it is determined you meet minimum qualification requirements, your application will then be placed in one of three categories: Best Qualified, Highly Qualified, or Qualified. Within these categories, applicants eligible for Veterans' Preference will receive selection priority over non-veteran preference eligibles.
Your application must demonstrate your ability to perform the following competencies (knowledge, skills, and other characteristics):
Applies Technology to Tasks
Clerical
Legal, Government and Jurisprudence
Please Note: Additional candidates may be selected if more positions become available in the Division within 90 days after the HR office issues the selection certificate.
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.
Resumé demonstrating relevant experience and dates the experience was obtained
Cover letter
Veterans preference documentation, if applicable (DD-214 Member Copy 4; VA Letter)
An unofficial transcript showing degree completion and graduation date is required
Your online responses to the Occupational Questionnaire
Your resumé MUST include full employment information such as periods of employment with Month/Year started and ended, title of position(s), and FT or PT. If employment is PT, indicate PT hours worked.If you list Federal employment, you must include the grade of the position(s).
You must apply online through USAJOBS. Follow the prompts to register, answer a few questions, and submit all required documents by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date to receive consideration.
To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login). All of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/
To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/
If you are unable to apply online, you must request an alternative application which is available from the Office of Human Resources. Please contact Nardia Bennett at Nardia.Bennett@usdoj.gov to obtain an alternative application.
Environmental Enforcement Sect
601 D St NW
Washington, DC 20004
US
Next steps
Once the online questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After a review of your complete application is made, you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. We will notify you of the outcome after each step of the recruitment process has been completed. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct a suitability/security background investigation. We expect to make a final job offer within 80 days after the closing date of the announcement.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
Resumé demonstrating relevant experience and dates the experience was obtained
Cover letter
Veterans preference documentation, if applicable (DD-214 Member Copy 4; VA Letter)
An unofficial transcript showing degree completion and graduation date is required
Your online responses to the Occupational Questionnaire
Your resumé MUST include full employment information such as periods of employment with Month/Year started and ended, title of position(s), and FT or PT. If employment is PT, indicate PT hours worked.If you list Federal employment, you must include the grade of the position(s).
You must apply online through USAJOBS. Follow the prompts to register, answer a few questions, and submit all required documents by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date to receive consideration.
To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login). All of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/
To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/
If you are unable to apply online, you must request an alternative application which is available from the Office of Human Resources. Please contact Nardia Bennett at Nardia.Bennett@usdoj.gov to obtain an alternative application.
Environmental Enforcement Sect
601 D St NW
Washington, DC 20004
US
Next steps
Once the online questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After a review of your complete application is made, you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. We will notify you of the outcome after each step of the recruitment process has been completed. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct a suitability/security background investigation. We expect to make a final job offer within 80 days after the closing date of the announcement.
Fair and transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
