Clarification from the agency

Recent graduates (includes Veterans recruitment). This position is open to all U.S. Citizens or U.S. Nationals. Applicants who can be appointed to a job within 2 years of receiving their college degree or certificate. Veterans (precluded from applying due to military service) must be appointed within 6 years of receiving their degree or certificate. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

As a participant in the Pathways Recent Graduates Program, you will receive both formal and on-the-job training to develop the required knowledge and skill to successfully perform the duties of the position. The incumbent: 

• Tracks income and expenditures from a variety of federal and/or trust funds.  Prepares and tracks forms for billing, receiving, depositing and/or transferring funds. 
• Orders a variety of goods and services including office or lab supplies, performers, honoraria, custom goods or services (such as design, production), or conference services.  Assists with coordination and submission of contract request and documentation.    
• Photocopies, scans or fax documents. Serves as timekeeper for the organization or unit, monitoring and coordinating the timely and accurate submission of Time and Attendance (T&A) records and serving as primary liaison to Payroll. 
• Prepares materials such as correspondence, reports and briefing slides using a variety of office software.  Ensures accurate transcription and proper grammar and spelling.   
• Assists staff members by responding to telephone calls. Advises all staff members of T&A instructions and change and may be required to present information publically in a staff meeting.

Conditions of employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
• May need to complete a Probationary Period
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

Successful applicants are placed in a 1-year developmental program at the GS-6 level with the potential to lead to a civil service career in the Federal Government. At the successful conclusion of this program you may be eligible for non-competitive conversion to a Federal career or career-conditional position (promotion potential to GS-7).

Program Requirements: You must have obtained a qualifying Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, Professional, Doctorate, Vocational or Technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution within the previous 2 years. Veterans (precluded from applying due to military service) must be appointed within 6 years of receiving their degree or certificate.

Qualification requirements must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date.

Qualifications

Experience: 

You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-5 level in the Federal service or comparable pay band system.  For this position specialized experience is defined as responding to inquiries both verbally and in writing, arranging meetings, reviewing correspondence for grammar, establishing and maintaining files/records, using different office automation software (i.e., word processing, spreadsheets, and electronic mail); conducting inventory of equipment, keeping time and attendance records, and entering in a variety of information into an electronic database.

Or Education: 

Graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position.

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 first for the basic qualifications described above. The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria:

• Knowledge of administrative and financial recordkeeping. 

• Knowledge of basic procurement processes to obtain and monitor the use of services, supplies and equipment, as well as to assist with coordination and submission of contract request and documentation. 

• Skill in office support functions such as data entry, filing, timekeeping, scheduling, phone and mail handling and reception duties. 

• Skill in correspondence preparation, reports or other written material.

• Skill in oral communication to advise staff on requirements and procedures and to assist the general public.

Applicants who meet or exceed minimum qualifications will be assigned to one of three category groups based on job-related criteria:

Best Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and excels in most of the job related competencies above.

Better Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and satisfies most of the job related competencies above.

Good Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements, but does not satisfy most of the job related competencies above to a substantive degree.

This category rating process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three", but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality category (Best Category) provided no preference eligible in that category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that category unless the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 3317(b) or 3318(b) are satisfied. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or higher. Applicants who have not submitted a resume in the USAjobs system and/or have not answered all of the vacancy questions will not be considered for this position. 

Or a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications. For a full explanation of this option please see the Qualification Standards. Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study. For instructions on where to fax these documents, see the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

Important Note: Your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses to the occupational questionnaire or other assessment tool for consistency. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Your resume should provide sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.