Clarification from the agency

At the successful conclusion of the program, interns may be eligible for non-competitive conversion to a Federal career or career-conditional position in the competitive service. Conversions to the competitive service are not guaranteed.

This position is located in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs (H). The H Bureau coordinates legislative activity for the Department of State, advises the Secretary and other Departmental Principals on legislative strategy, and facilitates effective communications between Department officials and Members of Congress and their staffs to advance the Department’s legislative priorities.

H/RGF

The Office of Regional, Global, and Functional Affairs tracks the Department's full range of policy issues of interest to the Congress. The office's Foreign Affairs Officer (Legislative Management Officers) is the principal substantive liaison officers between Department bureaus and Congressional offices. It works in close cooperation with the Department bureaus in briefings on administration policy and manages Congressional appearances of Department witnesses for foreign policy hearings.

H/LRU

The Legislative Reference Unit (LRU) oversees the coordination and clearance functions of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs with respect to all Department programs and activities. This office monitors all significant legislation involving the Department and serves as the liaison in the legislative clearance process, coordinating views between OMB, National Security Council, and other executive agencies.  The LRU coordinates the review, preparation, and submission of transcripts of Congressional hearings, insuring that appropriate editorial changes are made in accordance with Committee guidelines. The LRU maintains a library of hearings, transcripts and Questions for the Record (QFRs) involving the Secretary, Department principals, and other Department witnesses.

 As a Student Trainee (Foreign Affairs) GS-07, you will:

Assignments of this position include:

As a trainee, increases knowledge, skills and abilities in the profession. As part of planned career development, works with and assists senior members of the staff in the performance of moderately complex analytical/scientific assignments. Collects relevant foreign affairs data and applies established evaluative methods to identify trends and draw conclusions for further analysis by higher-graded staff. 

The incumbent receives advanced training through classroom and on-the-job instruction to provide a more thorough understanding of and exposure to laws and regulations, administrative policies,
 production/validation processes, and the various methods employed in policy analysis, evaluation, research, or other analytical/scientific functions. Independently carries out the more common and ordinary professional assignments in which he/she have received specific or related training. Typically,assignments are restricted to those situations employing the more simple and standardized practices and processes
 and where the environment is known to be cooperative. Functions in an assisting capacity, typically working with senior staff members, carrying out predetermined phases of more complex assignments design to provide broad exposure to work in the profession.The trainee increases networks and contacts beneficial to the successful performance of assignments. Contacts extend beyond the immediate work area and the work requires effective coordination and solicitation of cooperative efforts from other administrative or support staff. The trainee must establish a basic occupational credibility to be effective.

Work assignments provide the employee opportunities to sharpen communication skills. The employee interprets and applies pertinent regulations and style manuals governing written communications, presenting written materials in a logical and concise manner, reflecting adequate research and analysis, and which effectively communicate the intended information.The trainee prepares presentations related to work assignments. The presentations are well researched and logically organized. The employee demonstrates the ability to communicate clearly when speaking and presents facts, issues, and positions that convey the intended information with the appropriate diplomacy and emphasis.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
• Must be at least 16 years of age by the closing date of the announcement.
• Must maintain student eligibility for duration of internship.
• Employment (E-Verify)

Pathways Internship Program candidates must meet the U.S. Department of State (DOS) qualification standards applicable to the position being filled.  All applicants must meet the qualifications by the closing date of the announcement in order to be considered for the position.

Eligibility Requirements:

• A U.S. Citizen;
• 16 years or older by the closing date of this announcement;
• Enrolled or formally accepted for enrollment as a full-time or half-time student into an accredited college or university in a degree-seeking program, or enrolled or formally accepted for enrollment in a certificate program;
• Cumulative GPA of 2.0 at time of application and must maintain at least a 2.0 GPA throughout the entire Pathways Internship appointment; and
• Degree does not have to be related to the position/series; however to be eligible, candidate must meet the agency-developed or OPM qualification standards for the position to which the Intern may be converted.
• All transcripts or educational supporting documentation must reflect a projected graduation date on or after Spring 2021.

Certificate Requirements:

• Undergraduate Certificates must contain a minimum of 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours.
• Graduate certificates must contain a minimum of 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours.
• For study at a business or technical school, 36 weeks of study (20+ classroom hours per week) is comparable to 1 academic year above high school.  

The Department of State no longer accepts certificates that are credited with Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

All academic degrees and course work must be completed at an institution that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see U.S. Department of Education.

Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the 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 provide such evidence at the time of application. Late submissions of proof of accreditation will not be accepted.  Click on the link for a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials.

Qualifications

Applicants applying for the GS-07 grade level must have completed 1 full academic year of graduate level education; or Eligibility under the Superior Academic Achievement Provision and completion of a bachelor's degree. The applicant should also be enrolled in a qualifying degree or certificate program.

Degree: major or equivalent, or a combination of courses totaling at least 24 semester hours, in international law and international relations, political science, economics, history, sociology, geography, social or cultural anthropology, law, statistics, or in the humanities; or 12 semester hours in one of the above disciplines and 12 semester hours in statistics/quantitative methods.

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 based solely on basic eligibility requirements using agency-developed or OPM Qualification standards.  

Your application will be evaluated and rated under the Category Rating and Selection procedures.  Based on your responses to the job-specific self-assessment questions, eligible candidates are placed for selection consideration into one of three pre-defined quality categories as described below:

Highly-qualified Category - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications for the position, candidates must fully demonstrate proficiency in all major aspects of the position.  

Well Qualified Category - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, candidates must demonstrate proficiency in some, but not all of the major aspects of the position.

Qualified Category - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate a basic level of knowledge, skill and ability of the position.

Application of Veterans Preference: The Category Rating Method 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 pre-defined quality category. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent (i.e., CPS and CP) must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher.

Applicants must meet all the qualification requirements and submit any required supporting documentation by the closing date of this announcement.  Applicants found to be among the top qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring official for further consideration and possible interview.

In accordance with the Office of Personnel Management policy, for undergraduate level education, successfully completed education is credited based on its relationship to 120 semester hours or 180 quarter hours. For example, 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours is comparable to 1 year of undergraduate education.

An academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 academic year of full-time study. This determination is made based on normal course loads for a full year of study in the graduate program. If that information is not provided by the applicant, 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours will be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. For applicants that have completed more than 1 year of education in a graduate program, advanced degree, or certificate program, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide documentation from the institution in order to establish the length of their academic program to be used to project their expected graduation date.