This position is located in the Field Operations Division of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
In this position, you will be responsible for assisting in planning and conducting agricultural surveys and in preparing estimates and forecasts concerning crops or commodities of major importance within the overall economy of the State.
Summary
This position is located in the Field Operations Division of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
In this position, you will be responsible for assisting in planning and conducting agricultural surveys and in preparing estimates and forecasts concerning crops or commodities of major importance within the overall economy of the State.
Recent graduate who has, within the previous two years, completed a qualifying Associate's, Bachelors, Masters, Doctorate, professional, vocational or technical degree or certificate program. Veterans unable to apply within two years of receiving their degree due to military service obligation have up to six years after degree completion to apply.
Assists in developing detailed plans and procedures for the conduct of agricultural surveys.
Assists in analyzing summarized survey data and prepares preliminary recommendations and analyses of interpretive comments to substantiate estimates and forecasts.
Analyzes current indications in relation to historical records and other existing conditions affecting the items surveyed.
With assistance from more senior members of the staff, conducts preliminary examination of survey forms and questionnaires to determine validity and proper representation of reports and proper sampling at the county, district, and State level.
Direct Deposit - Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution
Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/
Qualifications
To be eligible, applicants must meet one of the following requirements;
Completed all requirements for an associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution within the previous two (2) years; OR
Individuals who, due to military service obligation, were precluded from applying to the Recent Graduates Program during any portion of the 2-year eligibility period described above shall have a full 2-year period of eligibility upon release or discharge from active duty. This eligibility period cannot extend more than 6 years from the date on which the requirements for the academic course of study were met. AND
Basic Requirements:Degree: that included 15 semester hours in statistics (or in mathematics and statistics, provided at least 6 semester hours were in statistics), and 9 additional semester hours in one or more of the following: physical or biological sciences, medicine, education, or engineering; or in the social sciences including demography, history, economics, social welfare, geography, international relations, social or cultural anthropology, health sociology, political science, public administration, psychology, etc. Credit toward meeting statistical course requirements should be given for courses in which 50 percent of the course content appears to be statistical methods, e.g., courses that included studies in research methods in psychology or economics such as tests and measurements or business cycles, or courses in methods of processing mass statistical data such as tabulating methods or electronic data processing. OR
Combination of education and experience -- courses as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. The experience should have included a full range of professional statistical work such as (a) sampling, (b) collecting, computing, and analyzing statistical data, and (c) applying statistical techniques such as measurement of central tendency, dispersion, skewness, sampling error,simple and multiple correlation, analysis of variance, and tests of significance. AND
In addition to meeting the eligibility requirements above, applicants must possess the experience requirements as follows: At the GS-05:
Applicants who meet the basic requirements described above requirements are fully qualified for the GS-05 level.
At the GS-07:
Specialized Experience:
Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are:
Qualifying experience for GS-07 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-05 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience analyzing statistical data and assisting with preparing statistical estimates. OR Education: Completion of 1 full academic year of graduate level education, if related. Related degrees may include degrees in the field of agriculture, agricultural business, mathematics, or statistics. OR
Superior academic achievement (SAA): Superior Academic Achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled. S.A.A. is based on (1) A grade point average of B (a GPA of 3.0 or higher) for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last 2 full years of undergraduate study; OR (2) A grade point average of B (a GPA of 3.5 or higher) for all courses in your major field of study, or those courses in your major completed in the last two years of undergraduate study; OR (3) Rank in the upper one-third of your class in the college, university, or major subdivision; OR (4) Membership in a national honor society (other than freshman honor societies) recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. OR
Combination of specialized experience and graduate level education.
At the GS-09:
Qualifying experience for GS-09 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-07 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience analyzing statistical data; preparing statistical estimates; and recognizing deviations or trends in collected data. OR Education: 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree, if related. Related degrees may include degrees in the field of agriculture, agricultural business, mathematics, or statistics. OR
Combination of specialized experience and graduate level education.
IMPORTANT NOTE: All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date (by cut-off dates) of this vacancy announcement; however, applications can be accepted from students who expect to complete qualifying education requirements within 9 months from the date of application. Applicants must verify successful completion of the required education prior to appointment. All other applicants must be available to report for duty at the time of selection.
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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Education
Please see above for the education requirements.
Additional information
Recent Graduate appointments are intended to last for 1 year. Recent Graduates who satisfactorily complete all the USDA Recent Graduates Program requirements may be non-competitively converted to a Term or Permanent appointment in the competitive service. Conversion is not guaranteed. Recent Graduates converted to Term appointments may later be non-competitively converted to a Permanent competitive service position.
PAY RATES BY LOCALITY:
Little Rock, AR - $34,916 - $68,777
Louisville, KY - $34,916 - $68,777
East Lansing, MI - $34,916 - $68,777
Harrisburg, PA - $35,292 - $69,518
Austin, TX - $35,585 - $70,094
Athens, GA - $36,786 - $72,460
Denver, CO - $38,283 - $75,408
Lincoln, NE - $34,916 - $68,777
Olympia, WA - $38,250 - $75,343
Sacramento, CA - $38,054 - $74,958
Des Moines, IA - $34,916 - $68,777
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.
Evaluation of applications will be based on applicants' quality of experience and the extent they possess the following knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) or competencies:
Survey Methodology - Knowledge of applied statistics to study the sampling of individual units from a population and associated techniques of survey data collection including questionnaire construction and methods for improving the number and accuracy of responses to surveys.
Statistics - Knowledge of collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of masses of numerical data.
Internal Controls - Knowledge of the principles, methods, and techniques for establishing internal control activities (for example,authorizations, verifications, reconciliations), monitoring their use, and evaluating their performance (for example, identification of material weaknesses or significant deficiencies).
Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position. Those determined to be in the best qualified category will be referred to the selecting official for consideration.
Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service.
Clicking the link below will present a preview of the application form; i.e. the online questionnaire. The application form link below will only provide a preview and does not initiate the application process. To initiate the online application process, click the "Apply" button to the right.
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, 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; title, series, grade (if applicable); 4) other qualifications.
You must submit a copy of your college transcripts.An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; 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 the NACES website. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
If claiming veteran's preference, you must submit a DD214, Certificate of Release from Active Duty, which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions.If currently on active duty you must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty service under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted.Veteran's preference must be verified prior to appointment.Without this documentation, you will not receive veteran's preference and your application will be evaluated based on the material(s) submitted.
If claiming 10-point veteran's preference you must provide the DD214 or certification requirements (see above bullet), plus the proof of entitlement of this preference as listed on the SF-15 Application for 10-point Veterans' Preference. The SF-15 should be included but is not required. Failure to submit these documents could result in the determination that there is insufficient documentation to support your claim for 10-point preference. For more information on veterans' preference visit FEDSHIREVETS .
Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.
Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET 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 the Agency Contact to request this.
To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents.
NOTE: If a document is resubmitted, it replaces the previous submission, which means the previous document is no longer available to the Human Resources Office. If you are adding to, rather than replacing a previous submission, you must upload both the old document and the new document. You must verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Applicants may combine all like required documents (e.g. SF-50s or veteran docs) into one or more files and scan for uploading into the application. Each file must not exceed 3MB. Grouping like documents into files will simplify the application process. Documents must be in one of the following formats: GIF, JPEG, JPG, PDF, PNG, RTF, or Word (DOC or DOCX). Uploaded documents may not require a password, digital signature, or other encryption to open.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250
US
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.
Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
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, 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; title, series, grade (if applicable); 4) other qualifications.
You must submit a copy of your college transcripts.An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; 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 the NACES website. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
If claiming veteran's preference, you must submit a DD214, Certificate of Release from Active Duty, which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions.If currently on active duty you must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty service under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted.Veteran's preference must be verified prior to appointment.Without this documentation, you will not receive veteran's preference and your application will be evaluated based on the material(s) submitted.
If claiming 10-point veteran's preference you must provide the DD214 or certification requirements (see above bullet), plus the proof of entitlement of this preference as listed on the SF-15 Application for 10-point Veterans' Preference. The SF-15 should be included but is not required. Failure to submit these documents could result in the determination that there is insufficient documentation to support your claim for 10-point preference. For more information on veterans' preference visit FEDSHIREVETS .
Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.
Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET 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 the Agency Contact to request this.
To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents.
NOTE: If a document is resubmitted, it replaces the previous submission, which means the previous document is no longer available to the Human Resources Office. If you are adding to, rather than replacing a previous submission, you must upload both the old document and the new document. You must verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Applicants may combine all like required documents (e.g. SF-50s or veteran docs) into one or more files and scan for uploading into the application. Each file must not exceed 3MB. Grouping like documents into files will simplify the application process. Documents must be in one of the following formats: GIF, JPEG, JPG, PDF, PNG, RTF, or Word (DOC or DOCX). Uploaded documents may not require a password, digital signature, or other encryption to open.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250
US
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.
Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
Fair and transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
