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Student Trainee (Store Worker)

Department of Defense
Defense Commissary Agency

Summary

SUMMER INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS AT LEAST 16 YEARS OF AGE

This is a temporary appointment not to exceed 90 days, No appointment will exceed 30-SEPTEMBER-2026 regardless of appointment date.

Students must meet eligibility and requirements by the announcement close date. Anticipated employment period is June to September 30, 2026.

Read the entire announcement before starting the application process.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
04/20/2026 to 05/04/2026
Salary
$16.94 - $25.48 per hour
Pay scale & grade
WG 1
Locations
Many vacancies in the following locations:
Fort Rucker, AL
Gunter AFB, AL
Maxwell AFB, AL
Redstone Arsenal, AL
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Temporary - 30 SEP 2026
Work schedule
Intermittent - Irregular work schedule including days, nights, weekends, and holidays.
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
Yes
Announcement number
DECA-26-12940722-PW-DE
Control number
865789900

Duties

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Store Workers work in a military grocery store. The work is similar to a stocker or stock clerk at your local grocery or retail store.

As a student trainee and under close supervision, you receive on-the-job training or formal instruction in aspects of commissary operations and store worker duties. You will learn to:

  • Refill stock on shelves and display counters,
  • Check amounts received,
  • Move old stock forward on shelves or rotate stock as instructed, and
  • Assist in inventories.
Read the entire announcement before starting the application process.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. citizen or national. Applicants with a Permanent Resident Card are authorized to live and work in the U.S. but are not eligible for employment in positions requiring U.S. citizenship. If selected, proof of citizenship is required.
  • Must be at least 16 years of age. Per Department of Labor regulations, under age youths may not perform hazardous jobs.
  • Males born after 12-31-1959 must be registered with or exempt from Selective Service.
  • Appointment is subject to successful verification of identity and employment eligibility through E-Verify. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, at https://www.e-verify.gov/.
  • Appointment is subject to a favorable suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation. New federal employees will be fingerprinted.
  • Must be able to obtain and maintain clearance eligibility based on the appropriate background investigation.
  • Selectee must sign Pathways Participant Agreement.
  • Must have salary paid through electronic fund transfer (direct deposit).

Qualifications

To be eligible you must be enrolled in:

OR one of the following accredited by the Department of Education:
  • Recognized program in a technical or vocational school;
  • Two-year or four-year college or university, or
  • Graduate or professional school (e.g., law school or medical school).

To be considered you must provide appropriate supporting documentation/information from your school. See Required Documents for more information.

The basic qualification needed for these jobs is willingness to do low-level work. Workers may do several types of simple tasks over a period of time. One task is completed before a new assignment is given.

The job element method is used to match what you can do against what the work requires. You will be evaluated on the following job element: Likelihood Of Success In Assignments Which Require Interest, Motivation, And Readiness To Do Simple Work. This critical element addresses the critical knowledge, skill, and ability essential to satisfactory job performance. Applicants who clearly fail to meet the lowest acceptable requirements of this element are rated ineligible and receive no further consideration.

Physical requirements: (1) Frequently lift, push, pull, carry, and handle commissary products weighing up 40 pounds unassisted, and occasionally over 40 pounds with assistance from other workers or by using weight handling equipment. (2) Prolonged standing, stooping, kneeling, bending, and climbing. You will attest to your ability to perform these physical requirements in the Questionnaire.

Work conditions:
  • Most of the work is performed in the store display area, which is well lighted and maintained at a comfortable temperature.
  • Aisles are often crowded with customers and grocery carts.
  • When working in the storage or receiving area, may be exposed to hot or cold weather, or damp or drafty conditions.
  • May be exposed to differences in temperature when storing in or retrieving items from chill or frozen storage rooms.
  • There is a danger of minor injuries such as cuts, scrapes, bruises, and slipping on wet floors.


Overtime: Occasional
Bargaining Unit Status: Differs by location
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Nonexempt
Obligated Position: No
Reemployed Annuitants Considered: No, DoD criteria not met.
Recruitment/Relocation Incentives Offered: None
Telework eligible: No
Remote work eligible: No
Position confers or leads to eligibility for noncompetitive conversion to Federal career service: No

Education

You may use foreign education to qualify provided a private organization specializing in interpreting foreign education programs has deemed the foreign education equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program or a U.S. accredited college or university has given full credit for the foreign courses. Your application package must include a copy of the equivalency evaluation results letter with a course by course listing.

Unofficial transcripts are acceptable for the application process if they contain the relevant information identified above. If selected, you are required to provide an official transcript before your start date is set.

If relying on foreign education, your application package must include a copy of the equivalency evaluation results letter with a course by course listing.

Additional information

Executive Order 12564 requires a federal workplace to be free of illegal drugs and prohibits the use of illegal drugs both on and off duty by federal employees. As a reminder, marijuana is still classified as an illegal drug by the Federal government and is prohibited for use by Federal employees even if such use is legal in the state where the Federal employee resides and/or works. The Defense Commissary Agency is a Drug-Free Federal Workplace where the use of illegal drugs will not be tolerated and may result in penalties up to and including removal from Federal service.

  • The salary range at the beginning of this announcement reflects Step 1 of the listed location with the lowest salary to the Step 10 of the listed location with the highest salary.
  • Upon first appointment to a civilian position in the Federal government, you are entitled only to the lowest step (Step 1) of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this announcement does not suggest or convey an entitlement to a higher rate of pay. Refer to the Appropriated Fund Schedules page to find the salary range for a specific location.
  • Positions may be filled from this announcement up to 90 days after it closes.
  • Applicants with financial difficulty are not automatically removed from consideration.
  • Selectees are required to complete an online onboarding process.
  • All start dates for this position will begin in June 2026.
  • If selected, DLA HR determines your first day of work (reporting date or entrance on duty date) and only DLA HR can change that date.
  • Interns are responsible for informing their supervisor (1) about instances when the agreed upon work schedule does not allow ample time to meet educational requirements and (2) any change in academic status to include GPA and/or enrollment status.
  • Retired military service members appointed to a Department of Defense (DoD) civilian position within 180 days of their retirement date require a waiver before starting work. 5 United States Code 3326.
The following may result in a rating of ineligible. Ineligible applicants receive no consideration.
  • Submitting an incomplete application package may result in your not being considered for this position. Your resume must reflect that you are either Part-Time with the number of hours listed, Full Time, or 40 hours per week as your work schedule. If you fail to provide this information in your resume, your resume will be considered as incomplete.
  • Submitting encrypted documents or uploading Adobe portfolio documents.
  • Submitting any document that contains a photo or image of you.
  • Including social media links, inappropriate material or content, classified or government sensitive information, or personal information such as age, gender, race, religion, or social security number on your resume.
  • Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or questionnaire responses.
  • Deliberately attempting to falsify your application information, such as copying portions of this announcement into your resume.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

HR reviews your resume and supporting documents to determine if you meet the qualifications and requirements, and to determine if you meet the eligibility/eligibilities you selected. Errors and/or omissions affect your consideration for employment. Your questionnaire score is a preliminary measure of how well your background matches the position. If you submit multiple resumes, the last one received is used for this evaluation and sent to the hiring manager if you are referred for selection consideration.

Under category rating procedures you are placed into one of three categories based on the evaluation results:

Best Qualified -Candidates who possess the type and quality of experience that substantially exceeds the position's minimum qualifications, including all selective placement factors and appropriate quality ranking factors. Candidates in this category are referred to hiring managers before candidates in other categories.

Highly Qualified - Candidates who possess the type and quality of experience that exceeds the position's minimum qualifications.

Qualified - Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications and are proficient in some but not all the position's requirements.

Veterans' preference eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more (CPS, CP) are placed at the top of the highest category on the referral list (except for scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 level or higher). Other preference eligibles are placed above non-preference eligibles within their assigned category.

Selections are subject to restrictions of the DoD referral system for displaced employees.

Defense Commissary Agency

As an international grocery chain, the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) operates 235 commissaries throughout the world, with annual sales of more than $4 billion. We are proud to support military family readiness and enhance quality of life for our military service members and their families through this valued benefit. The foundation for our mission success is our people. We are more than 13,000 strong and reflect our nation's diverse cultures and backgrounds. We are a grocery store and a whole lot more. More information.

These internships, filled under the DeCA Pathways Programs, provide students in high school, college, technical or vocational school, a certificate program, and other qualifying educational institutions with the opportunity to explore federal careers as paid employees.

Agency contact information

DeCA DE East Servicing Team
Phone
614-693-3911
Fax
215-516-6113
Email
DECADEEASTInquiries@dla.mil
Address
Defense Commissary Agency East
1300 E Avenue
Fort Lee, VA 22380
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Defense Commissary Agency, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://corp.commissaries.com/

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