Social Service Aid

Provides support and assistance to Tribal veterans receiving service in the VA Montana Health Care System. The work is that which involves dealing with individuals or families in the community, requiring ability to establish and maintain community contacts, and to perform related office support duties. The position serves as a liaison with local American Indian Veterans and their families.Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/30/2023.
You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
General Experience GS-04: General Experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Applicants may qualify for this position by using their work experience, education, or a combination of both experience and education.
To qualify for this position, applicants must have of 6 months of General Experience: (1) Any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or (2) experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation:

• Communication both written and oral to tribal community and Veterans
• Scheduling Appointments
• Computer Technology
• VA Policies and Benefits

Specialized Experience GS-04: Specialized Experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Applicants may qualify for this position by using their work experience, education, or a combination of both experience and education.
To qualify for this position, applicants must have of 6 months of specialized experience in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience for this position includes but is not limited to:
Individual Occupational Requirements

Examples of qualifying specialized experience include:

• Group leader in community or residential recreation or training programs.
• Counselor in a youth summer camp.
• Instructor in a training program for the development of job skills.
• Work that demonstrated the ability to be responsible for and to lead and train members of a job crew.
• Group activities leader in the Armed Services.
• Unit leader-monitor-proctor for a dormitory group in a boarding school or other residential facility.
• Aid or assistant to professional or specialist staff in such fields as personnel (private or government), employment guidance in a vocational or academic institution, Social Service, or manpower development.
• Aid or assistant to professional or associate staff engaged in work of a Social Services nature in private, public welfare, government program, or community organizations, or in voluntary activities.
• Aid or assistant to professional or specialist staff working with individuals who are addicted to or abuse alcohol and/or drugs.

~AND~

• Knowledge of telework and videoconferencing technology.
• Knowledge of working relationship with Tribal Veteran agencies
• Knowledge of VA systems and Health Care Benefits.

~OR~
Education:
Successful completion of 2 years of study that (a) included at least 12 semester hours of subjects directly related to the work of the position, or (b) was supplemented by experience in activities that afforded the opportunity to acquire and demonstrate the skills required by the position. (The supplementary experience may have been gained, for example, in part-time or summer employment, in volunteer social welfare or recreation programs, or in community organizations.)
~OR~
Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience. The education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university.
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Communications
• Customer Service
• Technology Application
• Veteran and Customer Focus

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; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.
Physical and Work Environment Requirements: The work in this primarily requires sitting for periods of time, walking, standing and occasionally reaching or bending. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts which require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, meeting and training rooms, or libraries. The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated.
For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.Education: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.Employment Type: PART_TIME