The Telephone operator is responsible for efficiently and effectively answering and directing calls while providing exceptional customer service. The telephone operator is often a first contact for Veterans, visitors, staff and the general public. He/she probe the callers request to identify their primary purpose and transfer the call to the appropriate location/department. The Switchboard Unit provides service for the medical center 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Duties

Major Duties: Handling difficult callers/customers. Working under stressful conditions including reporting emergency situations. Contacting facility employees via a pager. Providing organizational/patient information and transfer calls utilizing a computer directories. Documenting emergency medical announcement, incidents, and long distance calls. Utilizing public address and paging system for emergency and non-urgent announcements. Maintaining open communication telephone lines during facility emergencies or disasters. Transmitting and receiving messages via 2-way radio, telephone and overhead paging system. VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: HR Specialist Total Rewards Work Schedule: Rotating shifts to include weekends & holidays; 8am-4:30pm, 4:30pm-12 midnight & 12 midnight - 8am. Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Telephone Operator/PD06125A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/20/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: There is no time-in-grade requirement for a GS-4 position. Candidates may be advanced without time restriction to positions up to GS-5 if the position to be filled is no more than two grades above the lowest grade the employee held within the preceding 52 weeks under his or her latest non temporary competitive appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: General Experience: Must possess one year of general experience. General experience is defined as progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates the ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the Telephone Operator. OR, Education: Must possess two years of education above high school. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school. (Transcripts must be submitted). OR, Combination of Education and Experience: Must possess a combination of experience and education as described above. In order to determine a combination of education and experience, first determine your total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determine your education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then add the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for that grade level. For example, the position to be filled is a Telephone Operator, GS-4. An applicant has 8 months of qualifying specialized experience and 20 semester hours of college. The applicant meets 67 percent of the required experience and 33 percent of the required education. The applicant meets 100 percent of the total requirements and is qualified for the position. (Transcripts must be submitted). Preferred Experience: Ability to deal with multiple calls or situations simultaneously, preferably in a call center You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Conflict Management Organizational Awareness Communications 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 Requirements: The work is performed in a sedentary office setting. The position requires some standing, ambulation, bending and carrying of items such as training manuals. Incumbent is required to sit for long periods of time at a computer terminal typing data while on a telephone headset. In addition, there can be increased stress due to the intensity of a patient/customer complaint or concern. 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.

Contacts

• Address John D Dingell Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 4646 John R Street Detroit, MI 48201 US
• Name: Joe Franklin
• Phone: 313-576-4705
• Email: [email protected]