This position is located in the Compensated Work Therapy (CWT)/Transitional Work (TW) program of the VA Medical Center in Birmingham, AL.

Duties

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Providing vocational and readjustment counseling to Veterans; Planning and conducting individual and group counseling sessions; Meeting with Veterans' families to assist in counseling activities; Conducting interviews designed to evaluate the Veteran's vocational aptitudes and potential, educational and work history, and psychiatric and physical limitations, which may impede the educational process; Administering and interpreting a full range of standardized objective tests of scholastic aptitude, interests, achievement, motor performance, and personality measures; Completing vocational counseling consultation requests by integrating all data derived from interviews, tests administered, medical records and counseling; Developing individual vocational plans based on Information derived from assessment and counseling activities to achieve an educational or occupational goal; Documenting in the Veteran's medical record the results of counseling sessions, progress toward attainment of educational and occupational goals, and placement activities; Supervising Veterans assigned to CWT/TW, performing work evaluations of performance, conducting inventories, assessing Veteran's progress toward rehabilitation goals, and monitoring attendance and performance; Finding suitable training programs and facilities; Performing related duties as required. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm. Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized. Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required.

Requirements

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS GS-11: One year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the position. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level in Federal service. Examples of specialized experience include: work that required obtaining and applying occupational information for people with disabilities, knowledge of the interrelationships of the involved professional and specialist services, and skill in employing the methodology and techniques of counseling to motivate and encourage individuals served by the program; experience that demonstrated knowledge of the vocational rehabilitation problems characteristic of the disabled, including familiarity with available resources and skill in identifying, evaluating, and making effective use of such resources to serve individuals with disabilities; or of the disadvantaged, including knowledge of adjustment problems of the educationally or culturally disadvantaged, familiarity with available adult education and training resources, and ability to recognize problem areas needing special attention; experience in vocational guidance or teaching in a recognized vocational rehabilitation program or school, developmental or supervisory work in programs of vocational rehabilitation or training programs for the disadvantaged, or personnel or employment placement work that provided extensive knowledge of the training and adjustment requirements necessary to place persons having disabilities or social adjustment problems. This experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit. ~OR~ B. A Ph.D., equivalent doctoral degree, 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.M. with a major study in vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position. One year of full-time graduate education is the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. Transcripts required. ~OR~ An equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate education as described that demonstrates your ability to perform the duties of this position. Your experience must be detailed, and transcripts required. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: CommunicationComputer SkillsCustomer ServiceEmployee DevelopmentInfluencing/Negotiating IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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. 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, 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. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position are minimal. The physical work is sedentary although the stress related to providing services to clients in emotional distress or who may be demanding and uncooperative can be more significant than that of most sedentary positions. Work is typically performed in a community setting or medical center setting. Emphasis will be on dealing with Veterans, employers, and contacts in the community. The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts associated with traveling in the community or working in an office environment. There may be occasional risk of harm from a violent patient, which requires special precautions and training to deal with. 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

IMPORTANT: 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 Birmingham VA Medical Center 700 South 19th Street Birmingham, AL 35233 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]