This position is located within the Mental Health Service at the William S. Middleton Memorial VA Hospital, Madison, WI.

Duties

The Psychology Technician provides support for psychological testing for research studies, to include evaluating research participants through various psychological and neuropsychological techniques. Major duties and responsibilities include: Administers and scores a wide range of objective psychological tests and inventories measuring personality and cognitive functions Prepares research documentation for submission to the Internal Review Board, monitors study conduct Observes and records details of participants verbal and non-verbal responses to questions and tasks posed Maintains standard testing environment and scoring conditions to ensure validity of standardized instruments Administers and scores individual tests for neuropsychological functioning Attends to non-verbal cues and interprets poorly expressed ideas when working with individuals with severe psychopathology, life-threatening medical disorders, and cognitive impairment Uses judgement in determining when failure or fatigue are producing invalid results, and discontinues testing when deemed appropriate Prepares abstracts of the clinical files of those referred for psychological evaluations Administers psychological instruments to evaluate clinical outcomes of treatment Maintains computerized databases of testing data Performs data manipulation and statistical analyses Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday - Friday, 8:00AM - 4:30PM 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. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Psychology Technician/PD15089O Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): 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, 12/26/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. English Language Proficiency: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. Education Requirement: Completion of a bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university with a major in an appropriate social or biological science, which included or was supplemented by 12 semester hours in psychology. NOTE: You must submit copies of transcripts at the time of application. Education will not be credited without documentation. Please ensure that your transcripts show that a degree was conferred. Display copies of degrees or course listings do not provide the information needed. ~ AND ~ In addition to the above requirement, in order to meet the minimum qualifications for this position at the GS- 7 level you must have: Experience: Two years of technical work under the direction of a professional psychologist. At least 6 months of this experience must be comparable in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade in the Federal service (GS-6), or 6 months comparable to the second lower grade (GS-5). Technical duties include experience with one or more of the following: (1) Assisting in research as in systematic collection of psychology research data, recording and collecting data, preparing tabular or graphic presentation of data, in accordance with a predetermined research plan; (2) Assisting counseling psychologists in contacting potential employers for the purpose of making vocational placement, providing follow-up consultation, administering and scoring of interest, achievement and aptitude tests, securing work history and other relevant vocational information; (3) Assisting neuropsychologists in administering and scoring of selected tests of neuropsychology battery in accordance with clearly defined procedures; or (4) Assisting psychologists in completing behavior rating scales or in conducting behavior modification. NOTE: Experience under the direction of a professional psychologist is required and MUST be documented on your resume. 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. ~OR~ Education: 1 full year of graduate study in psychology in an accredited college or university may be substituted for 1 years of experience and meets in full the requirements at the GS-7 level. Transcripts must be submitted at the time of application. ~OR~ SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT (SAA): For the Psychology Technician, you may qualify based on superior academic achievement (SAA). Select the ONE statement below which best describes your educational background. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. I graduated in the top third of my class. Class is defined as the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration. I graduated with a Grade-point average of 2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0. This grade point average could have been determined based on 4 years of education or based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum. I graduated with a grade-point average of 3.45 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on courses required for my major field or courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum. I am a member of a national scholastic honor society. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationManages and Organizes InformationPsychological AssessmentPsychology 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 employee must be able to move expeditiously from place to place in the medical center. Patients must regularly be assisted and supported when they are brought for examination. Equipment, weighing up to 50 pounds, may need to be moved. The employee must be able to sit and attend intensively to patient behavior over a several hour period. The work is primarily performed in office settings or patient care areas where climate control may or may not be available. The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts which require personal, patient, and equipment safety precautions typical of a medical care setting. The normal risks and requirements of an office in a predominantly medical/psychiatric facility are inherent. Incumbent must be independently mobile to see patients throughout a large hospital who may not be relocated for the testing. 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

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

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 William S Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital 2500 Overlook Terrace Madison, WI 53705 US
• Name: Britni Gardner
• Phone: (727)776-2876
• Email: [email protected]