Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/07/2024. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 level. 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. You may qualify based on your specialized experience and/or graduate education as described below: Specialized Experience: one year of specialized experience, equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the federal service, that equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to successfully perform the duties of this position and that is typically in and/or related to the position being filled. Specialized experience includes: 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. Graduate Education: a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or another field related to this position. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) Graduate Education: completed 3 full years (54 semester hours) of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or another field related to this position. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) Specialized Experience/Graduate Education Combination: possess a combination of graduate education and specialized experience as described above. Only graduate education in excess of 36 Semester Hours leading towards a PH.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or another field related to this position may be counted towards qualification at the GS-11 level. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Oral Communication Critical Thinking Customer Service 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 physical demands of the work are generally minor. The work is primarily sedentary, although the stress involved in dealing continually with persons in emotional distress and who may be uncooperative and occasionally assaultive makes this work notably more demanding than most sedentary positions. 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/.
The primary purpose of this position is to provide vocational rehabilitation, training, and placement for veterans within the Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) programs providing therapeutic vocational services through Transitional Work (TW), Supported Employment (SE), Community Based Employment Services (CBES), Supported Education (SEd), Supported Self-Employment (SSE), and Vocational Assistance.