Duties
This Food Service Worker position is located within the Nutrition & Food Service at the Oklahoma City VA Health Care System.
Wage Grade 2 Food Service Workers complete assignments individually or as part of a team under the general supervision of the immediate supervisor. Questions on unusual or difficult tasks are referred to a higher-grade worker or supervisor for clarification and advice. Work at this level is evaluated in terms of accuracy and timely completion of assignments.
- The work involving diet tray assembly is usually performed as a team with the worker being expected to know the commonly used diets in order to place items on a tray. Completed diet trays are checked by a higher-level food service worker.
- Work involving actual food preparation is accomplished under the guidance of a cook who provides technical instruction and checks work in progress and upon completion for conformance with acceptable food service practices.
- Food service workers know daily routines and work from guides such as diet cards, tray tickets, menus, portion control charts, standardized recipes, and employee assignment sheets.
Duties and Skills include, but are not limited to:
- Set up assigned station with the correct supplies and food items.
- Serve food cafeteria style by placing uniform portions of food on customers'/patients'/residents' plates.
- Break down and clean the station when assigned.
- Set up dining room tables for service, place food and beverages on tables, and replenish items as necessary.
- Return soiled trays and dishes to the dish room.
- Deliver meal trays to the patients' bedsides and report the patients' comments and complaints to the supervisor or dietitian.
- Prepare beverages according to the number of servings required.
- Prepare fresh fruit/cold salads/dressings/sandwich fillings and cold sandwiches and simple cold desserts in specified quantities.
- Sort, wash, peel and cut cold foods using knives or other equipment.
- Assist cooks in the food preparation area, such as weigh, measure and assemble ingredients according to standardized recipes.
- Prepare uncooked food items, such as sandwich spread and salad dressings.
- Operate and break down and clean all equipment assigned to food service and related areas.
- Portion food items into standard serving sizes using the proper utensils and specified dishware.
- Prepare boxed/to go meals.
- Select and place correct items on patient trays.
- Read and interpret a regular or modified menu, individual diet cards, tray tickets or patient selections.
- Identify obvious discrepancies between the prescribed diets and the food items designated by the menu.
- Decide what food items to serve for the most common diets.
- Perform heavy-duty cleaning tasks throughout the food service and related areas.
- Separate food waste, trash/recyclables from dishes, glasses and silverware.
- Unload food/tray delivery carts.
- Store sanitized dishes, glasses and silverware.
- Scrape, soak, scour, and scrub cookware and utensils.
- Move garbage cans when collecting and transferring trash from the work area to the disposal area.
- Other duties as assigned to meet the needs of the Medical Center.
Applicants will be rated in accordance with the
OPM Federal Wage System Qualifications. For this position, the job element method is used to match what you, the applicant, can do against what the work calls for. Your knowledge, skills and abilities will be compared to the knowledge, skills and abilities (called job elements) needed for success. Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element, "Reliability and Dependability". Applicants who appear to meet the screen out element are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated from consideration. The potential eligibles are rated against the remainder of the job elements.
While a specific length of training and experience is not required, your responses to the questionnaire must be supported by detailed descriptions of your experience on your resume.
Work Schedule: Varies to include Weekends and Holidays
Position Description Title/PD#: Food Service Worker/PD99920A
Physical Requirements: Wage Grade 2 Food Service Workers perform work requiring light to moderate physical effort. Work is performed in kitchen areas where the steam and heat from cooking and dishwashing equipment often cause uncomfortably high temperatures and humidity. May be required to perform heavy work, such as scouring and scrubbing large size cooking utensils and pushing heavy carts and trucks in unloading, storing, and delivering supplies. Subject to continuous standing and walking, frequent stooping, reaching, pushing, pulling, and bending. Frequently lifts or moves objects weighing up to 20 pounds unassisted and occasionally lifts or moves objects weighing more than 40 pounds with the assistance of others.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.
Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.
The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.
For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.
Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.
It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
Financial disclosure not required.
Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.
Required Documents
To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
Your resume (and/or curriculum vitae) must include the following information for each job listed:
- Job title
- Pay Plan and Grades/Step Held (for Federal positions)
- Duties (Please be as detailed as possible. We recommend that you include information directly related to the position you are applying to. Good examples of pertinent information can be found in the Duties and Qualifications sections of the announcement. If you have performed any of those duties or have any of that experience, we are looking for that on your resume. We make no assumptions in regards to experience. It has to be on the resume under the position it was performed in at the proper grade level to count towards qualifications.
- Month & year start/end dates (e.g. June 2007 to April 2008)
- Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week)
The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please use this
checklist to ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.
(If applicable) SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action: Your
most current SF-50, if you are a current or former Federal employee (VA or any other Federal Agency)
must be provided. Please note the following;
- SF 50 showing your time-in-grade eligibility/length of experience/tenure 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 of specialized experience, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year of specialized experience.
- Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
- Examples of additional/appropriate SF-50's include:
- Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
- Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.
- Cover Letter
- DD-214/ Statement of Service
- Disability Letter (Schedule A)
- Disability Letter (VA)
- License
- Resume
- Separation Notice (RIF)
- SF-15
- SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
- Transcript
Veterans' Preference: Since the Direct-Hire Recruitment Authority is being used, traditional Veterans' Preference rules do not apply. Qualified veterans will, however, be given full consideration for this position.
Applications are accepted online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.
DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.201) for this occupation.
How to Apply
All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 07/14/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12754965.
- To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
- Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USA JOBS account,
https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Application page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USA JOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USA JOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
The
Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at
http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.
Next steps
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.
NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.