Summary
Wage Grade 3 Food Service Workers perform a sequence of tasks that requires attention to work operations. They follow an established sequence of work. Workers can do all the duties of a lower grade worker. They can work in one or more functional areas of the kitchen such as food preparation, dish and pot washing, dry and refrigerated storage and receiving, and the serving area doing work such as portioning cold food, dipping hot food, working in the dish room and passing trays.
Duties
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The Values are Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect and Excellence ("I CARE").
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Major Duties:
- Sets up dining room tables for service, place food and beverages on tables, and replenishes items as necessary.
- Identifies obvious discrepancies between the prescribed diets and the food items designated by the menu.
- Uses general sanitation principles to safeguard food against spoilage and waste.
- Prevents contamination by cleaning equipment previously used for raw food.
- Prepares boxed/to go meals.
- Organizes work in a logical sequence.
- Serves food cafeteria style by placing uniform portions of food on customers'/patients'/residents' plates.
- Prepares fresh fruit/cold salads/dressings/sandwich fillings and cold sandwiches and simple cold desserts in specified quantities.
- Provides assistance to cooks in the food preparation area, such as weigh, measure and assemble ingredients according to standardized recipes.
- Prepares uncooked food items, such as sandwich spread and salad dressings.
- Portions food items into standard serving sizes using the proper utensils and specified dishware.
- Prepares beverages according to the number of servings required.
- Selects and places correct items on trays.
- Read and interpret a regular or modified menu, individual diet cards, tray tickets or patient selections.
- Understands of food terminology, measurements, and serving information in standardized recipes and menus.
- Sorts, washes, peels and cuts cold foods using knives or other equipment.
- Sets up assigned station with the correct supplies and food items.
- Operates and breaks down and cleans all equipment assigned to food service and related areas,
- Scrapes, soaks, scours, and scrubs cookware and utensils.
- Breaks down and cleans food stations.
- Separates food waste, trash/recyclables from dishes, glasses and silverware.
- Stores sanitized dishes, glasses and silverware.
- Returns soiled trays and dishes to the dish room.
- Performs heavy-duty cleaning tasks throughout the food service and related areas.
- Unloads food/tray delivery carts.
- Moves garbage cans when collecting and transferring trash from the work area to the disposal area.
- Delivers meal trays.
Work Schedule: Rotating shifts between 5:00am-8:00pm including weekends and holidays
Position Description Title/PD#: Food Service Worker/PD99920S
Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting, 15-44 pounds; Moderate carrying, 15-44 pounds; Pushing (8 hours); Reaching above shoulder; Use of fingers; Both hands required; Walking (8 hours); Standing (8 hours); Climbing, legs only (0.5 hours); Both legs required; Near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; Specific visual requirement (specify) 20/40 both eyes; Hearing (aid may be permitted); Mental & emotional stability; Hearing with or without hearing aids to normal conversation level without visual cues.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
- Subject to a background/suitability investigation
- May serve a probationary period
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
- A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc.
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
- You must complete a pre-employment physical.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
EXPERIENCE: A specific length of training and experience is not required, but you must show evidence of training or experience of sufficient scope and quality of your ability to do the work of this position. Evidence which demonstrates you possess the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform the duties of this position must be supported by detailed descriptions of such on your resume. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the
OPM Federal Wage System Qualification Standards.
SCREEN-OUT ELEMENT: Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element, which usually appears as question 1 in the on-line questionnaire. Those applicants who appear to possess at least the minimal acceptable qualification requirement are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated. The potential eligibles are then rated against the remainder of the Job Elements:
- Dexterity and Safety
- Interpret Instructions, Specifications (other than blueprint reading)
- Materials
- Technical Practices
- Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment
- Without more than normal supervision
- Work Practices
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.
Education
This job does not have an education qualification requirement.
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Required Documents
Documents Required:
NOTE: Effective 9/29/2025 all submitted applications must contain resumes limited to two-pages in length and anything longer is prohibited. Only the first two-pages will be considered for qualification purposes for this announcement.
Documents Accepted:
- Cover Letter
- DD-214/ Statement of Service
- Disability Letter (Schedule A)
- Disability Letter (VA)
- License
- Other (1)
- PCS Orders
- Performance Appraisal
- Professional Certification
- Resume
- Separation Notice (RIF)
- SF-15
- SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
- Transcript
Please review the above list(s) to ensure you have included all necessary documents required for your application. Not every applicant will require the same documents, therefore it is the applicants responsibility to ensure that their application package includes all necessary documents to determine qualifications and eligibility for appointment, such as a copy of your SF-50, transcript, ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).
You will not be contacted for additional information. Applicants will be deemed ineligible if supporting documentation is not submitted.
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.
How to Apply
All applicants are encouraged to apply online.
To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 10/10/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12807018.
1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
2. 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. 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.
Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.
Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.
Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.
Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume:
- Prioritize most relevant and recent experience
- Use concise, results focused language
- Align language from the job announcement
- Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies
- Remove outdated or unrelated experience
- Use the USAJOBS resume builder
Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at:
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click
Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
Next steps
After the vacancy announcement closes, applicants are evaluated 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.