Summary
This is a Student Internship position under the Pathways Internship Program.
To qualify for this Internship, you MUST be a continuing student enrolled or accepted for enrollment for the current/upcoming semesters for the duration of the internship as a condition of employment, taking at least a half-time course load. You will be required to provide documentation to support eligibility. Students may be employed throughout the academic year.
This job is open to
Clarification from the agency
This position is part of the Pathways Program and is open to current students who are enrolled or accepted for enrollment in a qualifying educational institution and enrolled at least half-time. Additional information can be found at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/students-recent-graduates/#url=Program-Fact-Sheets
This is not a Bargaining unit position.
Duties
This is a developmental position with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Department of Transportation (DOT). The position is designed to provide interns with challenging assignments that will broaden their perspectives on issues facing the government and prepare them for future positions throughout the government.
The Pathways Student Intern (Civil Rights Analysis) will support Florida Division's oversight of Federal-aid Highway Program (FAHP) and Discretionary Grant recipients, ensuring they comply with a broad range of civil rights authorities including Title VI (23 CFR 200, 49 CFR 21, USDOT 1050.21); Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) (49 CFR 26); Contractor Compliance & On-the-Job Training (OJT) (23 CFR 230, FHWA 1273); Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (49 CFR 27, 28 CFR 35); and Prevailing Wages (23 CFR 635, 29 CFR 5), as well as two apportioned supportive service programs (23 CFR 230.113, 230.204). You will:
- Shadow routine program activities, learn the scope of each civil rights program and how they apply/contribute to all aspects of the overall transportation process, from long range planning to project development, design through construction.
- Conduct stakeholder assistance, legal research, and day to day administrative decision making.
- Under supervision, you will conduct project reviews, approve annual program documents, deliver training to recipients and sub-recipients, investigate complaints, and develop reports with clear, concise recommendations.
- Work closely with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), its local public agencies (LPAs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), as well as with non-DOT direct recipients that may be less familiar with the FAHP or reimbursable grants to provide early, continuing technical assistance, mitigating the risk of noncompliance, and providing exceptional customer service.
These duties fall within Florida Division, which includes both Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands transportation agencies. Travel within Florida and the Caribbean is an important component of the position but is always scheduled in advance and in consideration of the Intern’s school obligations.
The ideal candidate is a student pursuing a degree in urban planning, sociology, law, law enforcement, social work, or environmental science. Past studies or competence in the Spanish language is not required, but ideal. The ideal candidate should be proficient with the Microsoft Office suite, particularly Excel, and has a working or rudimentary knowledge of PowerBI, Visio, and ArcGIS or similar geospatial platforms. The candidate has foundational written and oral communication skills, but not necessarily extensive experience. Above all, the best candidate is enthusiastic and curious, willing to leave the office and learn by doing.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a U.S. Citizen and meet the requirements of the program.
- You must be at least 16 years of age
- Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
- Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date
PATHWAYS ELIGIBILITY - To be eligible for appointment to a position in the DOT Internship Program, throughout the duration of the appointment, an individual must:
- Be accepted for enrollment or enrolled and seeking a degree or certificate in a qualifying educational institution on a half to full-time basis (as determined by the educational institution).
- Be seeking a degree that is relevant to this position.
- Be able to work at least 16 hours per week, depending on your academic schedule, and preferably full-time during the summer.
- Grade qualifications must be met prior to start date.
If selected you:
- must sign a Pathways Internship Program Participant Agreement;
- may be employed throughout the academic year;
- must maintain status as a current student;
- maintain good academic standing, at least a 2.5 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 grading scale.
- must furnish course registration information at the start of each school term; and
- must provide verification of academic status (transcript) at the end of each academic term.
For more information on the Pathways Program, please visit: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/students-recent-graduates/#url=Program-Fact-Sheets
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
- UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP: Must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
- SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
- DECLARATION FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT: Selectee is required to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine suitability for federal employment.
- BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: You will be required to complete a background/security investigation and meet preliminary requirements prior to onboarding.
- TRIAL PERIOD: The intern is in a trial period throughout the entire Pathways Internship appointment.
- GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
- TELEWORK ELIGIBILITY: This position may be eligible for occasional and/or regularly scheduled telework. The number of telework days approved will be determined by your immediate supervisor or manager following the agency’s telework policy and guidance. If participating in the telework program, you will be required to sign a telework agreement detailing agency telework policy requirements, working conditions, and expectations for the position.
Qualifications
Please be sure that you have read and meet the Pathways program requirements under the Requirements section. Then, to further meet the minimum qualifications for this position, review the following grade specific education requirements to determine full eligibility before applying.
Note that if you are graduating at the end of this current semester, and not continuing your education, you are not eligible for this internship. You must be enrolled as a student while employed as an intern.
You must meet the following education requirements for each grade by the start of the internship (anticipated to start Summer 2024). You may use 2024 in-progress semester/quarter hours to qualify for a higher grade level. Qualifications will be determined based on completed and in-progress hours stated on your unofficial transcript submitted at the time of application. To be qualifying, you must successfully complete and receive credit for the courses and provide an updated official transcript before you enter on duty. Apply to the grade(s) that you will be eligible for and provide the applicable supporting documentation.
- GS-05: Completion of four (4) academic years of post-high school study (undergraduate) leading to a bachelor’s degree or equivalent degree.
- GS-07: Completion of one academic year of graduate level education; OR eligibility under the Superior Academic Achievement* provision, as defined in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Operating Manual for Qualification Standards, and completion of a bachelor's degree.
- GS-09: Completion of two academic years of graduate level education (above a bachelor's degree), or a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree.
*Superior Academic Achievement for GS-07 eligibility option: (Bachelor's degree) - In the upper one-third of graduating class; OR a GPA of 3.0 or higher out of 4.0, as recorded on official transcript, or based on courses completed during final 2 years of curriculum; OR a GPA of 3.5 or higher out of 4.0, based on average of required courses completed in major or required courses in major completed during the final 2 years of curriculum.
Academic Year Clarification:
- At the undergraduate level, 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours is comparable to 1 year of undergraduate education. When academic credit is expressed in units or other terms that differ from conventional semester or quarter hours, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide an interpretation of such credits from the institution.
- At the graduate level (above a Bachelor's degree), one year of full-time graduate education is considered to be 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 for GS-07. When academic credit is expressed in units or other terms that differ from conventional semester or quarter hours, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide an interpretation of such credits from the institution.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:
- Written Communication - Writes in a clear, concise, organized, and convincing manner for the intended audience.
- Oral Communication - Makes clear and convincing oral presentations. Listens effectively; clarifies information as needed.
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.
For additional information about applying to Federal Pathways Internship Positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=GS-PIP
Education
Refer to the Requirements section for information pertaining to the Pathways Internship Program, and refer to the Qualifications section for the education requirements for each grade.
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.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume/ application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level.
Once you complete and submit your application package, a review of your application will be made to ensure you meet the minimum qualification requirements for the job. Qualified students will be referred to the hiring manager in unranked order by veteran preference status: (1) Preference eligible having a compensable, service-connected disability of 10 percent or more; (2) all other candidates eligible for 10-point veteran preference; (3) candidates eligible for 5-point veteran preference; and (4) candidates not eligible for veteran preference.
You will not be considered for the position if any part of the application or supporting documentation is incomplete. Falsifying your background, education, and/or experience is cause for not hiring you or adverse action after hiring.
You may preview questions for this vacancy.
Required Documents
ALL Applicants must provide a resume that fully supports the required specialized experience and was created within USA Jobs Resume Builder and respond to the vacancy questions by the closing date of the vacancy. Formatted resumes can be uploaded when you arrive at the DOT application system. For assistance with the resume builder, please visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/account/documents/resume/build/
Completed Questionnaire.
Acceptance Letter of Enrollment: A letter from the educational institution that confirms the following: The degree/diploma program in which you have been accepted and that you will be enrolled on at least a half-time basis. Required from all applicants who have been accepted for enrollment and have not yet attended, therefore do not have a transcript to submit.
College Transcripts: Copies of your transcripts which include courses currently in progress. “Unofficial” transcripts are acceptable. (Prior to appointment, an official transcript will be required.) Required from all applicants who are currently enrolled.
Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website - click here. You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application.
VETERANS: Your last DD214 (member 4 copy), Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty, that shows the type of discharge and all dates of active duty is required to verify your eligibility. It need not be official.
- If you are claiming preference eligibility as a disabled veteran, you must submit proof of entitlement of this preference which is normally a valid letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs certifying to the present existence of the service-connected disability and indicating the percentage of your disability. And a SF-15 is desired, but not required.
Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position. Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents. Uploading documents to USAJobs does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system. You must verify that the documents are in the system with your application prior to final submission.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from
schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
How to Apply
You must submit a complete application package (including resume, vacancy questions and supporting documents) no later than 11:59 pm (EST) on the closing date of the announcement.
- To begin, click the "Apply Online" button on the job announcement posting.
- Follow the directions to register, submit all required documents and complete the assessment questionnaire.
- You may review your saved application(s) at https://my.usajobs.gov.
If you are having difficulty applying online, please contact the DOT Automated Staffing Office via email at Transjobs@dot.gov.
Next steps
Once the application process is completed in its entirety, a review of your application will be made to ensure you meet the basic qualifications. Qualified applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration and possible interviews.
If you are selected for an interview, the hiring agency will contact you directly. Once the position is filled, we will notify all applicants of their final status.
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