Clarification from the agency

Open to U.S. Citizens/Nationals

The following are the duties of this position at the full working level. If this vacancy includes more than one grade and you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform these duties and receive training to help you grow in this position.

• Interprets in a variety of settings involving deaf/hard of hearing employees and hearing persons who are not familiar with sign language and the interpreting process.
• Simultaneously and consecutively interprets/transliterates, with equal facility in rendering from American Sign Language (ASL), Contact Variety Sign (CVS), and Manually Coded English (MCE) to English and from English to the aforementioned sign languages.
• Uses oral forms of communication to provide communication access for oral deaf or hard of hearing individuals and uses tactile forms of English, ASL, CVS and MCE to interpret/transliterate for individuals who are deaf-blind as needed.
• Interprets/transliterates for deaf/hard of hearing employees and hearing persons engaged in specialized meetings, seminars or training programs that utilize technical vocabularies and terminology unique to those fields (technical tax terminology, computer technical language).
• Interprets/transliterates for deaf/hard of hearing employees and hearing persons engaged in formal and informal meetings and other discussions with supervisors and staff members.

Conditions of employment

• Probationary Period - All newly appointed employees to the competitive (or excepted) service are subject to a probationary (or trial) period. During this time, your performance, conduct, and suitability for continued employment will be evaluated. You will not automatically convert to permanent status at the end of the probationary (or trial) period. Your supervisor must affirmatively determine that continued employment is in the best interest of the Federal service. If no certification is made before the probationary (or trial) period ends, your appointment will be terminated. You are encouraged to actively engage with your supervisor, seek feedback, and understand role expectations. Additional guidance and support will be provided during onboarding.

• U.S Citizenship - Must be a U.S. Citizen or National and provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• Selective Service Registration - Males born after December 31, 1959 are required to be registered with the Selective Service System or prove they are exempt from having to do so.
• Personal Identity Verification (PIV) - Must provide 2 forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S. These documents must be unexpired original or certified copies.

Qualifications

Federal experience is not required. Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or through Volunteer Service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-timework is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:
BASIC REQUIREMENTS:
Individual Occupational Requirements
Education
Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- the appropriate foreign language from an English-speaking college or university, English from a college or university in the other country, or translating or interpretingwhere English and the foreign language were prerequisites.
OR
Experience in translating, interpreting, or other work requiring the use of English and the other language; or a combination of work (that required English and the other language) and training at the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Service Institute, or comparable training.
The following are examples of work in the required language that may have provided the required abilities: translator; interpreter; librarian or information specialist required to make abstracts, screen, index, and scan material; intelligence; writer or editor; international organizational work, such as the Peace Corps, World Bank, United Nations, business, or other organizations; or professor, teacher, or instructor work at the high school or college level that required use of the foreign language.

Language requirement: This is a bilingual position. Applicants will be required to demonstrate proficiency in Sign Language and English. You must be able to speak, read, and write English and be able to interpret and transliterate American Sign Language (ASL), Manually Coded English (MCE) and Contact Variety Sign (CVS) to English, and from English to the aforementioned sign languages to be considered proficient. You may be assessed at some point in the hiring process to determine if you possess the required level of proficiency. If you are unable to demonstrate proficiency, you will not be qualified for this position.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE GRADE-11: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service: Specialized experience for this position must be sufficient to demonstrate: Experience with English, American Sign Language (ASL), Contact Variety Sign (CVS) and Manually Coded English (MCE) to perform Sign-to-English and English-to-Sign interpretation;

• Using interpreting processes to determine the most effective means of communication for each deaf/hard of hearing employee;
• Assisting in the development of training curriculum and utilizing current methods and materials in the instruction of sign language courses;
• Utilizing telecommunication devices, assistive listening devices and other related technology for deaf/hard of hearing employees;
• Dealing with the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) Code of Ethics in order to maintain ethical standards for professional interpreters;
• Utilizing resources and procedures for contracting sign language interpreter services; and effective written and oral communication skills.

OR EDUCATION: A course of study that includes 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree
OR Ph.D.
OR equivalent doctoral degree in Sign Language Interpreting or a related field of study.
OR LL.M., if related
OR An equivalent amount of combined education and experience as described in paragraphs above.

AND

You must also meet the following requirements:

• MINIMUM AGE REQUIREMENT: Minimum age for federal employment is 18 years old, or at least 16 years old and have:
  • Graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or
  • Completed a formal vocational training program; or
  • Received a statement from school authorities agreeing with your preference for employment rather than continuing your education.

For more information on qualifications please refer to OPM's Qualifications Standards.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further.

Rating: Category rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level categories, CAT A, CAT B, CAT C.


Referral: Eligible applicants rated in the highest category group, may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. Candidates, if required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring practices), will be interviewed in category group order. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site


Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Qualified preference eligibles who have a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more (CPS, CP) are placed at the top of the highest category on the referral list (except for scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 level or higher). Remaining preference eligibles are placed above non-preference eligibles within their assigned category.

If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP), you must receive a rating of category CAT B to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority.

If you are selected, you will be subject to all requirements listed in the Requirements, Qualifications, and Additional Information sections of this announcement which includes, Prior Employment/Tax Checks, Fingerprint/Criminal History checks.

The following documents are required and must be provided with your application. Incomplete or insufficient information may result in not being considered for the position, or not receiving special consideration for which you may be eligible.
Please view Application Preparation or How to write a resume for federal job.

1. Resume
… Your resume should:

• Be limited to two (2) pages. Applicants with resumes exceeding two-pages will be removed from consideration. We recommend utilizing a standard 8.5x11-inch document size, a sans-serif font such as Arial or Calibri with a font size no smaller than 10-point for the main text, and page margins of 0.5 inches. Applicants that attempt to circumvent the 2-page limit page limit, for example by materially reducing readability, will be deemed ineligible. If you update your application, only the most recent resume received (uploaded under the "Resume" document type) will be considered to determine qualifications.
• Include your name and contact information.
• Include relevant work experience - Employer Name, Job Title, Employment dates (start to end date or present), number of hours worked per week, and a brief description of duties that clearly demonstrate your qualifications. To receive full credit for work experience, you must include specific MM/DD/YYY start and end dates for every position.
• Include pay plan, series, and grade (e.g., GS-0301-09) for all federal service jobs.
• Not include photographs, classified or sensitive information, SSN, encrypted/digitally signed documents, or other inappropriate content. Resumes containing prohibited information will be deemed ineligible.
• Not include embedded links as they will not be opened or considered when determining qualifications.
• Not include personal information such as age, sex, religion, race, or disability.
• Not include specialized experience copied from the announcement or position description, as this is not a demonstration of your experience.

• For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position based on education or training, submit a copy of your transcript(s) or equivalent. An official transcript(s) will be required if you are selected.

• MUST submit a copy of your DD-214 (Member 4 copy), or other official documentation from a branch of the Armed Forces or the Department of Veterans Affairs showing dates of service and type of discharge.
• If you are serving under active duty, provide certification from the Armed Forces that you will be discharged or released within 120 days from the date of certification. The certification must indicate your dates of service, rank and that you will be separated under honorable conditions.
• 10-point preference eligible - Submit an Application for 10-point Veteran Preference, SF-15, along with the required documentation listed on the back of the form if you are a 10-point preference eligible. For more information on claiming veterans' preference view here.

• Review and submit the required documentation as oulined under (CTAP/ICTAP)

• Must submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) or equivalent personnel action form which shows your grade and competitive service status.

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