Clarification from the agency

Open to all qualified students who are U.S. citizens and meet the eligibility requirements for the Pathways Internship Program.

As a Student Trainee, you will actively engage in the following duties:

• Receives telephone calls and visitors; using tact, diplomacy, and judgment, ascertains the nature of the calls or business of the visitors. Answers phones and transfers calls to appropriate individuals. Logs trouble calls and ensures appropriate department is notified.
• Proactively and professionally facilitates the setup, coordination and scheduling of office meetings and teleconferences with internal and external organizations.
• Reviews incoming correspondence and distributes correspondence to staff members and prepares replies to general inquiries and routine actions. Maintains office files and ensures they are compliant with applicable regulatory guidance and that confidential material is properly protected.
• Uses office automation systems and various software packages to accomplish work. Under supervision, assignments include preparing correspondence, reports, records, statistical and narrative material, and messages in final format.
  

This is a temporary position not to exceed 90 days. Extensions: If hired on a temporary appointment, it may be extended without further competition based on the need of the organization for the work to continue and provided the individual continues to meet the eligibility requirements.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen
• You must successfully complete a background investigation.
• Appointees must sign SBA Pathways Program Participant Agreement.
• Selectee must complete a trial period while on the Pathways internship appointment.

Qualifications

To meet the Intern Eligibility requirements, you must be a student accepted for enrollment or enrolled and seeking a degree (diploma, certificate, etc.) in a qualifying educational institution, on a full or half-time basis (as defined by the institution in which you are enrolled).

Certificate programs must be at least one-year duration of full-time academic study in post-secondary education.

Accepted for Enrollment: If you have been accepted for enrollment in an institution or career or technical education program, but have not yet begun coursework, you must submit an Acceptance Letter from the institution and your most recent academic transcript from your previous program.

NOTE: You will NOT be considered under Pathways unless you provide supporting information from your school. Documentation may be provided in letter format from your academic advisor, school counselor, admission office, etc. to prove enrollment OR it may be provided in the form of several official documents from your school such as a copy of your official transcripts and a copy of your class schedule for next semester. Copies of documents from your school website are acceptable if they contain all relevant information as listed above. Letters from advisors or other school officials must be on school letterhead. Official transcripts will be required prior to final offer of employment.


You must meet the experience or education requirements detailed below by the close of the vacancy.

GS-5: One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-04 grade level in the Federal service, obtained in either the private or public sector, which includes: 1) Assisting staff and customers serving as a point of contact for customers and maintaining data; and 2) Supporting an organization's administrative functions. These qualifications must be fully supported in your resume.

OR

Education: Completion of 4 academic years of post-high school leading to a bachelor's degree or equivalent degree.

If you do not meet the specialized experience requirements, you may also qualify with education. You MUST submit transcripts (official or unofficial) with this application if you wish to qualify based on education.

Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's Qualifications web site: Pathways Internship Positions - Student Trainee 0399 Series

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.

All qualification requirements must be met by 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on 04/24/2026.

How you will be evaluated

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

Applicants meeting basic eligibility requirements will be further evaluated based on the information provided in the Occupational Questionnaire. To preview this questionnaire, click on the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12934905. You will be rated based on your responses to the occupational questionnaire. The occupational questions relate to the following Competencies required to do the work of this position:

Customer Service
Administration and Management

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Your application will be evaluated under the Category Rating method based on your responses to the assessment questions. You will receive a score based on the responses to the assessment questions. If, after reviewing your resume and or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities. If you meet basic requirements for the position, your application will be evaluated and placed into one of three categories:

1. Best-Qualified: highly proficient with an overall comprehensive level of knowledge, skills and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, education, and training as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume.
2. Well-Qualified: competent in the position with an overall accomplished level of knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, training, and education as applicable, as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume.
3. Qualified: an overall basic level of knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, education, and training, as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume.

Candidates eligible for veterans' preference will be placed ahead of other candidates in the appropriate category for which they have been rated. Additionally, preference eligibles who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent and who meet Minimum Qualification Requirements will automatically be placed in the Best Qualified Category.

Career and InterAgency Career Transition Assistance Programs: To receive selection priority for this position, you must:
1. meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria as described under "Additional Information" above; and
2. submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP/ICTAP eligibility claim which can be found under the Required Documents section of this vacancy announcement.

Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date/time 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.

1. Your Resume - Resume length may not exceed 2 pages and must contain the following information:

• Name, address, telephone number, email address;
• Job Title (if Federal Service, provide series and grade; if not in GS plan, provide GS equivalent grade);
• If qualifying based on related unpaid (e.g. volunteer service) experience, you must provide hours worked per week and beginning/ending dates (mm/dd/yyyy to mm/dd/yyyy);
• If other than full time you must provide hours worked per week.
• PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination.
• Should you submit multiple resumes, only the latest uploaded resume will be reviewed.
• Should your resume be longer than 2 pages you will be removed from consideration.

2. In addition to the online application (resume and responses to the occupational questionnaire), you are required to submit the following forms, if applicable. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure all documents are legible:

• Federal employees must submit proof of your permanent career/career-conditional competitive status ("1" or "2" in Tenure, block 24 and "1" in Position Occupied, block 34). Submit SF-50 showing current grade and tenure and an SF-50 showing highest (permanent) grade ever held, if different. NOTE: An award or detail SF-50 will not be accepted as proof of status.
• If you are using education as a substitution for experience (the announcement will state whether this is allowed), or if there is an educational requirement for this position, you must submit a copy of your transcripts (unofficial or official) that clearly describes your qualifying education. If selected, official transcripts will be required;
• If you are claiming Veteran status, you must submit a copy of all required documents to support your claim (including a DD-214 showing character of service)--see VetGuide;
• To receive consideration for a special appointment authority (30% Disabled Vet, Schedule A, Peace Corps, VRA, etc) you must submit all required documentation supporting your claim for Special Appointing Authorities;
• Veterans who are still in the service may be granted tentative preference on the basis of information contained in their applications, but they must produce a DD-214 (showing the character of service) or other proof of service to receive consideration for veterans' preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit FedsHireVets.gov.
• CTAP/ICTAP/RPL Applicants: Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (if applicable), your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330, and your most recent performance appraisal.

Next steps

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