Veterans Service Representative

Clarification from the agency

This vacancy is open to current, permanent (career/career conditional) employees of the Decision Review Operations Center (DROC-DC), Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA) and Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) eligible(s) only.

The VSR explains benefit programs and entitlement criteria, conducts interviews, identifies issues, gathers relevant evidence, adjudicates claims, and inputs data necessary to generate the award and notification letter to the Veteran describing the decision and the reason for it.

• Make determinations as to the eligibility for the type of benefit sought to include questions relating to adequacy of military service, medical evidence and the evaluation of evidence of income, employability, dependence and relationship.
• Review claims cases to assure all issues have been addressed, applies and interprets VA laws, including veterans' case law, existing statutes and procedures, precedent rulings and state law in the adjudication process.
• May conduct interviews in person or by phone with veterans, representatives and advocates to explain the full range of VA benefits and related programs.
• Prepare and release correspondence for use by other federal, state and local agencies.
• Utilize various electronic data processing (EDP) systems to input data for processing claims and generating automated correspondence.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selectees are required to service a one-year supervisory probationary period if not previously completed in a Federal position.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, .

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-10 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is typically gained in positions that have involved the development, examination, investigation, adjudication, and authorization of claims for disability compensation, disability pension, death compensation, death pension benefits, life insurance benefits etc. Such experience is to be substantive and relevant and requires a high degree of independence and judgment in interpretation of more complex legal and medical documentation to determine claimant's eligibility and supporting evidence for services and benefits.

OR,

• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 1/2 years of higher level education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent graduated degree (such as LL.M.). Education must be related to the position being filled. A Master's degree does not qualify.

OR

• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-10 level. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-10. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position.

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 .

The Career Transition Assistance Plan CTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation and be found well-qualified for this vacancy.

VA CAREER TRANSITION AND ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (CTAP) AND INTERAGENCY (ICTAP) In accordance with VA Handbook 5330, a CTAP/ICTAP eligible will received special selection priority consideration if (1) applying at or below the grade level from which separated with no greater promotion potential than the position from which separated, (2) is within the commuting area, and (3) is determined to be "well qualified" for this position. Information about CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website.

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.

Physical Requirements: For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. 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.
You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical): Works and communicates with clients and customers (e.g., any individuals who use or receive the services or products that your work unit provides, including individuals who work in your agency or in other agencies or organizations outside the Government) to satisfy their expectations. Committed to quality services.
• Decision Making: Makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals; causes change.
• Self-Management: Sets well-defined and realistic personal goals; displays a high level of initiative, effort, and commitment towards completing assignments in a timely manner; works with minimal supervision; is motivated to achieve; demonstrates responsible behavior.
• Oral communications: Expresses information {for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information {for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and conversations.
• Written communication: Expresses facts and ideas in writing in a succinct and organized manner.
• Computer skills: Uses computers, software applications, databases, and automated systems to accomplish work.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package to include the documents detailed below. Resumes may not exceed two pages and must be legible for review of eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume and supporting documentation will be verified. Failure to submit the documents as specified may result in loss of consideration for this job announcement.

• Resume:
  • Contact Information:
    • Name and how best to contact you, including email address and phone number
  • Relevant Work Experience:
    • For each relevant work experience, make sure you include:
      • Job Title and Employer (including series and grade for any Federal positions)
      • Start and end dates with month/year (e.g., 05/2019 - 08/2022)
      • The number of hours you worked per week
    • Ensure work experience descriptions are aligned with the job announcement and address all required qualifications. Brief descriptions should demonstrate your ability to perform the tasks at the required level as stated in the job announcement
  • Education/Certification/ Licensure:
    • When relevant or required for the position, include your possession of education/ certification/license and provide any required documentation such as transcripts, and/or details (type and date) of certifications and/or licenses
      • Education information should include:
        • Name of school/institution
        • Completion date
        • Degree type
        • Cumulative Grade point average (GPA)
  • Optional Details:
    • When relevant, include:
      • Current Security Clearance
      • Job-related training
      • Language skills
      • Organizations and affiliations
      • Professional publications
      • Eligibility for special programs (e.g., military spouses, individuals with disabilities, etc.)
• A copy of your most recent NON-award SF-50. The SF-50 must indicate proof of status and should identify your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).
• Your SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade To verify you meet Time-in-Grade requirements, also submit a SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade held (e.g. Promotion, Appointment, etc.).
• Current VBA Employees seeking a reassignment/change to lower grade: you must submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (non-award) AND the SF-50 placing you into your current position.
• An SF-50 showing your time-in-grade eligibility 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 time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.
  NOTE: Award and General Adjustment SF-50's do not provide sufficient information will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time in grade. Recommended SF-50's include Within Grade Increases (WGI), Promotions and Appointments.

Additional Documents accepted:

• Most recent Performance Appraisal (VA Form 0750)
• Award SF-50s
• CTAP documentation - RIF notice, SF-50 showing VA employee, and performance appraisal

Please use this checklist to make sure you have included all documents required for your application. You will not be contacted for additional information.

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