To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/05/2025.
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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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. 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: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR):
Education
Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position.
or
Experience
Specialized Experience: Examples of qualifying specialized experience include:
- Work that required obtaining and applying occupational information for people with disabilities, knowledge of the interrelationships of the involved professional and specialist services, and skill in employing the methodology and techniques of counseling to motivate and encourage individuals served by the program.
- Experience that demonstrated knowledge of the vocational rehabilitation problems characteristic of the disabled, including familiarity with available resources and skill in identifying, evaluating, and making effective use of such resources to serve individuals with disabilities; or of the disadvantaged, including knowledge of adjustment problems of the educationally or culturally disadvantaged, familiarity with available adult education and training resources, and ability to recognize problem areas needing special attention.
- Experience in vocational guidance or teaching in a recognized vocational rehabilitation program or school, developmental or supervisory work in programs of vocational rehabilitation or training programs for the disadvantaged, or personnel or employment placement work that provided extensive knowledge of the training and adjustment requirements necessary to place persons having disabilities or social adjustment problems.
In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR), You must also meet the requirements below:
Specialized Experience (GS-09): You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade
GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Providing rehabilitation counseling and guidance which facilitates the individual's adjustment to community employment; performing vocational assessments and plans services related to strengths, needs, abilities and personal desires of individuals in vocational rehabilitation program; documenting all interactions, assessments, and plans within the electronic medical record system; working closely with interdisciplinary teams to identify and address barriers to employment for individuals; helping others learn through formal or informal methods, identifying needs, providing constructive feedback, coaching others on how to perform tasks, acting as a mentor, such as assisting individuals with targeting job search activities and job seeking; gathering and entering data into computer system in order to evaluate program goals and individuals' progress; working directly with community employers and agencies regarding vocational rehabilitation program; adapting best practices to meet the needs of participants who have barriers such as severe mental illness, substance use disorder, and at risk for or currently homeless; developing collaborative relationships, contributing to a culture of trust, with participants.
NOTE: 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 on their resume.
OR
GS-09 Substitution of Education for Experience (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related.
OR
GS-09 Combination of Education and Experience (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Only education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants (GS-07: 1 full year of graduate level education or superior academic achievement).
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
- Interpersonal Effectiveness
- Psychology
- Teaching Others
- Technical Competence
- Therapy and Counseling
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.
Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary but requires regular mobility, including standing, walking, and bending during site visits or community outreach. The incumbent may occasionally carry light items such as work documents, resource materials, or a laptop. Travel is required to various community locations, including employer worksites, transitional housing programs, and partner agencies within the Eastern Colorado Health Care System's catchment area. Although the physical demands are generally minimal, the position may involve periods of heightened stress due to the nature of the Veteran population served and the emotional intensity of certain interactions. The incumbent must be able to manage multiple priorities and remain flexible in a fast-paced and variable work environments.
For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.