Telephone Operator

Description:

This position serves at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. Duties are performed within a highly complex medical, surgical, and psychiatric facility along with a nursing home.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/21/2025.

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-4 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-3. 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.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• General Experience: You must have one year of general experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-3 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of general experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position to be filled. . OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have an Associate's degree or equivalent degree or 2 full years of post high school education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of general experience and education beyond 1 year post high-school education.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Communications Security Management
• Critical Thinking
• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Telecommunications

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 involves long periods of sitting, reaching, stretching and turning while operating equipment and obtaining access to necessary information. The mental strain from continuously answering incoming calls, some from unusually disturbed people, causes extreme fatigue. Although the work is primarily sedentary in nature in an office environment it requires a high degree of concentration and ability to work under pressure and stress. Incumbent must of a keen sense of hearing in responding to the numerous amounts of calls that are received. Additionally there are times when the station experiences a high volume of telephone calls and callers may be irate because of long waits to receive telephone assistance. The area is clean and cool. The work area is adequately lighted and ventilated. Although the area does not have a window the area does include other amenities such as a refrigerator, private bathroom, and lockers. There is a distinct feeling of isolation during irregular tours of duty. The work environment involves everyday risks of discomfort that require normal safety precautions.

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/ .