Veterans Service Representative (Pathways Recent Graduate) - Saint Paul,
MN - Overview Summary Vacancy Identification Number (VIN) 10175212 This
position is being filled under the Pathways Recent Graduate Program.
This program is designed to allow recent graduates to enter VA in career
positions that emphasize long-term training and development. Successful
applicants are placed in a dynamic developmental program with potential
to lead to a civil service career in the Federal Government. The program
lasts for one year or more. You can find more information about specific
opportunities with the Pathways Recent Graduates Program on: USAJOBS
Duties As a Veterans Service Representative (VSR) you will work on
veterans benefits claims and provide comprehensive services to America's
veterans and their families. The Veterans Service Representative (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. As a VSR you
will: - Serve as a primary contact for the veteran and his/her
representative or advocate, and as the decision-maker for compensation
or pension claims. - Explain the full range of veterans' benefits and
all related programs. - Make determinations as to eligibility for the
type of benefit sought and fully analyze, develop and request required
evidence for certain claims requiring a rating decision. - Decide the
necessity for and type of examinations, reexaminations or opinions in
order to determine the existence of or to evaluate disabilities
resulting from disease or injury. - Develop comprehensive requests for
examinations/opinions in order to ensure that appropriate evidence is
received from which to adjudicate the claim. - Prepare correspondence to
members of Congress and special interest groups on case assignments and
other "controlled" correspondence. - Rotate through the - , Inta - , - ,
- , and - teams in order to gain experience in all aspects of the
Transformation Initiative. - Utilize various electronic data processing
(EDP) systems for inputting data related to claims adjudication,
processing, monitoring and correspondence preparation. - Act as an
advocate for veterans and their beneficiaries in their dealings with
other VA elements and organizations that affect their claims. Work
Schedule: Regular office hours; Alternate work schedules may be
available after training. Promotion Potential: The incumbent may be
promoted without further competition after meeting time-in-grade and
specialized experience requirements. The career progression pattern for
this position, in 52 week increments at each grade level, is GS-7, to
GS-9, to GS-10. Grade GS-10 is the full-performance level. Upon
achieving the GS-10 level, the incumbent will be required to take the
VSR Skills Certification exam. Selection at a lower grade level does not
guarantee promotion to the full performance level. - $44,233 $57,502 Job
Details Application Open Date 3/29/2018 Application Close Date 4/2/2018
Organization Veterans Benefits Administration Who May Apply None Status
None - More About VA - The VA supports the use of telework as a way to
help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase
worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during
emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework
eligibility may be discussed during the interview process. Telework is
subject to approval by individual supervisors and managers, is
considered a privilege not a right, is subject to approval based on
performance and other varying factors, and is not guaranteed. Receiving
Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal employees
earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is
based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA
may offer newly-appointed Federal employees credit for their job-related
non-Federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This
credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn
annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the
appointment date and is not guaranteed. The Interagency Career
Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and 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 - for this vacancy. A well-qualified candidate is defined as
meeting all of the minimum qualification standards and eligibility
requirements as well as possessing skills that clearly exceed the
minimum qualifications requirements for this position. A well-qualified
candidate will score 90 or above within the assessment portion of this
vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility can be found here.
Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate
management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may
be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment
or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these
methods to fill the position. Notice to Applicants: It is the policy of
the Government not to deny employment simply because an individual has
been unemployed or has had financial difficulties that have arisen
through no fault of the individual. Information about an individual's
employment experience will be used only to determine the person's
qualifications and to assess his or her relative level of knowledge,
skill and ability. Although an individual's personal conduct may be
relevant in any employment decision, including conduct during periods of
unemployment or evidence of dishonesty in handling financial matters,
financial difficulty that has arisen through no fault of the individual
will generally not in and of itself be the basis of an unfavorable
suitability or fitness determination. This job opportunity announcement
may be used to fill additional vacancies. - Qualifications - To qualify
for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing
date of the announcement. Specialized Experience: To qualify, applicants
must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the
next lower grade (GS-05) in the normal line of progression for the
occupation in the organization. This would be experience interpreting
regulations and applying laws required to explain, evaluate and
recommend determinations of eligibility to claimant requests for
services and benefits. Specialized experience is defined as work that
involves (1) Requesting relevant medical or administrative evidence to
make eligibility determinations; (2) Analyzing medical evidence, benefit
and/or legal evidence to identify and recognize required actions for
claim development; and (3) Experience explaining program benefit
entitlements and requirements. OR Applicants may substitute education
for the experience required in order to qualify at the grade GS-07 level
in the following ways: Undergraduate Degree with Superior Academic
Achievement. If you possess an undergraduate degree in any field from an
accredited college or university AND you meet one of the following
Superior Academic Achievement provisions, you may qualify in full for
this position without any experience where you: a. Ranked in the upper
1/3 of your college class or major subdivision; - b. Earned election to
a national scholastic honor society that meets the requirements of the
Association of College Honor Societies other than freshman honor
societies; - c. Earned a grade point average (GPA) of 2.95 or higher on
a 4.0 scale based on all completed undergraduate courses, or all
undergraduate classes completed during the final two years; or earned a
GPA of 3.45 or higher on a 4.0 scale based on all completed
undergraduate courses in your major, or all undergraduate courses in
your major, completed during the final two years. Regarding the Superior
Academic Achievement provisions, if more than 10% of your undergraduate
course work (credit hours) was taken on a pass/fail or similar basis,
you can qualify only on the basis of your class standing or membership
in an honor society. If you qualify based on your education, you must
include a copy of your college transcript along with your application.
If you are selected for the position, an official college transcript
will be required when you begin work. OR Graduate Education. You may
present with at least one full academic year of graduate level education
that demonstrates you possess the knowledge, skills and abilities
necessary to satisfactorily perform the work. One year of full-time
graduate education is normally determined by the school you attended. If
that number cannot be determined, then 18 semester hours should be
considered equivalent to one academic year of graduate study. Part-time
graduate education is creditable on a pro-rata basis. If you qualify
based on your education, you must include your college transcript along
with your application. If you are selected for the position, an official
college transcript will be required when you begin work. OR Applicants
may combine - education and specialized experience to qualify for the
position. If you have some, but not all, of the graduate education AND
some specialized experience as described above, you may still qualify by
combining the amount of creditable education and experience that you do
have. To do so, first calculate the percentage of qualifying education
you have as a percentage of the education required. Next, calculate the
percentage of specialized experience you have as a percentage of the
experience required. Then, add the two percentages. The total percentage
must equal at least 100% for you to qualify for the position at the
grade GS-7 level. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of
graduate education (i.e., 50% of graduate education required) and 6
months of acceptable specialized experience (i.e., 50% of the experience
required) would satisfy the qualification requirements for the position.
If you qualify based on a combination of graduate education and
specialized experience, you must submit a copy of your official or
unofficial college transcript with your application. - Benefits - How To
Apply - To apply for this position, you must complete the
https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10175212 and submit the
documentation specified in the required documents section below. The
complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on
04/02/2018 to receive consideration. 1. To begin, click - to create a
USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts
to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and to
complete the occupational questionnaire. 2. Click - in order to submit
your application package. Note: It is your responsibility to ensure that
your responses and that appropriate documentation is submitted by the
closing date. To verify that your application is complete, log into your
USAJOBS account, select the - link, and then select the - link for this
position. The details page will display the status of your application,
the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the
agency has sent related to your application. - . To return to an
incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click - in the
vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other
documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be
incomplete. - Additional Details - Series: 0996-Veterans Claims
Examining Job Pay Type: Per Year Job Openings: 8 Job Position:
DE-10175212-18-NG As a Veterans Service Representative (VSR) you will
work on veterans benefits claims and provide comprehensive services to
America's veterans and their families. The Veterans Service
Representative (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. As a VSR you will: - Serve as a primary contact for the
veteran and his/her representative or advocate, and as the
decision-maker for compensation or pension claims. - Explain the full
range of veterans' benefits and all related programs. - Make
determinations as to eligibility for the type of benefit sought and
fully analyze, develop and request required evidence for certain claims
requiring a rating decision. - Decide the necessity for and type of
examinations, reexaminations or opinions in order to determine the
existence of or to evaluate disabilities resulting from disease or
injury. - Develop comprehensive requests for examinations/opinions in
order to ensure that appropriate evidence is received from which to
adjudicate the claim. - Prepare correspondence to members of Congress
and special interest groups on case assignments and other "controlled"
correspondence. - Rotate through the - , Inta - , - , - , and - teams in
order to gain experience in all aspects of the Transformation
Initiative. - Utilize various electronic data processing (EDP) systems
for inputting data related to claims adjudication, processing,
monitoring and correspondence preparation. - Act as an advocate for
veterans and their beneficiaries in their dealings with other VA
elements and organizations that affect their claims.