Secretary (Unit Secretary)
Duties
Handles routine inquiries from both staff and inmates, providing technical assistance and answering questions regarding the general nature of correctional programs.
Receives visitors to the office, determines the nature of the requests and directs them to the appropriate staff or personally provides the information desired when routine or procedural matters of the office are involved.
Reviews correspondence prepared for the supervisor and other staff.
Assists the Unit Manager and staff members in the procedural aspects of expediting the work of this office.
Along with all other correctional institution employees, incumbent is charged with responsibility for maintaining security of the institution. The staff correctional responsibilities precede all others required by this position and is performed on a regular and recurring basis.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- U.S. Citizenship is Required.See Special Conditions of Employment Section.Selective Service Requirement: http://www.sss.gov
Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP). The ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1)this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified category using established category rating criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility with your application of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility is at: Click Here
The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified category using established category rating criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at: Click Here
Qualifications
To be considered for the position, you must meet the following qualification requirements:
Education:
GL-05: Successfully completed 4 years of education above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite is creditable at the GL-05. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school.
GL-06: As a general rule, education is not creditable above GL-05 for most positions covered by this standard; however, graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position.
OR
Experience:
GL-05 and GL-06: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level in federal service. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications to perform successfully the duties of the position, and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled.
Some examples of this qualifying experience are:
GL-05:
- Experience preparing, receiving, reviewing and verifying documents.
- Experience processing transactions and maintaining office records.
- Experience locating and compiling data or information from files and other data sources.
GL-06:
- Experience receiving telephone calls and visitors, handling requests for information, processing incoming and outgoing materials such as correspondence, reports and memoranda.
- Experience editing and composing letters and reports, transcribing notes, and reviewing correspondence.
- Experience performing office automation duties using a personal computer, preparing a calendar, worksheets, typing a variety of documents such as letters, forms, schedules, meeting minutes, and maintaining computer files.
- Experience scheduling and maintaining appointments, coordinating meetings and conferences, making travel arrangements, and performing time and attendance functions.
OR
Combination of Education and Experience:
GL-05 only: Have a combination of education and experience. This experience must have equipped you with the qualifications to perform the major duties of this position as described above. Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience.
If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities.
**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**
Education
See Qualifications Section for education requirements, if applicable.
ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here.
Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications
If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.
Additional information
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3307, a maximum entry age of 36 has been established for initial appointment to a position in a Bureau of Prisons institution. If you are above the maximum entry age and have prior federal law enforcement coverage, you MUST submit an SF-50 to verify prior coverage.
Qualified Preference Eligible Veterans may be exempt from meeting the maximum age of 37. Please refer to the Required Documents Section for the appropriate documentation to submit to validate veteran eligibility.
Special Conditions of Employment Section:
Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a pre-employment and panel interview, urinalysis, physical, and background investigation. All applicants are subject to, and must satisfactorily pass all screening requirements in relation to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit check.
All applicants not currently working in an institution will be required to complete a qualification inquiry regarding convictions of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence in order to be authorized to carry a firearm.
The Core Value Assessment (CVA) is an in-person assessment that must be facilitated at a Bureau of Prisons Human Resource Servicing office. On the day of the scheduled interview, a CVA will be administered. The applicant assessment must be completed within a 70 minute time period and a passing score must be obtained. Further employment consideration will not be extended if the applicant fails to complete the examination or fails to achieve a passing score. Note: The Core Value Assessment will not be administered to current BOP employees.
Successful completion of the "Introduction to Correctional Techniques," three-week training course at Glynco, Georgia is required.