Health Technician (Phlebotomy)

Summary

The incumbent performs accessioning, phlebotomy, processing of specimens and diagnostic testing duties at the Appleton CBOC. The position is aligned under the Primary Care Division of the VA Medical Center, Milwaukee.

Duties

• DUTIES: Answers incoming calls, finds and relays information or refers the caller to the appropriate technical personnel. Performs routine and specialized venipuncture of outpatients in order to obtain blood specimens for laboratory testing. Assigns priority to test requests. Explains diagnostic procedures and collection procedures, position patients for desired results. Receives all requests for testing within the diagnostic section. Verifies the accuracy and completeness of the request. Establishes priorities for emergency orders. Notifies the technical staff of pending work. Provides assistance with the training and guidance in phlebotomy techniques to LPNs, RNs, students, and/or new phlebotomy employees rotating through the blood collection area. Accepts and enters all requests for diagnostic testing into the hospital computer system using the computerized medical record, laboratory, radiology and diagnostic menus and 200 computer codes. Accesses/registers diagnostic orders and generates computer-printed labels. Documents and reviews collection problems. Receives specimens delivered to the laboratory for analysis. Evaluates each specimen and laboratory order to ensure that the specimens are properly obtained and appropriate for the test(s). Rejects unacceptable specimens and refers questions to the technical staff. Ensures accurate patient and specimen identification using armband, Social Security number, and picture identification card. Verifies the patient identification with the request and labels nil tubes according to established policies and procedures. Processes specimens including centrifuging, allocating and storage of the sample. Processes, packages and ships specimens to the reference laboratories. Performs limited laboratory tests, inclusive glucose tolerance tests. Maintains phlebotomy area physical facilities and equipment. Performs quality control and preventive maintenance functions. Maintains storage and inventory of phlebotomy and diagnostic working supplies. Determines technical factors, sets controls and operates equipment and instruments. Sets and modifies operational parameters for equipment with few operating functions. Reports equipment malfunctions to supervisor. Recognizes abnormalities and brings them to the attention of the ordering provider. Records results in the permanent record. Performs standard diagnostic procedures which include electrocardiograms. Operates, calibrates and maintains instruments and accessories used to assist with or perform standard diagnostic procedures. Performs direct patient care duties in the laboratory und the clinic by directing, instructing, and assisting patients with specimen collection and hospital processing. Maintains records and files related to the diagnostic area. Collects data required for Performance Improvement monitors, participates in quality assurance tasks within the team or part of a multidisciplinary team. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday; 8:00am to 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Phlebotomy)/PD25364A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/17/2026. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-5 Specialized Experience: At least one (1) full year of specialized experience that equipped you with the knowledge, skill, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the GS-5 Health Technician (Phlebotomy) position, and that is in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-4 level in the Federal service to qualify at the GS-5 level. Specialized Experience includes but is not limited to: Appropriate use of collection tubes, minimum volume requirements, specimen processing and transportation conditions, testing procedures and requirements, and phlebotomy procedures/techniques. Following the established guidelines for rejecting specimens submitted to the laboratory and "Unable to Obtain" specimens. Knowledge of packaging and shipping of laboratory specimens guidelines. Aware of special requirements in dealing with potentially hostile psychiatric patients, the seriously ill patient, and those patients with communicable infections and diseases. Knowledge of infection control aseptic and sterile techniques to prevent cross contamination. OR GS-5 Education: Successfully completed a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with a major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to this position. Transcripts Required OR Combination of Education and Experience GS-5: Combination of successfully completed post-high school education (beyond the 2nd year/60 semester hours) AND specialized experience which meet the total experience requirements for this grade level. Transcripts Required 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/.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may/will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13059573. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 09/17/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit