Recent Graduate - Program Support Specialist

Summary

For more information, click Pathways Programs, State Apprenticeship Programs, Other Apprenticeship Programs or Career One Stop. This is an appointment under the DOL Recent Graduates program. The program duration is one year. Upon successful completion of the program and at the agency's discretion, the appointee may be converted to a term or permanent position in the competitive service. This position is inside the bargaining unit.

Duties

• This is a career ladder progression position; the incumbent will serve in a developmental capacity, wherein the work is less complex in nature and the supervisor or a senior level employee provides specific instruction and guidance. For the GS-07 level: Plans, coordinates, and carries out analytical and evaluative assignments concerning the effectiveness, efficiency, and administration of program operations and program-support functions. Prepares program plans, project plans, implementation strategies, briefing materials, decision papers, reports, presentations, correspondence, guidance, and other products for management and program officials. Coordinates with internal program offices, administrative support organizations, other Federal entities, contractors, and external stakeholders as necessary to accomplish assigned work. Analyzes and supports the development and dissemination of program information intended for internal or external audiences. Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with managers, program officials, employees, contractors, and external organizations. Represents the office in meetings and working groups concerning program-support issues and provides information, analysis, and recommendations within delegated authority. Provides technical, analytical, and operational support to the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Continuity of Operations (COOP) Program. Supports the planning, coordination, conduct, and evaluation of COOP exercises, drills, training, and preparedness activities. During exercises, emergencies, or COOP activations, supports the COOP program by maintaining situational awareness, coordinating and tracking information and actions, and assisting with implementation of established continuity procedures. For the GS-09 level: Plans, coordinates, and carries out analytical and evaluative assignments concerning the effectiveness, efficiency, and administration of program operations and program-support functions. Prepares program plans, project plans, implementation strategies, briefing materials, decision papers, reports, presentations, correspondence, guidance, and other products for management and program officials. Coordinates with internal program offices, administrative support organizations, other Federal entities, contractors, and external stakeholders as necessary to accomplish assigned work. Analyzes and supports the development and dissemination of program information intended for internal or external audiences. Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with managers, program officials, employees, contractors, and external organizations. Represents the office in meetings and working groups concerning program-support issues and provides information, analysis, and recommendations within delegated authority. Provides technical, analytical, and operational support to the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Continuity of Operations (COOP) Program. Supports the planning, coordination, conduct, and evaluation of COOP exercises, drills, training, and preparedness activities. During exercises, emergencies, or COOP activations, supports the COOP program by maintaining situational awareness, coordinating and tracking information and actions, and assisting with implementation of established continuity procedures.

Qualifications

Applicants must have graduated, within the past two years, (with an associate, bachelor, master, professional, doctorate, diploma, vocational, technical degree, or certificate, etc.) from a qualifying educational institution or career or technical educational program including registered Apprenticeship Programs, Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Job Corps, Climate Corps). Veterans unable to apply within two years of receiving their degree or certificate due to military service obligation have up to six years after degree or certificate completion. To qualify for Recent Graduate - Program Support Specialist, you must meet one of the options as described below. Specialized Experience is the experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform the duties of the position successfully, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. For the GS-07 level: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-05, in the Federal Service. Qualifying specialized experience for the GS-07 includes: Knowledge and skill to gather, assemble, and analyze facts, draw conclusions, devise solutions to problems, and identify changes and trends Ability to perform data analysis, to include collecting, evaluating, and synthesizing data Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, to gain cooperation from others through tact, courtesy, and diplomacy OR Education: Possess one (1) full year of graduate education that provides the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of this position; OR Combination of experience and education: Possess a combination of specialized experience as described above AND graduate education as described above, which when combined would equate to at least 100%; OR Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.): S.A.A. recognizes college or university students who have successfully completed all of the requirements for a bachelor's degree and achieved superior academic standing as evidenced by one of the three methods described below.S.A.A. is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership.1. Class standing -- Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses.2. Grade-point average (G.P.A.) -- Applicants must have a grade-point average of a. 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or b. 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.3. Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society -- Applicants can be considered eligible based on membership in one of the national scholastic honor societies listed below:Alpha Beta Gamma, Alpha Chi, Alpha Epsilon, Alpha Epsilon Delta, Alpha Epsilon Rho, Alpha Eta Mu Beta, Alpha Iota Delta, Alpha Kappa Delta, Alpha Kappa Mu, Alpha Lambda Delta, Alpha Phi Sigma, Alpha Pi Mu, Alpha Sigma Lambda, Alpha Sigma Mu, Alpha Sigma Nu, Beta Gamma Sigma, Beta Kappa Chi, Beta Phi Mu, Chi Epsilon, Chi Sigma Iota, Delta Epsilon Sigma, Delta Mu Delta, Delta Tau Alpha, Epsilon Pi Tau, Gamma Theta Upsilon, Kappa Mu Epsilon, Kappa Omicron Nu, Kappa Tau Alpha, Lambda Iota Tau, Lambda Pi Eta, Lambda Sigma, Mortar Board, Mu Kappa Tau, National Society of Scabbard and Blade, NSCS (The National Society of Collegiate Scholars), Omega Chi Epsilon, Omega Rho, Omicron Delta Epsilon, Phi Beta Delta, Phi Sigma, Phi Sigma Iota, Phi Sigma Tau, Phi Upsilon Omicron, Pi Alpha Alpha, Pi, Delta Phi, Pi Gamma Mu, Pi Kappa Lambda, Pi Omega Pi, Pi Sigma Alpha, Pi Tau Sigma, Pi Theta Epsilon, Psi Beta, Psi Chi, Rho Chi, Sigma Beta Delta, Sigma Delta Pi, Sigma Lambda Alpha, Sigma Lambda Chi, Sigma Pi Sigma, Sigma Tau Delta, Sigma Theta Tau, Tau Alpha Pi, Tau Beta Pi, Tau Sigma Delta, Theta Alpha Kappa, Upsilon Pi Epsilon. For the GS-09 level: Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-07, in the Federal Service. Qualifying specialized experience for the GS-09 includes: Experience leading program activities, collecting, analyzing, and evaluating operational data to make substantive determination Experience utilizing analytics and technical expertise in preparing and presenting technical reports to senior management Experience presenting briefings or analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of program operations OR Education: Possess a master's or equivalent graduate degree, or two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.B or J.D, if related, that provides the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of this position; OR Combination of experience and education: Possess a combination of specialized experience as described above AND graduate education as described above, which when combined would equate to at least 100%.

Education

To be eligible for an appointment, you must meet requirement A or B. A. Completed all requirements for a diploma, associate, bachelor, master, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution or career or technical education program (including registered Apprenticeship Programs, Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Job Corps, Climate Corps) within the previous two years; OR B. Was released or discharged from active duty within the previous two years, where the applicant is a veteran who, due to a military service obligation, was precluded from applying for a recent graduate position during any portion of the two-year eligibility period following completion of his/her degree or certificate requirements, provided that not more than six years have transpired since the applicant completed the requirements for a degree or certification. You must submit an academic transcript from your academic institution showing the date that you most recently completed the academic requirements described above. *For Accredited Post-Secondary Institutions, click Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs *For Registered State Apprenticeship Programs Information, click State Apprenticeship Programs *For Other Apprenticeship Programs, click Apprenticeship Programs *For Industry-Endorsed Certificate Programs, click Career One Stop Certificate Finder Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service. If your education was completed at a foreign college or university, you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum coursework requirements for this position. Click Evaluation of Foreign Education for more information.

How to apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, including submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section. Your application and ALL required supplemental documents MUST be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the vacancy closing date to receive consideration. Important - Save your information before the 30 minute system timeout! For help, go to USAJOBS Help Center. STEP 1 - Create USAJOBS Account on www.usajobs.gov, including Resume and Saved Documents. For each employment period, include start/end month & year and note full-time or part-time (if part-time, include # of hours worked per week) otherwise, your application may be considered incomplete. NOTE: In alignment with the Presidential Memorandum titled Merit Hiring Plan, dated May 29, 2025, applicants may only submit a resume limited to two (2) pages. Only the résumé uploaded under the 'Resume" document type in USAJOBS will be reviewed. If the resume submitted exceeds two (2) pages, the application will be deemed ineligible for further consideration. STEP 2 - Complete the 1st part of the application process (USAJOBS). Once you have identified a job on USAJOBS that you wish to apply for, click on the job title and then click the Apply button. For questions about the vacancy, contact the Agency Contact at the bottom of the announcement. Proceed through the steps noted at the top of the USAJOBS page. You will be able to select a resume and documents from your USAJOBS Account that you can submit as a package as part of your DOL application. In the final step, once you have certified your application, click the Continue to agency site button. STEP 3 - Complete the 2nd part of the application process (DOL). On the Department of Labor (DOL) page, create a DOL Account if you have not already and click Apply to this vacancy. Continue through the progress steps at the top of the DOL page. The 2nd progress step is where you answer the vacancy-specific questions. The 3rd progress step Documents is where you submit the required documents (only if applicable to you) specified in the Required Documents section of this vacancy. STEP 4 - On the Review and Submit step, verify each section of your application is complete and correct. In order to submit your application, you must have a check mark next to each section listed. If there is an X, return to the appropriate section and follow the prompts. When it is ready for submission, certify your application and click the Submit Application button. STEP 5 - Edit Application as needed by 11:59 pm Eastern Time of Closing Date by returning to USAJOBS, clicking the vacancy, then Update Application. 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 training a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside about 2 hours to take the USA Hire assessment; 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. 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: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. 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. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. For more detailed information on applying for positions with DOL click here to view the U.S. Department of Labor, How to Apply website.