Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist

Employee will be assigned to Social Work Service, VA Northern Indiana Healthcare System, at either the VA Outpatient Clinic in Fort Wayne or Mishawaka, IN. Employee will focus on assisting homeless Veterans in obtaining and maintaining employment; support Veterans' transition into stable housing and community integration through employment services; and promote optimal vocational functioning of clients within the community.

Qualifications:

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. In addition to meeting the above requirement, applicants must also meet one of the following.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE

: Applicants must possess one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped them with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-7 level in the Federal service. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Work that required obtaining and applying occupational information for people with disabilities, knowledge of the interrelationships of the involved professional and specialist services, and skill in employing the methodology and techniques of counseling to motivate and encourage individuals served by the program; Experience that demonstrated knowledge of the vocational rehabilitation problems characteristic of the disabled, including familiarity with available resources and skill in identifying, evaluating, and making effective use of such resources to serve individuals with disabilities; or of the disadvantaged, including knowledge of adjustment problems of the educationally or culturally disadvantaged, familiarity with available adult education and training resources, and ability to recognize problem areas needing special attention; Experience in vocational guidance or teaching in a recognized vocational rehabilitation program or school, developmental or supervisory work in programs of vocational rehabilitation or training programs for the disadvantaged, or personnel or employment placement work that provided extensive knowledge of the training and adjustment requirements necessary to place persons having disabilities or social adjustment problems.

OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE

( Transcript Required ) - Applicants must possess at least 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education or master's or equivalent graduate degree with a major study in vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

OR COMBINING EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

( Transcript Required ) - Combination of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements.

Physical Requirements:

This position requires the operation of a government-owned vehicle in support of official VA duties, including transporting veterans, supplies, or staff as needed. The employee must possess and maintain a valid driver's license. Some light physical activity is necessary when organizing materials for job fairs and workshops. 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/ .