Student Trainee (Soil Conservation)

RECRUITMENT & RELOCATION INCENTIVES MAY BE OFFERED Positions filled utilizing Pathways Student Internship Authority, providing students enrolled in a variety of educational institutions, from high school to graduate level, with paid work opportunities in federal agencies while in school. Bargaining Unit: This is a non-bargaining unit position.

Major duties
Provide a career-oriented introduction to the background, philosophy, concepts, and scope of the Natural Resources Conservation Service Soil Conservation Management Programs and a practical understanding of the policies of the employing organization.
Assists in program and conservation planning for a variety of soil and water practices such as terraces, diversions, waterways, farm drainage systems, and others.
Learns to perform surveys and set construction stakes for a variety of practices. May operate rod or chain or other specialized instruments to lay out simple practices.
Assignments are developmental in nature and, in conjunction with formal education, the Intern will gain the necessary competencies leading to conversion to a permanent professional position in Soil Conservation.
Work assignments are selected to ensure that the Intern receives on-the-job training and exposure to one or more program functions.
Receives training in the principles, concepts, work processes, and regulations of one or more functional areas of Soil Conservation and Biological Sciences.
As training advances and proficiency is demonstrated, work assignment are increasingly more demanding, and are designed to provide experience in a variety of activities.
On a scheduled basis, following the Pathways Participant Agreement, receives assignments in various Soil Conservation and Biological Sciences functions.
Receives formal and on-the-job training in OPM, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resource Conservation Service policies, rules, regulations, and procedures
Is instructed on the use of personal computers, and file and data management.

Qualifications
In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards. Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. If education is required or being used to qualify, you must submit a copy of your transcripts. Program Eligibility Requirements Applicant must meet the definition of a student that is: Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment in an accredited technical or vocational school, two-year or four-year college or university, graduate or professional school. You must be taking at least a half-time academic course load leading to a degree or certificate. A certificate program is defined as a post-secondary education, in a qualifying educational institution, equivalent to at least one academic year of full-time study that is part of an accredited college-level, technical, trade, vocational, or business school curriculum. Be planning for or pursuing a certificate or degree in, or related to, the internship opportunity being advertised. Examples of relevant educational fields for this position include but are not limited to: Agriculture, Soil Conservation, Soil Science, Plant Science, Crop Science, Agronomy, Forestry, Rangeland Management, Ag Engineering, Natural Resources, Environmental Science, or other natural resource-related disciplines that will allow applicants to qualify for the conversion requirements listed within the vacancy announcement upon graduation. Position Qualifications: Applicants must meet position qualifications requirements as shown below at the time of appointment. The agency must be able to verify that the education was completed successfully before the applicant can be appointed. Below is the education requirement to be qualified for this position: GS-02 Completion of high school or possession of a GED diploma. GS-03 Completion of 1 full academic year of post-high school study. GS-04 Completion of 2 full academic years of post-high school study. One full academic year of undergraduate education is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours or the equivalent as defined by the accredited college or university. One full academic year of graduate education is defined as 18 semester hours or the equivalent as defined by the accredited college or university. Conversion Information: Candidates selected from this announcement may be eligible for non-competitive conversion to a permanent position in the competitive service, provided that all terms of the Internship Program are met and there is an available position. Conversion is not mandatory or guaranteed and is at agency discretion. Pathways Interns may convert to a permanent position for which they qualify for (e.g., GS-0457) as outlined in the intern's Pathways agreement. Upon conversion to the competitive service, this position will have a career ladder up to the GS-09 full performance level. To be eligible for conversion, you must satisfactorily complete all Pathways Program requirements: Complete at least 480 hours of work experience prior to graduation; Complete all mandatory training requirements; Meet performance expectations and be recommended for conversion; Meet suitability requirements; and Meet the position's Qualification Requirements of the associated occupational series as outlined in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, General Schedule Qualifications Standards. See the link below: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0400/soil-conservation-series-0457/ GS-0457 Basic Requirement: Degree: soil conservation or related agricultural or natural resource discipline such as agronomy, soil science, forestry, agricultural education, or agricultural engineering. The study must have included 30 semester hours in a natural resource or agricultural field, including at least 12 semester hours in a combination of soils and crops or plant science. Of the 12 semester hours, a minimum of 3 semester hours must have been in soils and 3 semester hours in crops or plant science. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

How to apply
Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as 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. Resumes cannot exceed two pages. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this. 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 and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.