Dreamfedjob's Featured Career: Occupational Health and Safety Technicians

Dreamfedjob.com

Download today!

Significant Points

• About 22 percent of technicians worked in government agencies that enforce rules on safety, health, and the environment.
• Technicians attend postsecondary school or enter the occupation through work experience and training.
• Individuals with a well-rounded breadth of knowledge in more than one health and safety specialty will have the best job prospects.

Nature of the Work

Occupational health and safety technicians work with occupational health and safety specialists to help prevent harm to workers, property, the environment, and the general public. For example, they might help design safe work spaces, inspect machines, or test air quality. In addition to making workers safer, technicians work with specialists to increase worker productivity by reducing absenteeism and equipment downtime, and to save money by lowering insurance premiums and workers' compensation payments, and preventing government fines. Some technicians work for governments conducting safety inspections and imposing fines.
Occupational health and safety technicians take measurements and collect workplace data either for routine inspection or as directed by a specialist. Technicians often focus on testing air, water, machines, and other elements of the work environment. They collect data that occupational health and safety specialists then analyze. Usually working under the supervision of specialists, they also help to implement and evaluate safety programs.

To measure hazards, such as noise or radiation, occupational health and safety technicians prepare and calibrate scientific equipment. They must properly collect and handle samples of dust, gases, vapors, and other potentially toxic materials to ensure personal safety and accurate test results.

To ensure that machinery and equipment complies with appropriate safety regulations, occupational health and safety technicians may examine and test machinery and equipment, such as lifting devices, machine guards, or scaffolding. They may check that personal protective equipment, such as masks, respirators, protective eyewear, or hardhats, is being used according to regulations. They also check that hazardous materials are stored correctly. They test and identify work areas for potential accident and health hazards, such as toxic vapors, mold, mildew, and explosive gas-air mixtures and help implement appropriate control measures, such as adjustments to ventilation systems. Their inspection of the workplace might involve talking with workers and observing their work, as well as inspecting elements in their work environment, such as lighting, tools, and equipment.

The responsibilities of occupational health and safety technicians vary by industry, workplace, and types of hazards affecting employees. Mine examiners, for example, are technicians who inspect mines for proper air flow and health hazards such as the buildup of methane or other noxious gases. Environmental protection technicians evaluate and coordinate the storage and handling of hazardous waste, the cleanup of contaminated soil or water, or other activities that affect the environment. Health physics technicians work in places that use radiation and radioactive material, helping to protect people and the environment from hazardous radiation exposure. Industrial hygiene technicians examine the workplace for health hazards, such as exposure to lead, asbestos, pesticides, or communicable diseases.

Work environment. Occupational health and safety technicians work in a variety of settings from offices and factories to mines. Their jobs often involve considerable fieldwork, and some require frequent travel.
Occupational health and safety technicians may be exposed to many of the same strenuous, dangerous, or stressful conditions faced by industrial employees. They may find themselves in an adversarial role if an organization disagrees with their recommendations. Most technicians work the typical 40 hour week. Some occupational health and safety technicians may be required to work overtime, and often irregular, hours.

Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, GS-0018-05

As a trainee attends formal courses, performs selected on the job assignments, and receives instructions on agency or departmental goals, objectives, regulations, procedures, occupational hazards, safety standards, inspection techniques, and work processes.

• Receives classroom instruction and completes written assignments to become familiar with: (a) Federal occupational safety laws, legal statutes and Executive Orders; (b) industrial processes and hazards; (c) psychological concepts in human relations; (d) mishap investigation techniques; and (e) hazards related to construction sites, electrical installation, compressed gases, and materials handling.
• Participates as member of a survey or inspection team led by a higher graded specialist and is exposed to the practical application of techniques and measures used to identify hazards; attends and observes closing sessions where violations of appropriate standards and subsequent corrective requirements are discussed with management representatives.
• Studies and reviews past inspection records to further understanding of the application of technical standards to specific unsafe acts or conditions.

Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, GS-0018-07

The specialist performs survey work to identify and evaluate hazardous and nonhazardous industrial work operations and conditions and to recommend corrective procedures where the potential for injury or property damage exists.

• Participates as member of team led by a higher graded specialist, conducting a limited segment of a major inspection of a large manufacturing firm producing and storing ammunition and explosives; surveys nonionizing radiation sources, the use of machine guards, and chemical storage areas; drafts a report of findings proposing corrective measures for unsafe conditions and hazardous work practices.
• Conducts independent inspections of small, privately owned firms where exposure and type of hazard is predictable in advance.
• Provides informal instruction to work leaders and employees covering a variety of standard, general safety and occupational health subjects including mishap prevention and safe working practices.
• Analyzes accident and injury reports, studying data to discover trends and mishap causes, and to develop recommendations for eliminating or controlling the hazards detected.

Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, GS-0018-09

Conducts safety and occupational health surveys at a military installation, recommends measures to eliminate or control hazardous practices and conditions which may cause mishaps; prepares supplemental written safety procedures for application to local organizational components.

• Performs periodic onsite surveys for assigned organizations; inspects construction projects and designs to determine compliance with applicable occupational safety standards, (e.g., question of exits and stairs, floor load capacity, aisle space, adequacy of sprinkling systems, safety features on storage tanks containing flammable and volatile liquids, and the adequacy of scaffolding erected to facilitate painting of buildings).
• Advises supervisors and safety representatives of appropriate safety and occupational health measures to control or eliminate hazardous operating processes or environmental conditions.
• Prepares and revises safety instructions and guides that are relevant to current or planned contractor and base employees.
• Investigates mishaps, obtains statements from witnesses, and photographs mishap scene; records circumstances of mishap and extent of injuries, estimates cost of property damage, and prepares a final report of findings with recommendations to correct the unsafe acts or conditions that caused the personnel injury or property damage.
• Provides technical safety training to supervisors and employees using a wide variety of materials, publications, exhibits, protective devices, and visual aids; promotes safety campaigns through oral presentations at local safety committee meetings, posting safety displays, and publishing mishap prevention articles.

Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, GS-0018-11

Serves as a safety and occupational health manager at a military installation and is responsible for planning, directing, coordinating and evaluating a 24-hour safety and occupational health program. As manager, issues local directives and procedures establishing technical and administrative safety and occupational health requirements for industrial, construction, commercial and transportation activities.

• Plans and schedules periodic surveys of installation facilities and provides advice and guidance to managers engaged in a full range of industrial and maintenance functions including the operation of a steam plant, machine and sheet metal shops; handling, storage, and maintenance of liquid oxygen and other hazardous materials; performance of aircraft and vehicle maintenance work; construction of additions to existing buildings or converting structures to different uses; and operation of commissaries for military personnel and dependents.
• Recommends to installation management the application of specific techniques, methods, and procedures to eliminate or control unsafe acts or conditions identified in surveys or through a mishap information system.
• Investigates and analyzes mishaps and hazardous conditions to determine origin, causes, and contributing elements and prepares written evaluation reports concerning findings. Reports typically contain graphs, charts, and recommendations for changes in operating procedures, local regulations, and use of protective devices.
• Initiates and carries out safety education activities, promoting safety awareness through safety councils, providing training courses such as traffic safety to employees, preparing brochures and newsletters explaining job safety procedures, and meeting with specialized equipment operators, (e.g., forklift operators, to discuss safe and unsafe work practices).
• Coordinates activities involving, for example, procuring machine guards for new machines, determining respirator capabilities, or acquiring technical data on fire incidents with related operational and support program personnel (such as procurement, medical, fire protection, personnel, health physics, and industrial hygiene).
• Promotes area wide safety activities such as a fire prevention week which require participation in State, county, and municipal planning conferences.

Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, GS-0018-12

Serves as a regional safety and occupational health manager for a recreation and land management agency and is responsible for administering a safety and occupational health program encompassing extensive park lands, private concessions, including hotels and recreational facilities, vocational training centers, water treatment plants, maintenance shops, and a wide variety of public visitor attractions.

• Develops goals and objectives, prepares safety policies, procedures and guidelines, organizes and executes program budget, develops safety training curriculum and reviews proposed equipment procurement requests to insure the inclusion of necessary safety features.
• Surveys numerous warehouses, dormitory and camp structures, extensive recreational areas, and private concessions in a large geographic region to determine compliance with safety and fire standards; devises and implements measures to control or eliminate recognized hazards.
• Provides technical safety and occupational health guidance to supervisors responsible for hazardous activities pursued by thousands of public visitors such as use of snowmobiles, scuba diving, skiing, and mountain and cliff climbing, where standard safety criteria are not published.
• Serves as a member of a Board of Inquiry and investigates visitor mishap fatalities and prepares a chronological narrative of factors contributing to the incident, including photographs of the mishap scene, statements from witnesses, autopsy and pathological reports; summarizes Board findings, develops conclusions and makes recommendations for elimination or control of hazards identified.
• Reviews architectural and engineering drawings for new building construction, historic building preservation, and major alterations to recreational facilities; recommends changes as necessary to obtain compliance with standards and minimize risks to human life and damage to property.
• Conducts special studies such as the prevention and suppression of timber and range fires, the elimination of sewage pollution of potable water sources, and the resolution of safety problems caused by the blasting of uncleared sites for new construction.
• Implements a regional automated mishap data system and analyzes mishap trends to determine contributing factors and to devise measures which are economically feasible in controlling or eliminating actual or potential hazards to Job Corp and Youth Conservation Corp participants, public visitors, and employees.
• Promotes educational campaigns using posters, pamphlets, and literature through line supervisors and motivates visitors and employees to practice mishap prevention procedures for activities such as boating, hiking, camping, and operation of a variety of automotive vehicles.

Safety and Occupational Health Manager, GS-0018-13

Serves as a safety and occupational health manager in a military department and is responsible for administering a safety and occupational health program for an organizational component engaged in widely dispersed and diversified activities over a large geographic area. These activities include the maintenance of dams and reservoirs, levees, flood walls, and pumping stations; channel improvements and construction of military facilities.

• Plans, organizes, directs and controls a field safety and occupational health program covering an extensive geographic area and involving a large variety of agency operations including: (1) river revetment and maintenance activities requiring self-propelled major floating plants, dredges, and towboats functioning simultaneously at separate and remote locations; (2) three hydroelectric power plants; (3) seven reservoirs and a sewage and water treatment plant; (4) four navigation locks and dams; and (5) a repair base for barges, towboats and heavy construction equipment.
• Develops and directs the establishment of safety and occupational health requirements applicable to numerous private construction, maintenance, maritime, and manufacturing operations including three facilities collectively producing approximately 1,000,000 tons of concrete mat annually; provides specific procedures controlling or eliminating hazardous actions and conditions identified through analysis of construction plans or inspections.
• Plans and prepares regulations and guidelines applicable to a broad variety of recreational risks at reservoir sites visited by thousands of citizens yearly. Typically, the visitors engage in swimming, boating, water skiing, skin diving, camping, hunting, fishing, and motorcycle riding activities provided through privately operated concessions.
• Develops and conducts a safety education program to fulfill the employee development requirements of a diverse workforce engaged in hazardous occupations that include hundreds of seasonal, manual laborers working at scattered sites; equipment operators, deckhands, boat pilots, power plant electricians, mechanics, lock and dam operators, divers, machinists, welders, pipe fitters and barge and towboat mechanics.
• Directs the systematic compilation and analysis of mishap data and hazards to property, interprets and evaluates the accumulated information and eliminates or controls the identified hazard by applying standard techniques or devising new methods that are often required by high risk construction or maritime operations.
• Tests and modifies, as appropriate, various types of protective equipment such as life vests, safety ropes, and safety nets to ensure compliance with applicable safety criteria.

Safety and Occupational Health Manager, GS-0018-14

Serves as the principal safety and occupational health manager for a Federal agency providing health care services to diverse client groups and plans, directs, coordinates, and evaluates a comprehensive agency program. The programs require the development of safety criteria to eliminate or control serious hazards encountered in the construction, operation, and maintenance of agency-wide health care facilities and research laboratories. The program also covers complex, research, development and testing functions assigned to health care centers and laboratories throughout the United States and U.S. territories.

• Serves as the principal safety and occupational advisor to the agency administrator, justifies operating expenditures including staffing requirements, interprets new safety and occupational health legislation, and recommends the adoption or implementation of specific policies and procedures.
• Assigns program activities to subordinate organizational levels, assures that each echelon is participating fully in the program and evaluates safety requirements proposed for future facilities and new equipment procurements.
• As a consultant to principal agency program managers operating sixty public hospitals and approximately 300 health centers and clinics and serving American Indians, Alaskan Natives, members of the U.S. Coast Guard, Federal prisoners and Hansen's Disease patients, the manager provides extensive technical guidance and assistance on diverse, complex hazardous conditions in widely dispersed geographic regions that require specialized safety approaches.
• Plans, organizes and conducts an agency-wide comprehensive inspection activity, evaluates the effectiveness of occupational safety requirements in the work environment, assesses the degree of compliance with applicable regulations and standards, and develops changes and modifications to a broad range of work processes, equipment operations, and protective devices to minimize injuries to patients and employees and damage to agency property.
• Administers a management information system which generates mishap, injury, and illness data for the agency and identifies specific hazardous conditions that require in depth analysis and subsequent implementation of measures to control or eliminate unsafe conditions.
• Represents the agency by participating in national conferences convoked by the National Safety Council, American Hospital Association, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, and National Fire Protection Association to develop and adopt occupational safety and fire standards for hospitals, medical care facilities, and contractor operated research laboratories.
• Plans, develops, and implements agency-wide safety and occupational health standards and procedures for application during the construction phase of new health care facilities to eliminate potential hazards such as: (1) unsafe storage conditions for radioactive substances, flammable liquids and corrosive, toxic, and reactive chemicals; (2) inadequate laboratory air flow and improper sprinkling systems for fire suppression; (3) insufficient emergency electric power capability; and (4) deficient hazardous waste disposal sites.
• Directs agency-wide educational effort for health care managers and employees in occupational safety regulations, practices and procedures appropriate to a hospital or health care environment; this responsibility is complicated by the diverse background of the employees which ranges from employees residing in metropolitan areas to those living in remote rural communities.
• Consults and coordinates with other agency experts including industrial hygienists, physicians, environmental engineers, and fire prevention engineers in the resolution of difficult environmental hazards and the development of safety guidance and procedures.

For additional information about this career, visit http://dreamfedjob.com/careers/0018_Occupational_Health_and_Safety_Technicians.html

Describing "Soft" Skills in a Resume

Dreamfedjob.com

Download Now!

Soft skills are generally described as intangible personal characteristics or attributes more generic in nature and not identifiable with any particular occupation. Conversely, many soft skills are useful and desirable in the performance of tasks and functions found in a wide variety of jobs. Examples of soft skills include traits such as analytical ability, communication skills, creativity, being customer oriented, leadership and other, similar, intangible skills.

When applying for a position, consider whether or not any soft skills are integral to successful performance in the job. If the answer is "yes," plan on addressing appropriate soft skills in resume submissions.

Make a substantive effort to include examples in the narrative resume content that describe and demonstrate instances where soft skill(s) are employed in performing tasks related to the position of interest. Since soft skills are inherently generic and "fuzzy" in nature, they are more difficult to clearly describe in a narrative fashion than "hard" skills, which are clearly related to recognized occupational categories and functions. These “hard" skills (e.g., accounting, information technology, civilian pay, secretary, etc.) lend themselves to ready analysis because of the direct, unmistakable relationship between major, core tasks associated with the occupations in which they are embodied and the skills needed to perform these tasks.

Examples:

Actitivities 09/07-06/10 Sports Club, Mathematics and Statistics Faculty, Washington DC, Female basketball team coordinator

• 07/08-07/09 Board of European Students of Technology (BEST), Barcelona, Spain, Course: “Ways of Comunication in the 3rd Millenium”
• Arts: Μember of the Theatre Club and the Forensics Club, in George Mason University, Farifax, VA (1998-2001).
• Participated in a 15day educational trip to England, dedicated to the life and deeds of Shakespeare, organized by George Mason University (March 2001)
• Environment: Member of the organization “Friends of the Blue Ridge Forest”
• Travelling: Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, England, Spain, Cyprus, Italy, Scotland.

Social and Voluntary Work

• 2009 SPEAR (Society for Promotion of Education and Research) Charlottesville, VA
• 2009 Publicity Coordinator, Virginia Chapter, SPEAR is a non profit society with presence in 30 countries and with more than 250 centers worldwide.
• Responsible for publicity and coordination of the events held on campus and for UVA's SPEAR bash (April 2010), the annual SPEAR festival featuring professor and researchers from across the country; responsible for increasing involvement from other students for the society.
• Volunteer for ‘A Tribute to George Harrison’ featuring performances of  Paul Simon, Crosby and Grahm Nash at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.

Leadership

• Initiated on-campus recruiting and information sessions 2008- present
• Selected and worked with recruiters and potential employees from diverse backgrounds
• Karate Instructor , La Plata, MD
• Established own branch of karate dojo; taught women’s karate classes 2003 - 2006
• Volunteer Mentor: Tutored disadvantaged children, ensuring a strong work ethic and study skills 2007 - 2009
• Varsity Women’s Crew Fall 2009- Spring 2010 Baltimore, MD
• Varsity Boat Fall 2006 and Spring 2007, NCAA Division I program
• The Johns Hopkins University Student Athlete Advisory Committee Spring 2005- Spring 2007
• Led student athlete fundraiser for local food bank, exceeded food drive goals and raised enough food and money for the entire holiday season for the Food Bank of the Southern Tier
• Coordinated National Girls and Women in Sports day 2007-2009, over one hundred young girls came from the community to participate; more than 10 varsity women’s teams showcased their sports
• Ivy League Student Athlete Advisory Committee Fall 2007- Spring 2009
• Represented The Johns Hopkins University at Pan Ivy conferences and determined the policy of student athletes on Ivy league athletic legislation
• Student Athlete Mentors Program Fall 2005- Spring 2007
• Nominated as one of 15 for program, underwent training to counsel student athletes; mentored younger athletes

Dreamfedjob's Featured Career: Correctional Officer

Dreamfedjob.com

Download today!

Significant Points

• The work can be stressful and hazardous; correctional officers have one of the highest rates of nonfatal on-the-job injuries.
• Most jobs are in State and local government prisons and jails.
• Job opportunities are expected to be favorable.

Nature of the Work

Correctional officers, also known as detention officers when they work in pretrial detention facilities, are responsible for overseeing individuals who have been arrested and are awaiting trial or who have been convicted of a crime and sentenced to serve time in a jail, reformatory, or penitentiary.

The jail population changes constantly as some prisoners are released, some are convicted and transferred to prison, and new offenders are arrested and enter the system. Correctional officers in local jails admit and process about 13 million people a year, with nearly 800,000 offenders in jail at any given time. Correctional officers in State and Federal prisons watch over the approximately 1.6 million offenders who are incarcerated there at any given time. Typically, offenders serving time at county jails are sentenced to a year or less. Those serving a year or more are usually housed in state or federal prisons.

Correctional officers maintain security and inmate accountability to prevent disturbances, assaults, and escapes. Officers have no law enforcement responsibilities outside of the institution where they work.

Regardless of the setting, correctional officers maintain order within the institution and enforce rules and regulations. To help ensure that inmates are orderly and obey rules, correctional officers monitor the activities and supervise the work assignments of inmates. Sometimes, officers must search inmates and their living quarters for contraband like weapons or drugs, settle disputes between inmates, and enforce discipline. Correctional officers periodically inspect the facilities, checking cells and other areas of the institution for unsanitary conditions, contraband, fire hazards, and any evidence of infractions of rules. In addition, they routinely inspect locks, window bars, grilles, doors, and gates for signs of tampering. Finally, officers inspect mail and visitors for prohibited items.

Correctional officers report orally and in writing on inmate conduct and on the quality and quantity of work done by inmates. Officers also report security breaches, disturbances, violations of rules, and any unusual occurrences. They usually keep a daily log or record of their activities. Correctional officers cannot show favoritism and must report any inmate who violates the rules. If a crime is committed within their institution or an inmate escapes, they help the responsible law enforcement authorities investigate or search for the escapee. In jail and prison facilities with direct supervision of cellblocks, officers work unarmed. They are equipped with communications devices so that they can summon help if necessary. These officers often work in a cellblock alone, or with another officer, among the 50 to 100 inmates who reside there. The officers enforce regulations primarily through their interpersonal communication skills and through the use of progressive sanctions, such as the removal of some privileges.

In the highest security facilities, where the most dangerous inmates are housed, correctional officers often monitor the activities of prisoners from a centralized control center with closed-circuit television cameras and a computer tracking system. In such an environment, the inmates may not see anyone but officers for days or weeks at a time and may leave their cells only for showers, solitary exercise time, or visitors. Depending on the offenders' security classification, correctional officers may have to restrain inmates in handcuffs and leg irons to safely escort them to and from cells and other areas and to see authorized visitors. Officers also escort prisoners between the institution and courtrooms, medical facilities, and other destinations.

Bailiffs, also known as marshals or court officers, are law enforcement officers who maintain safety and order in courtrooms. Their duties, which vary by location, include enforcing courtroom rules, assisting judges, guarding juries from outside contact, delivering court documents, and providing general security for courthouses.

Work environment. Working in a correctional institution can be stressful and hazardous. Every year, correctional officers are injured in confrontations with inmates. Correctional officers and jailers have one of the highest rates of nonfatal on-the-job injuries. First-line supervisors/managers of correctional officers also face the risk of work-related injury. Correctional officers may work indoors or outdoors. Some correctional institutions are well lighted, temperature controlled, and ventilated, but others are old, overcrowded, hot, and noisy. Although both jails and prisons can be dangerous places to work, prison populations are more stable than jail populations, and correctional officers in prisons know the security and custodial requirements of the prisoners with whom they are dealing. Consequently, they tend to be safer places to work.

Correctional officers usually work an 8-hour day, 5 days a week, on rotating shifts. Some correctional facilities have longer shifts and more days off between scheduled work weeks. Because prison and jail security must be provided around the clock, officers work all hours of the day and night, weekends, and holidays. In addition, officers may be required to work paid overtime.

Correctional Officer, GS-0007-06

This is a developmental level. GS-6 correctional officers receive classroom instruction and on-the-job training in the philosophy, methods, and techniques of corrections and of the correctional officer's role within the correctional system. Formal instruction includes such topics as: nature and purpose of correctional institutions; institutional organization; human behavior and interpersonal relations; standards of conduct; security requirements; legal requirements regarding the rights of inmates and the collection and preservation of evidence for use in court proceedings; etc. On-the-job training includes rotational assignments to various posts to observe and put into practice the methods and techniques learned in the orientation. Initial assignments are typically to posts with a minimum of contact with inmates. As correctional officers gain experience and confidence, assignments are expanded to include direct custody and supervision of inmate groups.

Correctional Officer, GS-0007-07

In comparison with GS-6 correctional officers who receive on-the-job training in the various post assignments, Correctional Officers GS-7 independently perform, typically on a rotational basis, a variety of moderately difficult assignments. Such assignments require proficiency in the application of correctional skills in supervising inmate activities on work details, in recreational activities, in living quarters during morning or day watches, etc. These assignments involve regular contacts with individual or small groups of inmates. They allow significant opportunity for correctional officers to motivate inmates to acceptable behavior. The assignments involve advising and counseling inmates regarding adjustment to institution life, resolution of personal problems, and acceptance of professional assistance in the rehabilitative process.
The following are examples of GS-7 correctional officer assignments (these examples are illustrative of grade-level concepts and are not intended to limit the types of assignments at the GS-7 level):

1. Immediate supervision of small (e.g., 10 inmates) work details such as grounds maintenance, road building, etc.;
2. Direct supervision of inmates in living quarters during the day watch where the number of inmates at anyone time is small, or on the morning watch when the inmates either are sleeping or have prescribed activities;
3. Supervision of groups of inmates during outside activities, e.g., recreation, free time, etc., when the situation allows officer-inmate contacts on a regular basis.

Correctional Officers GS-7 also participate with officers of higher grade in performing such assignments as supervising large work details, supervising inmates in living quarters on the evening watch, and performing admission and orientation functions.

Correctional Officer, GS-0007-08

GS-8 correctional officers regularly perform a variety of very difficult assignments in a correctional institution. Such assignments, based on the recognition of superior correctional skills of the incumbent, require the judgment, maturity, and knowledge of inmate behavior developed through experience gained in a wide variety of assignments.

GS-8 correctional officers typically supervise groups of inmates in situations that are critical to the effectiveness of the correctional treatment program and to the efficient operation of the institution. Assignments involve contacts with inmates that present substantially continuous opportunity for the officer to use his extensive experience and superior correctional skills and abilities in influencing the attitudes and motivation of offenders towards socially acceptable behavior and in adapting to the institution environment and rehabilitation programs.

The following are examples of GS-8 correctional officer assignments (these examples are illustrative of grade-level concepts and are not intended to limit the types of assignments at the GS-8 level):

1. Custody of newly committed offenders with responsibility for developing information through interview and observation and making recommendations regarding quarters assignments, work assignments, security classification, and individual program goals. The officer gives inmates a complete orientation in the procedures and expectations of the institution. This initial contact between an inmate and the correctional force is vital in influencing the offender's behavior and rehabilitation during his entire stay at the institution.
2. Direct responsibility for supervising the activities of inmates in quarters during the evening period when he must effectively control a large group under relaxed, less regulated conditions. In some instances, he is assisted by one or two correctional officers of lower grade. In addition to encouraging constructive activities and maintaining discipline and security, the GS-8 correctional officer uses the relaxed atmosphere to talk with individuals and small groups to resolve problems, to stimulate cooperation, and to establish positive correctional attitudes.
3. Coordination of work release and/or study release programs with responsibility for making satisfactory arrangements for meeting the needs of inmates while outside the institution, such as finances, transportation, etc.; maintaining contacts with employers to be aware of problems that may develop; and counseling inmates on any work, school, or personal problems that might complicate the offender's rehabilitation.
4. Direct responsibility for supervising inmates with particularly serious behavior problems (e.g., assaultive, unmanageable, deviant sexual behavior) who are in a segregation status. The officer has the opportunity, because of the lack of mobility of the inmates, to spend considerable time in attempting to recognize and understand their correctional problems. He helps them understand the undesirability of their behavior and the advantages of more acceptable attitudes, and generally attempts to create and maintain a correctional, rather than a punitive, atmosphere.

Correctional Officer, GS-0007-09

Correctional Officers GS-9 perform functions requiring the application of technical treatment and/or counseling skills and techniques acquired through formal and supervised practical training. These skills and techniques are normally associated with services provided by professionals in social work or the behavioral sciences. However, the GS-9 correctional officer applies a practical knowledge of the specific techniques under the guidance of professional workers, without the broad theoretical knowledges and insights acquired through professional education and training. In comparison, the GS-8 correctional officer attempts to influence the attitudes of offenders towards acceptable behavior using correctional skills developed through personal experience and concentrated training in dealing with offenders, rather than by the use of more formalized methods.

Assignments at this level are typically in direct support of structured treatment or rehabilitation programs. They may be in a correctional institution or in a correctional setting outside the institution, such as a community treatment center. Working within the framework of program goals and methodology established by professional workers, the GS-9 officer applies these techniques and his extensive correctional experience to establish effective communication with the offender and help him recognize and resolve problems relating to himself, his family, and the community environment. He aids the inmate to appraise his problems realistically and to understand and accept his limitations and capabilities. In some situations, the GS-9 officer also deals with individuals outside the correctional system, such as teachers, supervisors, family, etc., to identify further problems and enlist their aid in resolving them.

The following are examples of GS-9 correctional officer assignments (these examples are illustrative of grade-level concepts and are not intended to limit the types of assignments at the GS-level):

1. Serves as a correctional counselor in a specialized treatment program for inmates addicted to narcotics. As a full member of the treatment team, the GS-9 officer makes recommendations and participates in decisions concerning the operation of the treatment program. He conducts group therapy sessions, dormitory and community meetings, self-help sessions, or other formal activities required by the particular program. He works with an assigned caseload of individual inmates to provide a variety of services. These services include individual counseling on problems confronting offenders in general, and addicts in particular; writing or assisting inmates in writing correspondence; arranging for special visits outside the institution, such as emergency home visits; approving visitor and correspondence lists; etc. Serves as liaison between treatment program staff and other institutional staff members (i.e., correctional force, educational, vocational, etc.) to provide detailed information on problems concerning individual inmates who are included in his caseload. In performing these duties, the GS-9 correctional officer uses the skills and techniques learned from classroom and supervised practical training by professional psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers in such areas as group counseling techniques, "Therapeutic Community" techniques, transactional analysis, reality therapy, sensitivity training, and personal interviewing.
2. Serves as a counselor in a Community Treatment Center providing a program of rehabilitation and reintegration into the free community. In this setting, GS-9 correctional officers are typically assigned a caseload of offenders for which they provide counseling and assistance on a wide range of problems, under the general guidance of the Center Director and/or professional social worker. The work involves such functions as obtaining background information through personal interview; explaining the services that the Center can provide; counseling offenders (and their families when available) on work, family, personal adjustment and other problems; referring offenders to sources of additional help in the community; maintaining contacts with employers to attempt to resolve problems before they interfere with the offenders' progress; and conducting group discussions among residents of the Center on common difficulties encountered in the free community and the ways in which to deal with these difficulties and overcome them. GS-9 correctional officers in this type of assignment utilize a knowledge of behavioral characteristics of offenders developed through extensive experience in working with and counseling inmates. In addition, they apply counseling techniques and a knowledge of community resources attained through formalized training and practical experience under the guidance and supervision of professional social workers.

Related Occupations

Other protective service occupations include:

• Police officers, GS-0083
• United States Marshalls, GS-0082
• Security guards, GS-0085

Sources of Additional Information

Further information about correctional officers is available from:

• American Correctional Association, 206 N. Washington St., Suite 200, Alexandria, VA 22314. Internet: http://www.aca.org/
• American Jail Association, 1135 Professional Ct., Hagerstown, MD 21740. Internet: http://www.corrections.com/aja
• Information on entrance requirements, training, and career opportunities for correctional officers at the Federal level may be obtained from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Internet: http://www.bop.gov/

Sources:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition;
• Office of Personnel Management, Position Classification Standards; and
• Dreamfedjob.com

For additional information on becoming a Correctional Officer, follow this link!

KSA Sample for a manager: Skill in managing, leading, directing and supervising staff towards meeting an organization's objectives and programs.

Dreamfedjob.com

Download Now!

As a manager for the past 14 years, I have developed performance and training plans, counseled, appraised and hired employees, worked with unions, and taken disciplinary actions. I have gone from supervising five employees to managing 170 headquarters and field employees.

As head of the department’s Office of Discrimination Resolution, I inherited a four-year backlog of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints and a 15-member staff. At the same time, the department issued a mandate requiring us to reduce the complaints backlog within 60 days and to eliminate it within four months.  I had neither the funds nor the time to hire additional staff so I set out to make the maximum use of the human resources I had on board.

My first step was to review the complaints inventory to determine which complaints could be quickly moved through the system and which ones required in-depth review. I then reorganized the office by defining the structural needs of the EEO program and assessing the skill levels of my employees. I created five teams, using my own staff as well as field staff, and ensured that work was evenly distributed to each group. I worked closely with my employees to develop appropriate performance standards for their new assignments. In addition, we discussed the training that would be needed to enhance their performance.

I ensured that each employee understood the importance of his or her contribution to the project.  Throughout the transition to teams, I kept an open-door policy and listened closely to employees’ suggestions. As a result, the teams developed a remarkable “can do” attitude toward this overwhelming workload. The spirit and determination with which we worked together enabled us to meet the department’s goal of eliminating the complaints backlog within 4 months.   

During this period, I saw that several minority employees had potential far above their grade levels.  I reclassified these support positions into positions with career ladders to the GS-14 level. I provided on-the-job training, specialized classroom training, and day-to-day supervision to give them the necessary experience to compete for the new positions.  Four of the employees are now working successfully as GS-13 Senior Specialists.  I received the agency’s “EEO Manager of the Year” award for my upward mobility efforts.

My next step was to establish fair and neutral mechanisms for the selection and promotion of my employees.  I selected minorities, women, and non-minorities for vacant positions with the office and, for the first time, provided two upward mobility opportunities for professional staff members. I placed two employees in field positions to accommodate a compassionate transfer, and canceled a field-to-headquarters transfer that would have imposed a severe personal hardship.

Training was another area that had been neglected before I came on board.  I developed formal policies and plans to provide training opportunities for the staff, and established a budget for external and internal training. To observe supervisory potential, I established a policy of allowing senior staff members to rotate through vacant supervisory positions in order to gain experience. 

In a few instances, I have taken disciplinary actions when employees have not responded to constructive coaching and counseling.  For example, one of my senior managers, who was a skillful technician, was not dealing well with her supervisory and managerial responsibilities.  I developed a performance improvement plan outlining the managerial skills that she needed to work on and then counseled her on how to reach those goals.

Unfortunately, the employee’s performance did not improve and she was removed from her position.  On the positive side, my staff knew that they would be protected from inappropriate and arbitrary behavior by their managers, and the office’s productivity and morale have improved since the manager’s departure.  

 You could be reading 60 KSA samples like this one in less than a minute. Download the NEW FEDERAL KSA BOOK now!!

KSA Sample for an Administrative Assistant: Ability to communicate both orally and in writing.

Dreamfedjob.com

Download Now!

The Defense Language Institute (DLI) is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) educational and research institution, which provides linguistic and cultural instruction to the Department of Defense, other Federal Agencies and numerous and varied other customers. The DLI is responsible for the Defense Language Program, and the bulk of the Defense Language Institute's activities involve educating DOD members in assigned languages. Other functions include planning, curriculum development, and research in second-language acquisition.

As a Staff Operations and Training Specialist with the Department of the Navy working in the Language Resource Center I am responsible for a myriad of tasks.  These include issuing written and oral instructions to prospective students, guidance materials and furnishing informative material for the preparation of foreign language classes, examinations, and schedules. One of my assignments is to coordinate and create an annual Satellite Video Training and Mobile Training Team schedule with DLI in Presidio of Monterey, California. I am also the training lead for information on new classes and new location rollouts.

The schedule needed to include classes for a range of proficiency levels of all linguistic instructors and students, with a focus on Russian, Arabic, Persian Farsi, Serbian-Croatian, Spanish, Chinese and Korean.  There were approximately 45 instructors, and I coordinated up to 30 week-long classes and 10 onsite classes, per year, for more than 500 students. I was also responsible for tracking training requests and history, coordinating training with outside vendors, and providing written input in department memos and updates.     

One of the challenges in creating this yearly schedule was the distance between my office at the Naval Air Station Brunswick, Brunswick, Maine and DLI in California.  This challenge required that all planning and coordination was accomplished through correspondence in writing via email or orally via telephone.  I was also required to coordinate via email and telephone with the actual language instructors from DLI regarding what level of curriculum they would be teaching for their classes.  If the instructors were scheduled for onsite training, I was required to correspond with them regarding needed supplies, and required teaching technology they would need to instruct the class.

The biggest challenge I had to overcome was not only reserving the class and instructors through DLI, but ensuring there was a class of linguist students at the Naval Air Station Brunswick who would be at a point in their curriculum that they could take a week off to come to our center for training.  To ensure enrollment, I sent out emails to all linguistic instructors indicating what classes were available from DLI, and asking if they would be available and interested in attending a class.  I also stressed in my communications to the instructors that once they requested a class and I reserved it, that they were committed to attending, or paying for the class.

By utilizing my verbal and oral communication skills, I was effectively able to ensure all information exchanged was accurate, and that all linguistic curriculum needs were met.  As a result, I could then reserve time slots and classes based on their availability. Based on my effective use of written and verbal communications, a schedule for calendar year 2006 and a jump start on the scheduling process for the next year's classes. Because other U.S. Naval bases around the world use this service, class times are scheduled and reserved months ahead of time.  After implementing the scheduling system we were better able to evaluate our needs and reserve classes from DLI sooner. 

You could be reading 60 KSA samples like this one in less than a minute. Download the NEW FEDERAL KSA BOOK now!!

Using a Resume That Best Displays Your Talent

Dreamfedjob.com

Preparing a one to three page, substantive resume is a radical departure for many, who, for years have frequently had the luxury of submitting lengthy, immensely detailed "life histories" of prior working background.

Prepare now to totally change the mind set to the task of preparing an employment application. To facilitate the transition to the world of concise resume preparation we offer the following, very basic pointers:

• Be focused: Decide upon the two or three positions that are desirable to have during the next six to 12 months. Compose the resume to address the knowledge and skills possessed that might be compatible with those of the positions of interest.
• Be realistic: Rationally and objectively assess skills, as well as strengths and weaknesses. See if the conclusions reached are a match with the expectations established in accordance with the job choices previously identified.
• Be concise: Avoid crowding the resume with unnecessary details or descriptions of skills or training not significant in nature or directly related to the qualifications for the positions of interest.
• Be aware: Write the resume as if submitting for review by someone who has no technical understanding of the kind of work done in positions previously held. Imagine explaining the skills used to a friend or a next door neighbor who has never worked in that type of position. Minimize the use of acronyms, if must be used, explain what it represents, what processes or systems it describes, and the knowledge, skills or abilities associated with it.
• Be specific: Concentrate on describing only specific and significant knowledge and skills in the background. Be sure they are related to the positions of interest.
• Be open: Describe skills and experience in universally accepted terms readily understood in both the public and private sectors.

 Download the 20 Resume Sample Book today!

Government New Hires Tell What They Did to Get the Job

Dreamfedjob.com

The job search experience plays a key role in who is selected for Federal positions. It determines who hears about job vacancies, what steps they take to apply for jobs and how long they must wait to be hired (or not). Some of the most common complaints about the Federal hiring process are that it is excessively long, complicated and bureaucratic. To learn from their job hunt experiences and identify ways to improve the process, a government survey asked Federal new hires what steps they took to get their job and what obstacles they faced.

Learning About Jobs
Here, we take a close look at how new hires first learned about their Federal job to identify how specific recruitment strategies can be used more effectively.

Friends and Relatives
When asked how they first learned about their Federal job, new hires’ top answer (31 percent) was that a friend or relative told them about it (see Fig. 1), particularly one who works for the Federal Government. The importance of personal contacts and referrals in recruitment plays a major role in the hiring process. In fact, a 2006 Booz Allen Hamilton recruitment-trends survey found that recruitment practitioners rated employee referrals as the top source not only in terms of applicant quantity but also in terms of applicant quality (Booz Allen Hamilton, 2006 DirectEmployers Association Recruiting Trends Survey, February 2006, pp. 6, 8.).

USAJOBs
Does anyone remember what it was like trying to find out about Federal vacancies before the advent of the Internet? For the most part, an applicant had to locate and go to the closest Office of Personnel Management (OPM) office to look through vacancy announcements, call individual agencies to find out about opportunities or pay to subscribe to periodicals that provided a list of Federal vacancies open at the time of publication.

Now, OPM sponsors USAJOBs—the official Federal job site that provides potential applicants with full vacancy announcements for all competitive service and some excepted service job openings. With 20 percent of new hires reporting that USAJOBs was how they first heard of their job, the Web site is obviously an important recruitment source.

USAJOBs has many advantages. It is open 24/7, is updated in real time and is available to anyone who can access the Internet. Applicants can search job opportunities using a variety of criteria, such as job title or key word, agency, location and pay. Applicants can create a Federal resume, store it on the site and, in many instances, use that one resume to apply online for multiple Federal jobs.

Agency Web Sites
Only 7 percent identified the agency Web site as the first place they learned of their job. While some agency Web sites may not be the first place a potential applicant will go to find a Federal job, they are probably a valuable secondary source of information. Once potential applicants have identified a specific job that interests them, they are likely to go to the agency Web site for more information about the agency, including its mission, organizational culture, career advancement opportunities, workplace flexibilities and other features.

College Fairs and Related Sources
College fairs and school placement officials proved to be a significant employment source for recently graduated new hires. Fifty-one percent of new hires who came to Government directly from school heard about their first job in this way. It appears that agencies are increasing their campus recruitment efforts.

For additional information regarding careers in the federal government, visit http://www.dreamfedjob.com/