STUDENT TRAINEE (ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE)

Duties

Summary

About the Position: Position(s) will be filled under the Department of the Army Pathways Intern Program. Click here or more information on Pathways program participation.

Winchester, a city of 30,000, is located in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley 70 miles northwest of Washington, DC.
Visit the US Army Corps of Engineers, Transatlantic Middle East District website at the link here .

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

• Pathways Internship positions provide for development and training. Assignments become more responsible as incumbent increases knowledge and skills through work experience and academic training.
• Be responsible for observing all safety rules, regulations, and directives applicable to the work assigned.
• Study departmental publications, manuals, and similar references to become familiar with Corps of Engineers technical responsibilities in general or as they apply to a specific assignment.
• Perform pre-professional duties pertinent to the engineering field such as developing computer aided design drawings, reviewing contractor prepared shop drawings, and loading software calculation results.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
None

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• If converted to a permanent position, all employees are required to sign a mobility agreement.
• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• You must currently be a student that has completed two years of post-high school study in an approved field of study as outline in the Qualifications section.
• You must be 16 years of age to be eligible for the Pathways Internship program.
• Students are required to remain in good academic standing, which is defined as maintaining a grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 or higher.
• Must sign a Pathways Participant Agreement upon acceptance of position.
• You must possess a valid driver's license.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Students who are eligible for participation in the Department of the Army Internship Program
Positions are open to current students pursuing a qualifying degree or certificate in an accredited high school, college (including 4-year colleges/universities, community colleges, and junior colleges); professional, technical, vocational, and trade school; advanced degree programs; or other qualifying educational institution on at least a half-time basis (as defined by the institution in which the student is enrolled). Short-term training programs (e.g., several two-week programs completed) are not considered an academic course of study.

Internship for current students in good standing at an accredited education.

For this internship, you must be able to work accordance with the agreement made between you and the organization as part of the Pathways Agreement.

This intern position is designed to prepare a student trainee for employment after graduation as a General Engineer or Architect. Interns will be assigned tasks designed to increase familiarity with the target occupation in a real world work environment.

This opportunity follows a standard promotional path:

Internship selection will be made at the GS-4. These grade levels are what typical college students in their third year may qualify.

Within 120 days after completion of Internship requirements, you may be eligible for conversion to the entry-level for the target occupation. Entry level for these positions are typically at the GS-7 level. The actual grade level at the time of conversion depends on academic achievement and other factors.

Progression from the entry-level to the full performance level for this occupation will depend on successful completion of all requirements for promotion. Promotions may be considered after a year at each grade level, but are not guaranteed to occur on a specific time schedule.

See requirements for conversion to permanent or term position in the "Additional Information" section below.

To qualify for a Pathways Internship as a GS-04, students must have completed two full academic years of post-high school study or have an associate's degree.

For qualification purposes, an academic year is computed as follows:

• At the undergraduate level, successfully completed education that has not led to possession of a degree is credited based on its relationship to 120 semester hours or 180 quarter hours. For example, 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours is comparable to 1 year of undergraduate education. Four years of progressive study or 120 semester hours meets the degree requirements. Additional credit cannot be given for duplicate course work.
• For study at a business or technical school, 36 weeks of study (20+ classroom hours per week) is comparable to 1 academic year above high school.
• An academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 academic year of full-time study. This determination is made based on normal course loads for a full year of study in the graduate program. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.
• When academic credit is expressed in contract months, units, or other terms that differ from conventional semester or quarter hours, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide an interpretation of such credits from the appropriate institution in order to equate them to the semester or quarter hours specified in the standard.

NOTE: If your college, vocational, trade, technical or high schools' definition of "academic year" differs from above, you must submit proof of this difference (e.g., copy of course catalog that defines an academic year). Absent this documentation, you will screened for academic qualifications based on the academic hours as defined in the bullets above.

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:

• Accountability
• Applies Technology to Tasks
• Attention to Detail
• General Engineering

Education

For this internship, you must be a current student majoring in a field of Engineering or Architecture.

This occupation has specific educational requirements for entry and applicants must show evidence that their planned academic program will meet those requirements (i.e. transcript reflecting enrollment in applicable programs). Students who graduate without meeting those requirements may not be converted to the target position and could be separated from federal service.

Educational requirements for conversion to the target position are:

Conversion to a 0801 - General Engineer:

Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET); OR (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.

Conversion to a 0808 - Architect:

Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in architecture or in a related field that included 60 semester hours of course work in architecture or related disciplines of which at least (1) 30 semester hours were in architectural design, and (2) 6 semester hours were in each of the following: structural technology, properties of materials and methods of construction, and environmental control systems.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

This is a student internship opportunity. Your transcripts are a required part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Additional information

• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• Two year trial/probationary period may be required.
• Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
• This is a Career Program (CP) #18 - Engineers and Scientists position.
• Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
• If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
• You may claim military spouse preference.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• This position may require a mobility agreement.
• Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
• When you perform a Civilian Permanent Change of Station (PCS) with the government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers the majority of your entitlements to be taxable. Visit https://www.dfas.mil/civilianemployees/civrelo/Civilian-Moving-Expenses-Tax-Deduction/ for more information.
• If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .

Eligibility requirements for conversion to a permanent or term position. Interns must:

• Be a U.S. Citizen at the time of conversion;
• Complete at least 640 hours of work experience acquired through the Internship Program prior to or concurrent with completion of academic requirements;
• Complete their educational requirements (as specified in the announcement);
• Meet the Office of Personnel Management's qualification standard, including any applicable positive education requirement and/or selective placement factors and any other special qualifications requirements and conditions of employment (e.g. medical standards) appropriate for the specific competitive service position to which the intern will be converted;
• Successfully complete all the requirements of the Internship Program as defined in the agency-participant agreement; and
• Perform their job successfully as documented through performance evaluations and/or completion of an Individual Development Plan (IDP).
• Permanent Change of Station (PCS) allowances may be authorized, subject to the provisions of the Joint Travel Regulations and an agency determination that a PCS move is in the Government Interest.
• Recruitment Incentive may be authorized.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your résumé and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If, after reviewing your résumé and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

Basis for Rating: Qualified candidates will be assigned to one of two quality categories: Ideal Candidate, Ideal Candidateand Eligible Candidate. Veteran preference eligibles are listed ahead of non-preference eligibles within each quality category.

• Ideal: This category will be used for those candidates who demonstrate aptitude for success in the program based off of the assessment package.
• Eligible: This category will be used for those candidates who meet the minimum qualifications of the position.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

The documents you are required to submit vary based on whether or not you are eligible for preference in federal employment. A complete description of preference categories and the associated required documents is in the Applicant Checklist (External) .
1. Your resume:

• Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you may not receive consideration for this position.
• For additional information see: What to include in your resume .

2. Transcripts and Enrollment Verification:

• Enrollment verification (if transcripts do not reflect current enrollment), and unofficial transcripts for education claimed in your resume and occupational questionnaire is required. If you provide an unofficial transcript at the time of application and you are selected, you will be asked for official versions prior to appointment. See: Transcripts and Licenses

3. Other supporting documents:

• Cover Letter, optional
• Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
• Applicants claiming Veterans Preference or Military Spouse preference (MSP): to verify your preference claim you MUST submit supporting documents with your application package.
• If you are currently serving on active duty: You MUST submit a certification from the armed forces that certifies you are expected to be discharged or released from active duty service in the armed forces under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date you apply to this opportunity. If you supply a certification at this stage, your preference/eligibility will be verified prior to appointment. More information about Veteran's Preference is located on the Feds Hire Vets website. Please upload veteran's documents under the appropriate category.

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.