Local Hire (Customer Service Representative)

What will I do in this position if hired

In this Local Hire (Customer Service Representative) position you will you will register and assist disaster survivors by providing guidance and resources regarding available disaster assistance programs and services for individual or household assistance and support casework functions.

Typical assignments include:

• Communicating directly with the disaster survivors to discuss case status and provide clarification with the assistance process disaster assistance progrmas and the currnet status of cases.
• Collecting compiling verifying and reconciling data information provided by applicants.
• Delivering a range of casework management and processing.

What else do I need to know

This announcement is for a position as a FEMA Local Hire. Local Hire employees help FEMA respond to recover from and mitigate hazards by performing a variety of emergency management functions which are not limited to disaster survivor assistance conducting and verifying damage assessments and providing administrative financial and logistical support.

Local Hires are Temporary Positions. The Local Hire Program is an appointment type granted under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act Section 306 (b) which authorizes FEMA to appoint such temporary employees as necessary to accomplish work authorized under the Act. Appointments under this authority within FEMA are made to the excepted service and are nonpermanent in nature. A local hires term of employment is 120 days. Local Hire appointments may be extended in 120-day increments based on the needs of the disaster.

To ensure the accomplishment of our mission DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards all selected applicants must undergo successfully pass and maintain a background investigation for Public Trust as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined a review of financial issues such as delinquency in the payment of debts child support and/or tax obligations as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs (please visit: Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies for additional information). For more information on background investigations for Federal jobs please visit OPM Investigations.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently or have been within the last 5 years a political Schedule A Schedule C Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Please ensure you meet the qualification requirements described below.

• You must be a U.S. citizen to be considered for this position.
• You must successfully pass a background investigation.
• Selective service registration is required for males born after 12/31/59.
• All candidates must be a high school graduate or possess a GED.
• Minimum age of eighteen years of age is required.
• Please review the Additional Information section for additional key requirements.

To qualify for this Local Hire (Customer Service Representative) position you must possess experience:

• Prior experience in a customer service-related role.
• Using various computer software programs to process customer information.

Please read the following important information to ensure we have everything we need to consider your application:

• Do not copy and paste the duties specialized experience or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position
• Your resume serves as the basis for experience related qualification determinations and you must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. Please use your own words be clear and specific when describing your work history. We cannot make assumptions regarding your experience.

Are you qualifying based on your work experience

• Qualifications are based on your ability to demonstrate in your resume that you possess one year of the specialized experience for this announcement at a comparable scope and responsibility. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume it must contain the following information organized by experience/position: (1) job title (2) name of employer (3) start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) (4) detailed description of duties performed accomplishments and related skills and (5) hours worked per week (part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience). Federal experience/positions must also include the occupational series grade level and dates in which you held each grade level.

• Are you a current or former FEMA Reservist/Disaster Assistance Employee (DAE) To accurately credit your experience from intermittent positions and Reservist Deployments you must list the dates (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) of deployments that are relevant to your qualifying experience along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment.

• Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information. Failure to provide the above information in your resume may result in your application being found not qualified.

• 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 knowledge and skills and provides valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience including volunteer experience.

• For additional information on crediting experience and/or education please reference the OPM General Schedule Qualification Standards