Summary These positions are located in the Colorado State Office in Meeker, Colorado. Recent Graduates who satisfactorily complete the Pathways Recent Graduates Program and meet all eligibility requirements for conversion may be non-competitively converted to a Term or Permanent appointment in the competitive service. Responsibilities Participate in preparing and monitoring plans to improve or expand natural resources. Serve on an interdisciplinary team of specialists and provides natural resources input to proposed plans or actions. Direct or assist in the collection, entering, and maintenance of natural resources monitoring data according to prescribed BLM and program standards. Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level. Requirements Conditions of Employment U.S. Citizenship required May be required to complete background investigation and drug screening. Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males. Must provide resume and supporting documents (See required documents). You cannot hold an active real estate license, nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands. If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period. Selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval. Must obtain and maintain a valid state drivers license. Occasionally Operates a Gov't Motor Vehicle. You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 5 nights per month. Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program. Recent Graduate Program Requirements: Students MUST submit transcripts with conferred or degree earned date (unofficial transcripts are acceptable). If selected, official transcripts will be required. An Individual Development Plan (IDP) will be completed within 45 days of appointment to track the Recent Graduates' career planning, professional development, and training activities. Selectee will be required to sign Recent Graduates Participant Agreement. Within the first year of employment, the incumbent will be provided a minimum of 40 formal hours of training. The incumbent will be assigned a mentor within 90 days of appointment. Qualifications Pathways Recent Graduate Applicants must have completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associate's, bachelor's, master's, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution. Veterans unable to apply within two years of receiving their degree, due to military service obligation, have up to six years after degree completion to apply. (You MUST provide copies of your unofficial/official Transcripts with a Confer/Completion Date. Failure to provide this documentation will result in an ineligibility rating). In order to qualify, you must meet the Basic Education Requirement **AND** the Minimum Qualifications requirement (specialized experience and/or education) described below. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience. If qualifying based on education, a copy of your unofficial transcripts must be provided with your application. Basic Requirement GS-0401: Successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a Bachelor's degree (or higher) with a major study in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to this position. OR, A combination of education and experience in courses equivalent to a major course of study, as shown in statement A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. The quality of the combination of education and experience must be sufficient to demonstrate that the applicant possesses the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform work in the occupation, and is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study with a major in the appropriate field. **AND** MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level in which you are applying: Specialized Experience GS-07 : Applicants must have at least one full full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing at least 3 of the following duties: (1) collecting natural resource data for reports; (2) assisting senior specialists in the development and maintenance of resource management plans; (3) serving on an interdisciplinary team to collaborate with other specialist; (4) assisting with reviewing land planning documents for meeting regulatory requirements. OR, Education GS-07: Successfully completed at least one year of graduate education from an accredited college or university in a field directly related to the work of the position (i.e. biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry). OR, Combination of Specialized Experience and Education GS-07: An equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate level education described above, when combined, equals 100% of the total requirement. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. OR, Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) GS-07: Successfully completed all of the requirements for a bachelor's degree in a curriculum that is qualifying for this position, from an accredited college or university, AND meet one of the requirements for Superior Academic Achievement based on the following: (1) (class standing (upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses.); OR (2) grade-point average (3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on the official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as computed based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; OR, (3) election to membership in a national scholastic honor society. Specialized Experience GS-09 : Applicants must have at least one full full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing at least 3 of the following duties: (1) interpreting planning documents and NEPA laws, regulations, policies, and guidance for specific land and resource management programs or projects; (2) coordinating identification of inventory and data collection needed to conduct natural resource management planning; (3) resolving protests or appeals related to public land uses or natural resource management projects; (4) evaluating land planning documents for meeting regulatory requirements. OR, Education GS-09: Successfully completed at least two years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree from an accredited college or university in a field directly related to the work of the position. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position (i.e. biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry). OR, Combination of Specialized Experience and Education GS-09: An equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate level education described above, when combined, equals 100% of the total requirement. Please note only graduate education in excess of one year (18 semester hours) may be used to qualify under this option. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Volunteer Experience: 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 can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. You must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies". Education To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work. If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your 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. PASS/FAIL COURSES: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society. GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study. Additional Information If selected, you will be required to sign a Pathways Agreement which specifies the conditions of your employment as we've indicated in this job announcement. You must continue to meet the Pathways Program requirements throughout the duration of your appointment. Failure to do so will result in termination of your internship and employment. Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor. Physical Demands: The work requires the incumbent to spend time performing both office and field work. The office work is primarily sedentary and may require walking, standing, and carrying light items, such as books, small instruments or samples, and other similar materials. While at the field office, the incumbent may occasionally lift materials such as fence posts, barbed wire, and seed bags, etc., requiring lifting of loads up to 50 pounds. Field duties involve long hours of driving, hiking, climbing, and other forms of outdoor physical activities in remote locations. Occasional project construction work may be physically demanding, such as building or removing fences, constructing wildlife guzzlers, developing springs, etc. The incumbent is expected to operate a four-wheel drive vehicle in remote areas in complicated terrain. Other modes of transportation such as off highway vehicles may occasionally be used. Working Conditions: The work environment varies from an office setting where the incumbent has regular contact with work associates to a field setting where the incumbent is working alone for extended periods of time in remote situations. Field work will involve outdoor exposure, including some discomfort in extremes of temperature or inclement weather. The incumbent may be subjected to hostile wildlife and physical hazards. Certain incentives (such as Recruitment, Relocation or Student Loan Repayment) may be authorized to eligible selectees. If eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information visit: Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive or Student Loan Repayment. Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) or Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP): For information on how to apply as an ICTAP or CTAP eligible see http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ctap\_guideline.pdf. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 90 or above on the rating criteria for this position. If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, please contact San Antonio Services Branch at SASBMailbox@opm.gov or 816-541-8101.