Telephone Operator

Full Job Description

This position is located within the Communications section of the Patient Care Administrative Service at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Cleveland, OH.

The primary purpose of the Telephone Operator position will be to perform some administrative but mostly support services of a telephone operator.

To qualify for this position at the GS-4 level, you must meet one of the following requirements: Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of general experience in a position that was progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates your ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the Telephone Operator position.

NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates, AND hours worked per week.

~OR~ Education: Successfully completed two (2) years of education above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite.

This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial, or technical school, junior college, college, or university.

One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school.

NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

~OR~ Combination: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education (beyond the first year) and general experience, as described above, which meet the total experience requirements for this grade level.

This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial, or technical school, junior college, college, or university.

NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Information Management Technical Competence Telecommunications IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week.

All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities.

Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

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. Physical Requirements: The work of the position does not require unusual physical effort.

The position is sedentary but may involve some standing and walking to consult directories and manuals. The work is performed in a well-lighted, temperature-controlled room.

Normal safety precautions are required.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Major Duties:

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** The major duties include but are not limited to: Answers calls from both internal and internal customers; Uses a pleasant and calm demeanor at all times; Directs each call to its appropriate location; Assists in times of emergency medical responses; Processes incoming calls to the Medical Center, Domiciliary, and Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs); Answers calls promptly; Receives various calls to include, but not limited to, emergency and emergency assist calls, general information, medical center customer assistance, as well as processing and transferring international calls; Utilizes the medical center public address announcement paging system to pass overhead announcements throughout the facility; Follows local policies and procedures when providing information and handling calls; Utilizes the telephone directory system to direct a call to the appropriate location; Maintains allocated equipment and reports all equipment failures in a timely manner to the lead telephone operator or supervisor; and, Performs all other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday- Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm; rotating weekends and holidays. Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved