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Posted: April 9, 2026 (0 days ago)

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Visitor Services Assistant (Seasonal)

National Park Service

Department of the Interior

Fresh

Location

Porter, Indiana

Salary

$17.45 - $25.37

per hour

Closes

April 22, 2026More NPS jobs →

GS-4 Pay Grade

Base salary range: $30,286 - $39,372

Typical requirements: 1 year general experience. 2 years college or associate degree.

Note: Actual salary includes locality pay (15-40%+ depending on location).

Job Description

Summary

This seasonal job with the National Park Service involves helping park visitors by answering questions, giving directions, collecting fees, and patrolling sites to ensure smooth operations and good relations with partners.

It's a front-line role in a beautiful outdoor setting like Indiana Dunes National Park.

A good fit would be someone friendly and outgoing who enjoys interacting with people and has basic customer service or office experience, even if entry-level.

Key Requirements

  • One year of general experience in clerical, office, or public-facing work like greeting people, providing information, or fee collection (for GS-04)
  • One year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-04, such as assisting the public in recreation settings, instructing groups, or using basic software like Word or Excel (for GS-05)
  • Two years of education above high school (60 semester hours) from an accredited institution (for GS-04)
  • Four years of education above high school (120 semester hours) from an accredited institution (for GS-05)
  • Equivalent combination of education and experience that meets 100% of the qualification standards
  • Ability to submit a resume no longer than 2 pages detailing duties, dates, and hours worked
  • Open to paid, unpaid, or volunteer experience from public or private sectors

Full Job Description

Visitor Services Assistants serve as representatives to answer questions and offer guidance.

Monitor sites and maintain relations with park partners and concessions on roving patrols throughout National Parks. Open to the first 100 applicants or until 04/22/2026 whichever comes first.

All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-04/22/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience.

To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time).

If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount qualified specialized experience. You MUST limit your resume to no more than 2 pages.

If more than 2 pages are submitted, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications.

You can only submit one resume; only the resume submitted under the "Resume" "Document Type" will be used to determine your qualifications and for rating purposes.

To qualify for this position at the GS-04 level, you must possess one of the following: A.

One year of progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates your ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of a Visitor Services Assistant.

General experience includes greeting the public, disseminating information, providing directions and fee collection.- OR- B.

Two years of education above high school (60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours).

This education was obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college, or university. -OR- C.

Equivalent combination of experience and education that, together, equal 100% of the qualification standards listed above when combined.

To qualify for this position at the GS-05 level, you must possess one of the following:A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-04 level in the federal service.

Specialized experience demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of a Visitor Services Assistant.

Specialized experience includes providing information or assistance to the public in a business or recreation setting; instructing groups of people or individuals; compiling and analyzing information to report; greeting the public, disseminating information, providing directions, fee collection, and using software programs such as, word processing, spreadsheet, or database (e.g.

Excel, Access, Word, or similar operating systems). -OR- B. Four years of education above high school (120 semester hours or 180 quarter hours).

This education was obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college, or university. -OR- C.

Equivalent combination of experience and education that, together, equal 100% of the qualification standards listed above when combined.

Qualifying experience may be obtained in the private or public sectors. The OPM Qualification Standards Handbook is available for review at: OPM Qualification Standards.

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.

ICTAP/CTAP Statement: Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection.

Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level on all competencies.

Major Duties:

Visitor Services Assistant Standard Duties: Provide visitor services including patrol, roving, fixed post assignments and public programs.

Participate in day-to-day operation of a seasonal contact station. Site monitoring, and resource protection. Operates two-way radio equipment.

Responds verbally to visitor inquiries, offering information and guidance. Public can include individuals who are distressed, confused, frustrated, difficult or even hostile.

Additional duties for GS-04: Monitors special use permits and maintains good relations with partner organizations, concessions and stakeholders.

Relates effectively to people from varied cultural backgrounds and is sensitive to diversity, race, gender, religion, disabilities and other individual differences.

Educates customers regarding rules, regulations, and safety concerns to ensure visitor safety and resource preservation.

Direct visitors and the public with problems, questions, or complaints to appropriate resource. Assists in medical or other emergencies up to level of training.

Additional duties for GS-05: Provide informal interpretation and public orientation to a park or recreation area (e.g.

current events, resource management or environmental projects, and overview of areas natural, cultural, and/or historical resources).

Provide information to the public using information or materials on management policies and legislative updates on issues affecting the natural, historical, and/or cultural preservation of the area.

Operate general computer software programs such as word processing, spreadsheet, or database (e.g. Excel, Access, Word, or similar operating systems).

Gather information from reporting parties concerning accidents/incidents within the area to notify appropriate personnel.

Assess a situation to determine the appropriate response in accordance with policy guidelines.

Check your resume before applying to catch common mistakes

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Posted on USAJOBS: 4/9/2026 | Added to FreshGovJobs: 4/10/2026

Source: USAJOBS | ID: SSO-INDU-26-12932811