Telephone Operator

Telephone Operator

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Jackson, Mississippi

Salary Range: $36049 - $46868 Per Year

Job Summary: The Telephone Operator position is in the Information Management Resource (IRM) Service, Telecommunication Section of G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center in Jackson, MS. This position provides administrative services to a VA General Medicine and Surgery Medical Center teaching hospital with an attached NHCU, and Research & Education Building.

Major Duties:

• The duties of the Telephone Operator position include: Operating a three-position multiple computerized console for incoming and outgoing calls, as well as five UMC tie lines. Serving as Information/Receptionist, providing information such as location of offices, availability of assistance, location of admission office, location of administrative offices, and patient information. Alerting first responders to emergencies, advising them on emergencies and where personnel are needed. Working with Police and Engineer Services in conducting tests of the paging system and panic alarm system to make sure that they are always operational. Intercepting threatening or obscene telephone calls and request assistance in tracing them when appropriate, then notifying the immediate supervisor in writing. Disconnecting and reconnecting all patient telephones at the appropriate times. Maintaining a facility lost and found record. Maintaining the on-call schedules of medical, surgical and psychiatric physicians, residents, dental officers, interns, and technicians. Utilizing the Vista system to retrieve patient information, including location of patient. Ensuring that all computer input and output is handled with strict adherence to security and confidentiality policies. Work Schedule: Monday-Sunday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, requiring occasional holidays, and may have to cover other shifts as needed. Subject to change based on the needs of the facility. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Telephone Operator/PD06136A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/19/2025. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Advancement to positions up to GS-5: Candidates may be advanced without time restriction to positions up to GS-5 if the position to be filled is no more than two grades above the lowest grade the employee held within the preceding 52 weeks under his or her latest non-temporary competitive appointment. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: General Experience: To qualify for this position, you must have one year of general experience. Examples of general experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Using a switchboard to answer and redirect incoming calls; Researching information to provide to customers; Following privacy practices while obtaining patient information; Using a computer for electronic communication; Following procedures for routine and emergency calls; and Working with computerized databases. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed two (2) years of education above high school level in any field which high school graduation is the pre-requisite. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business or technical school, junior college, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. Note: Transcripts are required. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an equivalent combination of successfully completed post-high school education and general experience which meet the total experience requirements for this grade level. Note: Transcripts are required. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communication Computer Skills Interpersonal Skills Problem Solving 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; religions; 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. 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. Physical Requirements: This position is mostly sedentary, with brief periods of walking to the information desk. During irregular hours, the operator works the tour without leaving the operator office since there is no relief operator available. The volume of traffic handled by the electronic console will vary from extremely heavy during regular administrative hours, to moderate during irregular hours. Dealing with distraught individuals, the public, and handling many complex calls requiring a high degree of personal involvement may create pressure and stress. 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/.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 12/19/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12851841. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Application Deadline: 2025-12-19