Telephone Operator
What you'd do
The Telephone Operator position is location within the Health Administration Service at the lowa City VA Health Care System (Medical Center). The work involves operating telephone switchboard equipment to connect incoming and outgoing calls; routing calls to their proper destinations; and providing telephone and organizational information to callers.
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*** Duties include, but may not be limited to the following: Operates Cisco Business console in conjunction with the station automatic exchange, establishing communications between our Medical Center and the public. Receives and places local, long distance, Federal Telephone Service and international calls. Operates Paging Systems to contact medical and administrative personnel, Public Address System, and RCA Radio Communication System. Screens incoming calls to determine proper routing of the call. Places outgoing toll calls charged to the Medical Center, and accurately record time, charges, and other pertinent information. Deals with threatening telephone calls, bomb threats, fire alarms, tornado warnings, or other unexpected emergencies, such as Code Blue. Maintains a log of all commercial long-distance and collect calls charged to the Medical Center. Assists in keeping all information regarding telephone numbers current and maintains current list of pager numbers assigned to employees authorized pagers. Monitors several emergency alarms: fire, pharmacy, boiler plant, Intensive Care Unit, humidistat, phone system and elevators. Converses with all callers, directing them to the appropriate department and visitors to the appropriate location/or service. Sorts all incoming mail on weekends and holidays for distribution to patients. Maintains all lost and found items and makes proper recordings of items received and returned in the logbook. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full-Time, Friday - Monday, 12:00 pm - 12:00 am or 4:00 pm - 12:00 am Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved
What you need to qualify
GENERAL EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one (1) year of general experience that equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to successfully perform the duties of this position. General experience is progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position to be filled. 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. Your 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 SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE (Transcript Required): Successful completion of two (2) years of education above the high school level in any field. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. One year of full-time undergraduate 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. OR COMBINING EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (Transcript Required): Combination of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements.NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Experience must be clearly indicated in your resume. 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 is usually sedentary but may involve some standing and walking to consult directories and manuals. Work involves making sound judgements when interacting with Veterans, families, professional staff, co-workers, outside agencies, etc., which at times may be distraught or abusive; and when operating the telephone system and multiple alarms systems that need to be addressed immediately and in an accurate and reliable method. 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/.
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