An official website of the United States government
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) Knowledge Services Group is accepting applications under its 2019 Graduate Recruit Program for a Reference and Digital Services Librarian. This position will be filled at the GS-09 level (see "Duties" below).
Learn more about this agency09/11/2019 to 10/09/2019
$57,510 - $74,759 per year
GS 09
1 vacancy in the following location:
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Not required
No
Temporary - Position will be filled under the Congressional Research Service Graduate Recruit Program. Full-time, temporary with the expectation of subsequent conversion to permanent.
Full-time - Grad Recruit position
Excepted
12
No
No
GR-KSG19-02
545344400
Graduate students and Library of Congress employees who meet all of the following eligibility requirements: 1. U.S. Citizenship 2. Current enrollment in or anticipated graduation from an appropriate, accredited advanced degree program. (Library employees may already possess a graduate degree). At the time of appointment, Library employees must maintain employment status without a break in service.
ABOUT THE GRADUATE RECRUIT PROGRAM:
Initial appointments under the Graduate Recruit Program will be made for a period up to 120 days. Initial appointments are expected to convert to permanent, contingent upon participants' performance and completion of all degree requirements, and availability of funding. Those students who return to school to complete their advanced degree program may be eligible for a permanent position once they obtain their degree.
ABOUT CRS:
CRS works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation. As shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress, CRS experts assist at every stage of the legislative process—from the early considerations that precede bill drafting, through committee hearings and floor debate, to the oversight of enacted laws and various agency activities.
CRS is well known for analysis that is authoritative, confidential, objective, and nonpartisan. Its highest priority is to ensure that Congress has immediate access to the nation's best thinking on public policy issues of interest to its Members and Committees.
DUTIES FOR THIS POSITION INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
This candidate should have solid computer skills, including skills needed to work with databases, spreadsheets, and web applications in a network environment. The ideal candidate will be enrolled in or graduating from a Library Science (MLS) or equivalent degree program or have experience; knowledge of current and emerging practices of librarianship or other fields and disciplines related to the organization of information; and an understanding of the principles of information management, metadata, and information retrieval.
Graduates students and Library of Congress employees who meet all of the following eligibility requirements:
1. U.S. Citizenship
2. Current enrollment in or anticipated graduation from an appropriate, accredited advanced degree program. (Library employees may already possess a graduate degree). At the time of appointment, Library employees must maintain employment status without a break in service.
3. General education requirements for a GS-9 appointment (see table below).
GS-9 Grade Level: Two years of progressively higher level appropriate graduate education leading to a Master's degree, OR
Master's or equivalent graduate degree, OR
One year of specialized experience at the GS-07 grade level in the federal service or at a comparable level of difficulty outside the federal service.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILL, AND ABILITY REQUIREMENTS:
The critical knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs), gained through education, experience and/or training, needed to successfully perform the duties of the position:
GS-9 Grade Level:
Ability to apply knowledge of current and emerging technologies and techniques in library and information services
The ability to apply knowledge of the theories, concepts, principles, best practices, techniques, and technologies of library and information services, including digitization, virtual reference, digital repositories, data management, expert systems (e.g., question-and-answer knowledgebase), website creation and/or management, and content curation (e.g., wikis, LibGuides or SharePoint sites) to develop new products and enhance current products and services. This includes skill in utilizing technology to improve access to information and data and to increase the efficiency of the work.
Ability to provide reference and research services
The ability to provide reference and research services by conducting reference interviews; evaluating clients’ requirements and developing search strategies; identifying and evaluating authoritative data, statistics, and information; evaluating publications and electronic resources for content coverage and trends; and monitoring current events.
Ability to organize, integrate and present content
The ability to organize, integrate and present content for a variety of audiences. This includes, for example, creating subject guides (e.g., LibGuides, SharePoint pages, pathfinders); (2) aggregating and presenting information to respond to user needs; (3) tagging content to improve information access; (4) creating and maintaining information alerts; (5) testing usability of web products; and (6) integrating disparate information sources (e.g., library catalogs, RSS feeds) into web portals.
ADDITIONAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR LIBRARIAN POSITIONS
GS-09 Grade Level:
Two full years of progressively higher level graduate education in library or information science, OR master’s degree in library or information science or equivalent graduate degree related to the position, OR enrollment in a master of library or information science degree program or equivalent graduate degree program with one year of relevant work experience equivalent to the GS-07 level.
The Congressional Research Service, within the Library of Congress, is part of the Legislative Branch of the federal government. As such, all positions are in the excepted service.
The salary range indicated reflects the locality pay adjustment for the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. This is a non-supervisory, bargaining unit position.
The appointment tenure for this position is full-time temporary with the expectation of subsequent conversion to permanent; flexible work schedules may be available. The position description number for this vacancy announcement is 317722. Relocation expenses are not authorized for the person(s) selected under this vacancy announcement.
The Library reserves the right to fill a lesser or greater number of vacancies indicated during the life of this vacancy announcement.
Appointment/retention is subject to a favorable evaluation of an appropriate personnel security/suitability investigation. Applicants who are referred for an interview will be required to submit a completed Form 1862 Library of Congress Applicant Data Form/Reference Form.
Those Graduate Recruit Program participants who are converted from a temporary appointment to a permanent position, and who have not yet completed the one-year probationary period required of all new Library employees, will be required to do so. Time served in the temporary appointment will not count toward completion of this one-year probationary period requirement.
CRS staff not placed in a permanent position under the Graduate Recruit Program will return to the position occupied before entering the program or a position of similar grade and duties without loss of federal service tenure or seniority. Before applying, other Library of Congress employees should consult their supervisor or service unit management regarding the status of their position should they be selected for the program but not placed in a permanent position.
The Library of Congress is an equal opportunity employer. Women, men, minorities, and persons with disabilities who meet eligibility requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.
This agency provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify Eliamelisa Gonzalez at CRSGraduateRecruit@crs.loc.gov or (202) 707-6399. The decision on granting reasonable accommodations will be made on a case-by-case basis.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Completed application packages will be forwarded to a panel of CRS staff that will first assess applicants against basic eligibility and general education requirements of the position. An evaluation panel will then assess the degree to which candidates meet the critical knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) required to perform the duties of the position and offer the better qualified candidates an opportunity for an interview in person, by telephone or by other telecommunications means. In addition to the critical KSAs listed above, the following competencies will also be addressed during the interview:
Finalists may be required to submit a writing sample related to their academic discipline
A complete applicant package will require applicants to provide responses to a vacancy questionnaire, which includes mandatory submission of a Candidate Statement of Interest.
It is recommended that you review your application to ensure it contains the following items:
Note: the "Documents" section of the application may request that you attach Form 1862 Library of Congress Applicant Data Form/Reference Form. You may choose to upload this form as part of your application or submit it at the time of interview. Incomplete applications will not be referred to interview officials and will be disqualified from further consideration.
Foreign Education – Education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed equivalent to conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment. If your college/university is outside the U.S., your transcripts must be accompanied by a report from a credential evaluation service that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or the Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE). Failure to submit a foreign education evaluation report will result in disqualification of your application.
Failure to submit the required legible documentation at the time of application will result in disqualification of your application.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Please carefully follow all instructions under the How to Apply tab to ensure you are considered for the position.
You are required to apply online for this announcement. We are unable to accept mailed or emailed documents. You must complete the entire application process, including submission of all documents BEFORE this announcement closes. To do so, complete the following steps.
Step 1: If you do not already have one, create a resume on USAJOBS. Although you must enter your Social Security Number for USAJOBS, this information will not be provided to the Library of Congress.
Step 2: Review the Job Announcement. We recommend you go to the end of the Qualification and Evaluation section of the job announcement to preview the online questions that you will answer in Step 4. You may wish to customize your USAJOBS resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions.
Step 3: Click on the "APPLY ONLINE" button to the right of this announcement. Follow USAJOBS' instructions to access your account and submit your resume. You will be redirected to the Hiring Management website to complete the application process. If this is your first time in Hiring Management, you will be asked to answer questions related to your eligibility for Federal employment. You will be able to update this information and save it to our account for future announcements.
Step 4: Once you have completed the eligibility questions, you will be taken directly to the vacancy application questions. Answer all questions honestly and thoroughly.
Step 5: Hiring Management offers three options that will electronically attach your documentation to your online application once you finish answering the questions in the job announcement.
(1) You may select a document that you have already uploaded to USAJOBS for a previous announcement.
(2) You may electronically upload a document directly from your computer to your application. Be certain to review your complete application for confirmation of the document uploaded and click on "Finished" to be returned to USAJOBS.
(3) You may follow the "Faxing Supporting Documentation" instructions within the online application, which will provide the necessary cover sheets for each of your documents so that they will be correctly submitted. The fax number will be available on the cover sheet. Please note that each cover sheet and corresponding document must be faxed separately. Be certain to review your complete fax transmittal confirmation to ensure that all pages have been received.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have multiple documents of the same kind, e.g. 2 undergraduate transcripts from different schools or 2 SF-50s, etc., be sure that they are all in the same file on your computer or in your USAJOBS profile before uploading them. If you try uploading them individually, only the last one sent will be visible in our system. Likewise, if sending them by fax, be sure and include both of them behind the respective fax cover sheet and send them as one fax. If you send them individually with the same cover sheet, the last one sent will overwrite the first one. Finally, if you upload a document, e.g. your undergraduate transcript, do not also fax that same document (or fax another undergraduate transcript), because whichever one you send last will be the only one that is visible in our system. If you have any questions about this information, please contact the person on this announcement BEFORE the closing date.
Step 6: Click on "Finish" after you have completed your application. Once you have submitted your application, you can check your status online through your Hiring Management or MY USAJOBS account. Your complete online application and any required supplemental documentation (e.g., SF-50, etc.) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the closing date of the announcement. It is your responsibility to ensure that all documents are received on time and that the materials are readable. Failure to do so will result in your application being excluded from consideration for this announcement.
If you are experiencing any technical difficulty with the online process, you MUST CONTACT THE POINT OF CONTACT FOR THIS ANNOUNCEMENT BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE. For all technical issues please contact jobhelp@loc.gov, no later than 4:30pm EST of the Closing Date. REQUESTS FOR EXTENSIONS WILL NOT BE GRANTED. If you have questions you MUST CONTACT Eliamelisa Gonzalez at CRSGraduateRecruit@crs.loc.gov or (202) 707-6399 no later than 4:30 p.m. EDT of the closing date.
Please review the evaluation process under "How You Will Be Evaluated, You may check the status of your application for this position at any time by logging onto the USAJOBS "My USAJOBS" tab and clicking on "My Applications". You will receive final notification via email when this vacancy has been filled.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/545344400. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
CRS works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation. As shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress, CRS experts assist at every stage of the legislative process—from the early considerations that precede bill drafting, through committee hearings and floor debate, to the oversight of enacted laws and various agency activities.
