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The Office of Chief Counsel is the largest tax law firm in the country. The Office of Chief Counsel serves America's taxpayers fairly and with integrity by providing correct and impartial interpretation of the internal revenue laws and the highest quality legal advice and representation for the Internal Revenue Service. We are as interested in your career as you are!
Please see below for a detailed description of the General Legal Services division and the Paralegal Specialist position.
Learn more about this agency03/01/2021 to 03/22/2021
$47,085 - $63,906 per year
GS 07
3 vacancies in the following locations:
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Occasional travel - Occasional travel maybe be required.
No
Recent Graduates - Initial appointment period is one year or more. Position may be converted to a permanent or term position.
Full-time - Full time; Excepted Service; Pathways Program - Recent Graduates
Excepted
11
No
No
CCJD-21-PP03
593758300
U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
Individuals who have graduated from an accredited educational institute or certificate program within the last 2 years or 6 years for Veterans.
Open to U.S. Citizens who are: Recent Graduates and have completed a degree or certificate from a qualifying education institution within the previous two years. Veterans unable to apply within two years of receiving their degree due to military service obligation have a full two-year eligibility period upon release or discharge from active duty. The eligibility period for veterans must be within six years of degree completion.
WHO IS GENERAL LEGAL SERVICES? The Office of Chief Counsel, General Legal Services (GLS) employs approximately 70 attorneys and 7 paralegals. Work in the GLS Area Counsel field offices is focused on providing advice, support, and litigation representation for IRS and Chief Counsel management in administrative forums and in arbitration, with the majority of case work centering on labor, EEO, and personnel law. The field offices also provide assistance to the Department of Justice in federal courts on such matters, as well as for suits against IRS employees, and may assist with processing claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
WHAT DOES A PARALEGAL DO? As a Paralegal in a GLS field office, you will provide legal and quasi-legal assistance to GLS attorneys. You will conduct legal research and analyses of issues and matters within the office's jurisdiction, participate in the development of cases, and provide litigation support.
WHAT IS THE PATHWAYS PROGRAM? The Department of the Treasury's Recent Graduates Program affords developmental experiences in the Federal Government intended to promote possible careers in the civil service to individuals who have recently graduated from qualifying educational institutions or programs. Successful applicants are placed in a dynamic, developmental program with the potential to lead to a civil service career in the Federal Government.
Following the completion of program requirements, selectees may be considered for non-competitive conversion to a career-conditional or term appointment. All conversion requirements will be identified in the Participant Agreement. If you are converted, you will be placed into a Paralegal Program requirements include but are not limited to:
WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE PATHWAYS PROGRAM?
For additional information regarding the Pathways Program, please refer to the following website: www.usajobs.gov/StudentsAndGrads
As a Paralegal, you will receive on the job training and assist the GLS staff with the following:
You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
To be eligible for the Recent Graduates Program, applicants must have, within the previous two years*, completed all educational requirements for a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying institution. For more information on education requirements go to Treasury’s Pathways Program.
*Veterans who, due to a military service obligation, were precluded from applying to a Recent Graduates Program during any portion of the two-year eligibility period may have their eligibility period extended so that they receive the full 2 years of eligibility. The remaining two-year eligibility period will begin upon his or her release or discharge from active duty. The veteran's eligibility period may not extend beyond six years from the date of completion of all requirements of an academic course of study.
To qualify for Paralegal position at the GS-07 level, you must meet the following requirements:
A. Education: In the Recent Graduates Program you may qualify based solely on education as follows: one year of related graduate education at an accredited college or university. OR
B. Superior Academic Achievement may be met by having a Bachelor's degree with one of the following: (1) a GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all completed undergraduate courses or those completed in the last two years of study, or (2) a GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all courses in the major field of study or those courses in the major completed in the last two years of study, or (3) rank in the upper one third of the class in the college, university, or major subdivision, or (4) membership in a national honor society recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies; AND
C. Experience: You may qualify with one year of specialized experience at level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-5 grade level of the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: writing opinions, legal memoranda, litigation reports, discovery requests, and affidavits; drafting settlement agreements; preparing in the preparation of paperwork necessary for processing and completion of the case; assisting the attorney in the presentation of the case; conducting information collection and researching statuses and precedents. OR
D. You may qualify by a combination of qualifying education and experience equivalent to that described above. Options for qualifying based on a combination will be identified in the online questions.
The experience may have been gained in either the public or private sector. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your résumé.
The education generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your application includes your résumé, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your résumé includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a “not qualified” determination.
Rating: Your application will be evaluated in the following areas: 1) Knowledge of principles, concepts, and methodology used in research; 2) Skill in the use of computer programs, i.e., Westlaw, Lexis, Microsoft Word or other word processing software, Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet software; to extract and input information; and 3) Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing. Category-like rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level categories - Category A, Category B, Category C - depending on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, education, and training related to this position. Your rating may be lowered if your responses to the online questions are not supported by the education and/or experience described in your application.
Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference-eligibles will be listed at the top of their assigned category and considered before non-preference-eligibles in that category. Qualified preference-eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10% or more will be listed at the top of the highest category.
Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration.
A complete application includes 1. A resume; 2. Vacancy question responses; 3.Transcripts; and 4. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information as specified by the closing date of this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).
All applicants are required to submit a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.) To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view resume tips.
All applicants must submit a writing sample of no more then 10 pages, reflecting the applicant's original work product, preferably analyzing a legal issue or applying research to a factual analysis.
EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION: You must submit dated documentation showing completion of all educational requirements (e.g. letter from the registrar, unofficial transcripts). An official transcript will be required if you are selected.
A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page.
If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.
If you are qualifying based on a certificate program, please refer to the Treasury’s Pathways Program page for more information on qualifying certificate programs.
VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: If you are claiming veterans’ preference, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 (Member 4 copy), or other official documentation from a branch of the Armed Forces or the Department of Veterans Affairs showing dates of service and type of discharge. Ten-point preference eligibles must also submit an Application for 10-point Veteran Preference, SF-15, along with the required documentation listed on the back of the SF-15 form. For more information on veterans' preference view FedsHireVets.
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.
The following instructions outline our application process. You must complete this application process and submit any required documents by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, please contact us by noon ET on the announcement's closing date.
Treasury provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process.
If you are experiencing system issues with your application, please contact the CareerConnector Help Desk at careerconnectorhelp@treasury.gov and/or the USAJOBS Help Desk.
If the "Additional Application Information" link is not available and the vacancy is still open, you can click on the job announcement and "Update Application" to be taken back to the CareerConnector portion of the application.
Please notify us if your contact information changes after the closing date of the announcement. Also, note that if you provide an email address that is inaccurate, or if your mailbox is full or blocked (e.g., spam-blocker), you may not receive important communication that could affect your consideration for this position.
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/593758300. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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The U.S. Department of the Treasury has a distinguished history dating back to the founding of our nation. As the steward of U.S. economic and financial systems, Treasury is a major and influential leader in today’s global economy. We have over 100,000 employees across the country and around the world, and we celebrate each individual's identity and experiences. Our core value of inclusive diversity encourages our employees to be themselves and innovate from their unique perspectives. Come Join the Department of the Treasury and Invest in Tomorrow.
