Farm Service Agency
Loan Assistant/Loan Specialist (AGRL)
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Summary
In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards. Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. If education is required or being used to qualify, you must submit a copy of your transcripts. GS- 1165 Series Individual Occupational Requirements Education: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- finance, business administration, economics, accounting, insurance, engineering, mathematics, banking and credit, law, real estate operations, statistics, or other fields related to the position, such as agriculture, agricultural economics, farm, livestock or ranch management, or rural sociology. OR Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): Experience that demonstrated competence in agricultural, commercial, realty, or other types of loans. Experience may have been gained in such work as reviewing and passing upon applications for agricultural, commercial, bank or mortgage loans; servicing a loan portfolio of a bank or other loan association; performing financial analysis of commercial concerns for investment purposes; appraising real estate to determine property valuation; or similar work. Specialized Experience Requirement For the GS-07 grade level: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in federal service or comparable experience not gained through federal service. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience that demonstrates basic knowledge of loan examining and/or servicing principles, procedures and techniques as they apply to investigation, analysis, and evaluation of financial factors and credit risks in relation to granting and servicing of agricultural loans. Experience may have been gained in such work as assisting in reviewing and passing upon applications for agricultural loans; servicing an agricultural loan portfolio of a bank or other loan association; or similar work. In addition, this experience must demonstrate basic knowledge of farm operations, land use and value, production of various crops and livestock, and prices and markets in the farming area where loans are made and serviced. OR Education at the GS-07 grade level: One full year of graduate level education in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: finance, business administration, economics, accounting, engineering, mathematics, banking and credit, law, statistics, or another field related to the position such as agriculture, agricultural economics, farm, livestock, farm management, ranch management, rural sociology, dairy science, domestic agricultural development or agronomy. OR Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): A bachelor's degree in finance, business administration, economics, accounting, engineering, mathematics, banking and credit, law, statistics, or another field related to the position, such as agriculture, agricultural economics, farm, livestock or ranch management, or rural sociology from an accredited college or university with either: 1) a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 based on a 4.0 scale; 2) a 3.5 GPA based on a 4.0 scale for required courses completed in a major field of study during the last two years of undergraduate study; 3) class standing of upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision of the college; 4) membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society certified by the Association of College Honor Societies, excluding freshman honor societies. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience as listed above. For the GS-09 grade level: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in federal service or comparable experience not gained through federal service. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience that demonstrates competence in agricultural loans. Experience may have been gained in such work as reviewing and passing upon applications for agricultural loans; servicing an agricultural loan portfolio of a bank or other loan association; or similar work. Experience that demonstrates knowledge of credit principles and practices to assess the fundamental soundness of individual loans by independently examining applications, supporting documents, and credit reports, and maintaining servicing activities on small agricultural loans. In addition, experience must demonstrate knowledge and understanding of farm operations, land use and value, production of various crops and livestock, and prices and markets in the farming area where loans are made and serviced. OR Education at the GS-09 grade level: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: finance, business administration, economics, accounting, engineering, mathematics, banking and credit, law, statistics, or another field related to the position such as agriculture, agricultural economics, farm, livestock, farm management, ranch management, rural sociology, dairy science, domestic agricultural development or agronomy. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience as listed above. For the GS-11 grade level: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in federal service or comparable experience not gained through federal service. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience that demonstrates expert knowledge in agricultural loans. Experience may have been gained in such work as reviewing and passing upon applications for agricultural loans; servicing an agricultural loan portfolio of a bank or other loan association; or similar work. Experience that demonstrates knowledge of credit principles and practices to assess the fundamental soundness of individual loans by independently examining applications, supporting documents, and credit reports, and maintaining servicing activities on small agricultural loans. In addition, experience must demonstrate knowledge and understanding of farm operations, land use and value, production of various crops and livestock, and prices and markets in the farming area where loans are made and serviced. OR Education at the GS-11 grade level: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: finance, business administration, economics, accounting, engineering, mathematics, banking and credit, law, statistics, or another field related to the position such as agriculture, agricultural economics, farm, livestock, farm management, ranch management, rural sociology, dairy science, domestic agricultural development or agronomy. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience as listed above. 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Major Duties
Conducts interviews with loan applicants, reviews loan applications, and makes preliminary inquiries to develop factual information to assess the eligibility of applicants.
Providing technical advice, guidance, and credit counseling to loan applicants and borrowers.
Services all types of agency farm loans within amount of delegated authority.
Applies knowledge of agency farm loan programs and eligibility requirements.
Applies technical knowledge of farm financing and credit, financial management concepts and practices, farm operations, land use and value, production and marketing of various crops and livestock, and prices and markets in the serviced farming areas.
This position works in a developmental capacity receiving on-the-job and classroom training in the administration of farm loan programs.
These positions assist the Farm Loan Manager in administering farm loan programs in a USDA Service Center serving one or more Counties.
Requirements
You must be a US Citizen or US National. Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt. Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. If selected, you may be sent instructions on obtaining fingerprints. Please note we are unable to reimburse for any fees incurred. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period unless previous federal service is creditable. During this time your employment will be evaluated, and we may consider: your performance and conduct, the needs and interests of the agency, whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government, and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution. Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov. Required to submit Confidential Financial Disclosure Report Form OGE-450 within 30 days of your initial appointment date, and annually thereafter. This Position Requires "Agricultural Loan Approval Authority" for the GS-11 Grade Levels.
Required Documents
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Resume that includes: Personal Information: name, address, contact information; Education; Work Experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); other qualifications. Resume cannot exceed 2 pages. If education is required or being used to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; however, if you are selected, official transcripts will be required prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit the NACES website. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation. If claiming veteran's preference, you must submit a DD214, Certificate of Release from Active Duty, which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions. If currently on active duty you must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty service under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted. Veteran's preference must be verified prior to appointment. Without this documentation, you will not receive veteran's preference and your application will be evaluated based on the material(s) submitted. If claiming 10-point veteran's preference you must provide the DD214 or certification requirements (see above bullet), plus the proof of entitlement of this preference as listed on the SF-15 Application for 10-point Veterans' Preference. The SF-15 should be included but is not required. Failure to submit these documents could result in the determination that there is insufficient documentation to support your claim for 10-point preference. For more information on veterans' preference visit FedsHireVets. Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), current performance appraisal with rating of at least "Fully Successful" or equivalent, and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.
How to Apply
Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. Resumes cannot exceed two pages. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside about 1-2 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.