Legal Assistant (OA) Recent Graduate - Office of Chief Legal Advisor

Summary As a Legal Assistant (Recent Graduate) in the Energy and Natural Resources Division, you will provide administrative and legal support to the team in the Office of the Chief Legal Advisor responsible for providing critical legal advice in support of the Energy and Natural Resources Division's internal operations, litigation, and other work. Duties After successfully completing one year under the Program, recent graduates MAY be converted to a term or permanent appointment if the following program requirements are met: 1) successful completion of at least 1 year of continuous service; 2) completion of at least 40 hours of formal interactive training; and 3) demonstration of successful job performance. A recent graduate converted to a term appointment may be subsequently converted non-competitively into a permanent competitive service position before the term expires. Responsibilities The legal assistant will assist with routine administrative tasks, special projects and support the Supervisory Administrative Specialist in general office management needs. You will be responsible for performing a wide range of administrative and legal support tasks: Use word processing software to create, edit, and format documents and correspondence. Conduct online research that included collecting and sorting information into logical formats. Review and assemble large volume of documents for review in preparation for specific projects. Organize and maintain files. Perform data entry in databases. Arrange travel reservations and prepare necessary paperwork. Recent Graduates are on a trial period for the duration of the program. An Individual Development Plan (IDP) must be completed and approved by the supervisor within 45 days of appointment and a mentor must be assigned within 90 days of appointment. Requirements Conditions of employment You must be a U.S. citizen or national. You must complete a background investigation to include pre-employment drug testing. Selective Service Registration is required, as applicable. You will be required to serve a one year trial period. You must maintain a bank account for direct deposit of salary. If you do not submit school transcripts, you will be rated ineligible. If this is your first appointment in the Federal service, your salary will be set at Step 1 of the grade. Qualifications To be eligible for this Recent Graduate program, one of the following requirements must be met Recent graduates must have completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associate, bachelor, master, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution; or must have completed a qualifying career or technical education program with or without a formal degree in a Registered Apprentice Program, Job Corps, AmeriCorps, or Peace Corps. You must have completed your degree, certificate, or program on or before the 2026 Summer semester. If you graduated or completed an education program prior to October 2024, you will not be eligible for this position. Veterans unable to apply within two years of receiving their degree, due to military service obligation, have as much as six years after degree completion to apply. To qualify for the Legal Assistant (Recent Graduate) GS-5, applicants must have one of the following: One year of specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-4 Federal grade level applying standardized rules, processes, and procedures concerning commonly utilized general reference sources and legal research tools to perform legal support work. This experience include preparing correspondence and administrative forms using proper format, grammar, punctuation, and spelling; or Successful completion of 4 years of education above the high school level for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. This education was obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university; or C. A combination of specialized experience described in letter A above and qualifying post high school education described in letter B above. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours beyond the second year) is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. Highly desirable: Recent graduates in law, legal studies, or related fields. Typing Requirement This position requires a qualified typist with a minimum typing speed of 40 words per minute. If you do not self certify on the occupational/assessment questionnaire that you have the required typing proficiency, you will be rated ineligible for this position. This position requires office automation skills. Some examples of office automation skills include database management and various word processing software packages (MS Office Suite: Excel, PowerPoint, and Word) and database applications. 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 skill and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. YOUR RESUME MUST support your responses to the online questionnaire and provide specific details as to how your experience meets the specialized experience as described in the vacancy announcement if you are using experience to meet all or part of the qualification requirements. Please ensure that your resume includes the month and year that you began and ended each position held or that position will not be credited toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. Part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience. Failure to provide details will result in an ineligible rating. Your latest resume submitted for this vacancy announcement will be used to determine qualifications and supersedes previous submissions. Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement Education All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to timely provide such evidence by submitting proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency with your application materials. More information may be found at All documentation must be in English or include an English translation. Veterans Preference If you are entitled to or claim veteran preference (VP), you should indicate the type of veteran preference (5 or 10 points) you are claiming on your resume. In order to determine your eligibility, you can find additional information at: To verify your veteran preference entitlement, submit a copy of the Member Copy 4 of your DD-214; official statement of service from your command if you are currently on active duty; or other official documentation (e.g., documentation of receipt of a campaign badge or expeditionary medal) that shows your military service was performed under honorable conditions. If you are claiming 10-point preference, you must submit Member Copy 4 of your DD-214 in addition to the supporting documentation required and identified on the reserve side of the SF-15, Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference. If you are claiming 10-point DERIVED PREFERENCE as a relative you must submit Member Copy 4 of the veteran's DD-214 and an SF-15 in addition to the supporting documentation required and identified on the reverse side of the SF-15. If you fail to do so, you will receive consideration as a non-veteran. Benefits DOJ offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, paid vacation; sick leave; holidays; telework; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System. General Employment Information DOJ EEO STATEMENT: Find our EEO statement online at: SELECTIVE SERVICE: Additional information is found at: Required Documents Official position title; Employer name and contact information; Start and end dates (month and year); A detailed list of duties & accomplishments, Your highest salary (or Federal grade/step) achieved; and Indicate full-time or number of hours worked per week if part-time. School Transcripts You must submit a transcript, which may be unofficial, as long as it contains a full listing of courses, credit earned, grade and grade-point-average, subject area, degree(s) earned, and dates of award. Your transcript must come from a nationally-accredited educational institution recognized by the Department of Education. Please do not submit electronic transcripts with documentation security protection. These may prevent our application system from accepting and processing the document. If submitting a foreign transcript, you must have the transcript reviewed by an approved foreign education review organization recognized by the Department of Education. Your transcript must also be in English or have an English translation included. If you are claiming veterans' preference A copy of your DD-214, \"Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty,\" (Member 4 copy), showing the dates of active duty, type of discharge, and character of service, OR A certification letter from the armed forces that certifies you are expected to be discharged or released from active duty service in the armed forces under honorable conditions no later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted. This letter must contain (a) military service dates including the expected discharge or release date and (b) character of service. Do not include the following types of information in your profile or resume Classified or government sensitive information Social Security Number (SSN) Photos of yourself Personal information, such as age, religious affiliation, etc. Encrypted and digitally signed documents If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate content you may not be considered for this vacancy. #J-18808-Ljbffr