Personal Effects Worker

Summary Provides both inpatient and outpatient medical care to Veterans at our main facility and access points. They carry out various requirements that impact Environmental Management Service and other services related to the Patient Assistance Program (PAP). The purpose of the position is to provide patient effects assistance. The work affects the accuracy and reliability of further processes. Incumbent is privy to confidential information and must maintain such confidentiality at all times. Duties The duties of the Personal Effects Worker includes but is not limited to:

Patient Effects 80%

• Responsible for the receiving and storing of supplies for indigent patients to facilitate convenience and ease of handling and protecting items from damage and pilferage. Verifies indigence status of patients prior to honoring requests for indigent supplies. After verification of indigent status, the incumbent is responsible for delivery of indigent supplies requested to the using unit in a timely fashion.
• Responsible for making frequent rounds to the Admissions area and all nursing units for the purpose of collecting, inventorying, and returning to storage all patient personal items taken into custody during the previous tour of duty.
• Responsible for the receipt, inventory, and placement into safe storage all patient valuables taken into custody during the previous tour of duty.
• Items received for storage and safekeeping during a patient's stay at the medical center will be inventoried before being placed into storage.
• Responsible for assembling and packing all personal effects and valuables of the deceased for release to the next of kin in accordance with existing medical center policy and procedure.
• Responsible for marking patients' clothing with patients' names and building numbers for identification purposes with the use of a marking machine.

Treatment 20%

• Preparing any clothing item needing to be laundered at the Consolidated Laundry facility
• Utilize the bed bug oven to treat personal items or clothing and ensure the inventorying and storage of items before and after treatment.
• Performs other related duties as assigned

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm

Position Description Title/PD#: Personal Effects Worker/PD920240

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/04/2026.

EXPERIENCE: A specific length of training and experience is not required, but you must show evidence of training or experience of sufficient scope and quality of your ability to do the work of this position. Evidence which demonstrates you possess the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform the duties of this position must be supported by detailed descriptions of such on your resume. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the OPM Federal Wage System Qualification Standards.

SCREEN-OUT ELEMENT: Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element, which usually appears as question 1 in the on-line questionnaire. Those applicants who appear to possess at least the minimal acceptable qualification requirement are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated. The potential eligibles are then rated against the remainder of the Job Elements.

Applicants must receive a minimum of two points on the below screen-out element to be deemed eligible for consideration.

• Ability to do the work of the position without more than normal supervision: Handling patient personal effects; Managing and or distributing basic patient supplies; and Maintains inventory records of patient property.

JOB ELEMENTS: The below job elements (skills, knowledge, abilities, and personal characteristics considered necessary for success on the job) are approved by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for individual occupations as well as for jobs having common requirements.

• Dexterity and Safety
• Interpret Instructions, Specifications (other than blueprint reading)
• Materials
• Measuring Instruments
• Technical Practices
• Without more than normal supervision

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; religions; 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.

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.

Physical Requirements: Incumbent must have the physical capability to remain on his/her feet for long periods of time. They must be able to stoop, bend, push, pull, reach, and exercise normal body movements to perform the duties of the position. As well as having the physical strength and visual acuity to operate and control the equipment used in this activity. They must frequently lift and move objects weighing up to 50 pounds and of various sizes and shapes; may occasionally lift and move objects weighing over 50 pounds.

Working Conditions: The incumbent may be exposed to unpleasant odors, dirt, bacteria, etc., and may be subjected to contagious diseases when handling patients' effects. They must wear personal protective equipment, i.e., gowns, gloves, when handling patient effects for inventorying and marking. Incumbent usually works in a well heated, well lighted and well-ventilated building. They must be safety conscious at all times when performing the duties of this position. The incumbent follows safe work practices and procedures, including use of required personal protective equipment (PPE). Recognize and report unsafe or unhealthful conditions/practices to supervisory personnel. Report work-related injuries or illness to supervisory personnel.

NOTE: Your application will be verified against the information you provide on your resume, documents, and information supplied by your references. If you do not clearly describe your experience in your resume, you will be rated ineligible. We cannot make assumptions about your work experience and skills.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Pre-employment physical required
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, 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 or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.How you will be evaluated IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.How to apply All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 11/04/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13101718.

• To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
• Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.

NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration.

Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.

Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume:

• Prioritize most relevant and recent experience
• Use concise, results focused language
• Align language from the job announcement
• Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies
• Remove outdated or unrelated experience
• Use the USAJOBS resume builder

Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at:

• https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit
• https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified, you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.Other information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.