Food Service Worker

Food Service Worker

This Food Service Worker position is located within the Nutrition & Food Service at the VA Medical Center in Columbia, SC. They can work in one or more functional areas of the kitchen such as food preparation, dish and pot washing, dry and refrigerated storage and receiving and the serving area doing work such as portioning cold food, dipping hot food, working in the dish room and passing trays.

Responsibilities Major duties and responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Set up assigned station with the correct supplies and food items
• Portions food items into standard serving sizes using the proper utensils and specified dishware
• Selects and places correct items on patient trays
• Decides what food items to serve for the most common diets
• Identifies obvious discrepancies between the prescribed diets and the food items designated by the menu
• Sets up dining room tables for service, place food and beverages on tables, and replenish items as necessary
• Delivers meal trays to the patients' bedsides; reporting the patients' comments and complaints to the supervisor or dietitian
• Provides assistance to cooks in the food preparation area, such as weigh, measure and assemble ingredients according to standardized recipes
• Prepares fresh fruit/cold salads/dressings/sandwich fillings and cold sandwiches and simple cold desserts
• Reads and interprets regular or modified menus, individual diet cards, tray tickets or patient selections
• Performs heavy-duty cleaning tasks throughout the food service and related areas
• Performing other duties as assigned

Position Description Title/PD#: Food Service Worker/PD99921S

Work Schedule: 5:30AM-2:00PM or 10:30AM-7:00PM. Rotating weekends and holidays. Work schedule subject to change based on agency needs.

Physical Requirements: Work is performed in kitchen areas where the steam and heat from cooking and dishwashing equipment often cause uncomfortably high temperatures and humidity. Performs work requiring light to moderate physical. May be required to perform heavy work, such as scouring and scrubbing large size cooking utensils and pushing heavy carts and trucks in unloading, storing, and delivering supplies. Subject to continuous standing and walking, and frequent stooping, reaching, pushing, pulling, and bending. Frequently lifts or moves objects weighing up to 20 pounds unassisted and occasionally lift or move objects weighing more than 40 pounds with the assistance of others.

Requirements Conditions of Employment U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Suitable for Federal employment, determined by a background investigation All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Services Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements.

Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 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.

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.

Education Additional Information Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job.