Food Service Worker

Food Service Worker

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Reno, Nevada

Salary Range: $19.41 - $22.61 Per Hour

Job Summary: Wage Grade 3 Food Service Workers perform tasks with several steps or a sequence of tasks that requires attention to work operations. They follow set procedures in accomplishing repetitive assignments and follow an established sequence of work. Wage grade 3 workers can do all the duties of a lower grade worker. They can work in one or more functional areas of the kitchen such as food preparation, dish and pot washing, dry and refrigerated storage.

Major Duties:

• Major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to: - Set up assigned station with the correct supplies and food items - Serve food cafeteria style by placing uniform portions of food on customers'/patients'/residents' plates - Break down and clean the station when assigned - Set up dining room tables for service, place food and beverages on tables, and replenish items as necessary - Return soiled trays and dishes to the dish room - Deliver meal trays to the patients' bedsides and report the patients' comments and complaints to the supervisor or dietitian - Prepare beverages according to the number of servings required - Prepare fresh fruit/cold salads/dressings/sandwich fillings and cold sandwich simple cold desserts in specified quantities - Sort, wash, peel and cut cold foods using knives or other equipment - Provide assistance to cooks in the food preparation area, such as weigh, measure and assemble ingredients according to standardized recipes - Prepare uncooked food items, such as sandwich spread and salad dressings - Operate and break down and clean all equipment assigned to food service and related areas - Portion food items into standard serving sizes using the proper utensils and specified dishware - Prepare boxed/to go meals- Select and place correct items on patient trays - Read and interpret a regular or modified menu, individual diet cards, tray tickets or patient selections - Identify obvious discrepancies between the prescribed diets and the food items designated by the menu - Decide what food items to serve for the most common diets - Perform heavy-duty cleaning tasks throughout the food service and related areas- Separate food waste, trash/recyclables from dishes, glasses and silverware - Unload food/tray delivery carts - Store sanitized dishes, glasses and silverware- Scrape, soak, scour, and scrub cookware and utensils - Move garbage cans when collecting and transferring trash from the work area to the disposal area - Other duties as assigned to meet the needs of the Medical Center - Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full Time, Various Schedules Position Description Title/PD#: Food Service Worker/PD99920S Physical Requirements and Work Environment: Employee 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. Employee also may be required to work on ladders and use powered cleaning equipment; and frequently lift or move objects weighing up to 40 pounds. The work is performed in kitchen areas where the steam and heat from cooking and dish washing equipment often cause uncomfortably high temperatures and humidity. The work area is well lighted but usually noisy from food service activities, and there is danger of slipping on floors where food or beverages have been dropped. Food service workers are regularly exposed to hot liquids, sharp cutting blades, hot working surfaces, and extreme temperature changes when entering walk-in refrigeration or freezing units.

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: Dexterity and Safety Interpret Instructions, Specifications (other than blueprint reading) Materials Technical Practices Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment Without more than normal supervision Work Practices 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.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 11/13/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12820410. 1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. 2. 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. You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center. 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. 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/ To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

Application Deadline: 2025-11-13