Sales Associate

Summary

This position is located in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center (CVC), the gateway to the U.S. Capitol and Congress. Our staff welcome visitors from around the world for tours of the historic rooms of the Capitol, educational programs and congressional events. Our goal is to inform, involve and inspire every visitor. This goal is supported by 200 employees across five divisions: Visitor Services, Exhibits and Education, Retail, Communications and Marketing, and Planning, Operations and Evaluation.

Duties

• The individual selected for this position will: Greet and assist visitors by escorting them to displays, informing visitors about products, and suggesting product purchases. Always maintain a high level of professionalism and customer service with a wide and diverse public. Always maintain courteous and helpful attitude. Maintain situational awareness of customer needs and re-prioritize appropriately to meet customer needs. Act with a sense of pride in fulfilling the mission, vision and objectives of the CVC. Demonstrate selling skills that inform, involve and inspire the visitor to achieve product purchases. Respond to visitors' questions, complaints and concerns in a manner that provides positive resolution or offers appropriate guidance. Maintain deep knowledge about the CVC, the Capitol, and the surrounding D.C. area. Understand and communicate how CVC Gift Shop merchandise supports the CVC mission and relates to the various artifacts and exhibits in the CVC. Embrace quality control in daily activities, including in shop receiving, stocking, and recovery. Identify and communicate product requests and needs to Gift Shops management. Perform an extensive range of retail operational activities including cash handling, re-stocking, and visual presentations or recovery within the shops. Fully comply with all standard operating procedures. Keep funds secured at all times. Maintain appropriate levels of cash/change stocked in the individual drawer to expedite sales transactions. Coordinate with the management as necessary to manage cash levels. Be required to work Saturdays and holidays due to the business needs of the Capitol Visitor Center. *** Please Note: This position is temporary in nature and will not exceed 13 months. This is strictly a temporary appointment where there is no permanent need or permanent funding available for the work involved and that the temporary appointment is limited in duration. The duration of this temporary appointment may be shorter or longer, depending on the duration of the work or project. The temporary position may also be terminated at any time due to lack of work and/or lack of funds without any advance notice. As a non-permanent employee, you may also be separated for failure to meet management's expectations, with no advance notice.

Key requirements

• Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related KSAs.
• You must meet the definition of specialized experience.
• You must be able to pass a drug test and background check.

Qualifications

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site at OPM qualification standards Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. Candidates for the GS-05 grade level must have at least 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-04 grade level obtained either in the public or private sectors. Specialized experience for this position is defined as having experience: Providing assistance to customers in a retail or hospitality environment; Being knowledgeable about store merchandise to assist customers; and Keeping a cash drawer in a retail or hospitality environment.

Education

Combination of Education and Experience: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed education and experience may be used to meet the experience requirements. Education must be from an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position. Examples of qualifying fields of study include history, public history, museum studies, political science, government, American studies, education, communications, architecture, historic preservation, or other closely related fields. Successful completion of four years of education above the high school level leading to a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university may be used to meet the qualification requirements. For more information on qualifying education or on combining education and experience see OPM Qualification Standards linked below: Individual Occupational Requirements for Park Guide Series, 0090 Group Coverage Qualification Standard for Technical and Medical Support Positions