Cook

Summary

This position is located in the Nutrition and Food Service at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Lyons - NJ or East Orange - NJ. The person in this position prepares nutritious - high-quality meals for service to the Veterans.

PHYSICAL EFFORT AND WORK

CONDITIONS:

Subject to continuous standing - walking - frequent bending - reaching - pushing - and pulling. Lifts or moves objects weighing up to 40 lbs. unassisted. Manipulates cumbersome and heavy objects - such as washing stainless steel mixing bowls - pushing heavy carts on caster - or operating heavy equipment. Manual dexterity needed to safely operate equipment and to handle sharp knives and blades.

Hand-eye coordination and ability to concentrate and react quickly to serve food and operate equipment. Performs work in areas of temperature extremes. Work is carried out in kitchen/dish room areas that are often hot - uncomfortable - and noisy. Environment includes exposure to extreme cold while working in walk-in refrigerators and freezers for extended periods of time to complete duties.

Works with other cooks - food service workers - and supervisors. Exposed to stems - cooking odors - and noise from equipment and conversation. Subject to hazards of cuts - bruises - strains - burns and falls in kitchen equipment. Strong cleaning and sanitizing solutions may be skin and respiratory irritants. Performs work in patient care settings where there may be exposure to contagious disease.

May have contact with patients who demonstrate verbally and/or physically aggressive behavior. Required to wear proper hair covering and clean uniform. Wear disposable gloves when handling food for service - and proper protective equipment when completing cleaning activities. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the OPM Federal Wage System Qualifications. For this position - the job element method is used to match what you - the applicant - can do against what the work calls for.

Your knowledge - skills and abilities will be compared to the knowledge - skills and abilities (called job elements) needed for success. Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element (WG-2 and higher only; screen-outs are not applicable to WG-1). Applicants who appear to meet the screen out element are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated from consideration.

The potential eligibles are rated against the remainder of the job elements. While a specific length of training and experience is not required - your responses to the questionnaire must be supported by detailed descriptions of your experience on your resume. You will be rated on the following Job Elements as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:
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 IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience - including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g.

- Peace Corps - Ameri Corps) and other organizations (e.g.

- professional; philanthropic; religious; 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.

• Major duties and responsibilities include:
  Independently prepares and cooks a variety of items including regular and therapeutic diet (diabetic - low sodium - low protein - gluten free - etc.) entrees and dessert items
• Follows menus - production sheets - and recipes to prepare items in the quantity needed
• Grills eggs - meat patties - pancakes - French toast
• broils meats
• makes cold sandwich fillings and assembles a variety of sandwiches
• Uses a variety of methods to prepare meats - fish - and poultry including broiling - roasting - baking - frying - boiling - steaming - stewing - braising - and grilling
• Slices meat items by hand - confirming to specific size requirements or weight specifications
• Prepares fresh - canned - and frozen vegetables
• bakes frozen potatoes - pre-made cookie dough - and muffin batters
• Prepares and heats convenience items - and prepares pureed foods and adjusts consistency with thickeners
• Washes - peels - and cuts fruits and vegetables
• assembles and mixes salad ingredients and dessert…