Student Trainee (Privacy and Risk)

Summary

Make an impact while you learn. The Semester of Service Program offers students a volunteer opportunity to support real Federal missions, gaining hands-on experience and valuable career-ready skills. Students must be enrolled at least half-time in an accredited school, technical or vocational institute, college, university, or other accredited educational institution. This project will focus on privacy, risk management, compliance, and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.

Duties

• Research emerging issues and trends in privacy, cybersecurity, risk management, and technology and their impact on government. Contribute to projects that strengthen OPM's privacy and risk management programs and improve how the agency operates. Help create practical guidance, training materials, reports, presentations, and other resources for agency programs and stakeholders. Explore responsible uses of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to improve government operations and business processes. Analyze program information and help identify opportunities to reduce risk, strengthen internal controls, and modernize agency processes.

Qualifications

Applicants will be considered based on their knowledge, skills or abilities related to project needs. Specifically, applicants should possess the following: Strong research skills and the ability to evaluate and summarize credible technical and policy information. Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts to nontechnical audiences. Foundational understanding of artificial intelligence, privacy, cybersecurity, and responsible technology use. Ability to create reports, presentations, practical guidance, training materials, and process documentation. Careful attention to detail and the ability to handle sensitive information with discretion. To meet the Student Volunteer requirements, you must be a student accepted for enrollment or enrolled and seeking a degree (diploma, certificate, degree) in a qualifying educational institution, on a full or half-time basis (as defined by the institution in which the student is enrolled). All Education must be accredited by an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement.) Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accredited institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants may verify accreditation at the following website: Accreditation. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by OPM accordingly.

Education

To qualify, you must be enrolled not less than half-time in an accredited trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior college, college, university, or other accredited educational institution. You also must be in good academic standing as defined by your institution. Attach a copy of your transcripts to your application package for verification.

Evaluations

Once the application process is complete, your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed on this announcement. You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above. In order to qualify for this position, your resume must provide sufficient experience and/or education, knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are being considered. Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to be clear and specific when describing your experience.

How to apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST)on 08/26/2026 to receive consideration. To begin, click Apply Online to access an online application. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account or you may need to create a new account. You will be taken to an online application. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation, and submit the application. You will receive an email notification when your application has been received for the announcement. To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Application Status page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and your responses submitted to the online application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.

What to expect next

The questionnaire will assess your qualifications for the job, and will be used to identify the best qualified applicants to be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration and possible interviews. Your ratings in this Assessment Questionnaire are subject to evaluation and verification based on the documents and references you submit. Later steps in the selection process are specifically designed to verify your ratings. Deliberate attempts to falsify information may be grounds for not selecting you or for dismissing you from the position/agency during the probationary period. Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. Your application will be evaluated. You will receive another notification about the status of your application. We expect to make a job offer within 40 days after the closing date of the announcement. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct a suitability/security background investigation.

Required documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes: 1. Your resume (two or fewer pages) showing: Your work experience to include start and end dates. Education information, such as the name of your school and dates of attendance. Any knowledge, skills or abilities you've gained through education that relate to the project. 2. Proof of current enrollment not less than half-time in a trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior college, college, university, or other accredited educational institution. Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

Benefits

This is an unpaid volunteer experience. Student volunteers are not considered Federal employees for any purpose other than injury compensation and laws related to the Federal Tort Claims Act, and service is not creditable for leave accrual or other employee benefits.

Other information

This position is unpaid. No compensation, stipends, or hiring preference will be granted from this work. You may use this volunteer experience to qualify for future jobs you choose to apply for. Availability to work: Applicants for this position should be available to work a regular part-time schedule during the period of August 23, 2026 through December 18, 2026 (Start and end dates are flexible). Relocation expenses will not be paid. If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document that you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application: http://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Alternate_Application_Information Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see https://www.sss.gov/RegVer/wfRegistration.aspx).