Orientation and Mobility Intern (College)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Wilkes-Barre (Luzerne County); Hybrid; USD 47,000 - 71,000; Full time

Job summary

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania invites applications for an Orientation and Mobility Intern at the Bureau of Blindness & Visual Services, Wilkes-Barre District Office. The program provides hands-on instruction to help blind and visually impaired individuals travel safely and independently, with emphasis on planning and adaptive equipment.

The internship includes assessments, service planning, skill instruction, and professional development.

Qualifications

• Current enrollment in the final year of an accredited college or university bachelor's or master's degree program or certificate program in orientation and mobility.
• Special Requirement: authorization by the college/university for participation in Commonwealth's Orientation and Mobility Intern program.
• PA residency requirement is waived for this title.
• You must be able to perform essential job functions.

Responsibilities

• Assessments: Interview and observe individuals referred for services, review reports, and confer with staff to understand needs.
• Service Planning: Develop individual service plans for instruction, provide referrals, and recommend adaptive equipment.
• Skill Instruction: Teach sequences of individualized and group instruction for experiential learning.
• Professional Development: Gain practical experience and knowledge of federal/state laws and policies.

Education

Current enrollment in the final year of an accredited college or university bachelor's or master's degree program or certificate program in orientation and mobility

Job description

Salary

$46,827.00 - $70,592.00 Annually

Location

Schuylkill County, PA

Job Type

Civil Service Permanent Full-Time

Job Number

CS-2026-59819-44925

Department

Department of Labor & Industry

Division

LI BBVS Wilkes Barre Dstr Off

Opening Date

10/13/2026

Closing Date

11/9/2026 11:59 PM Eastern

Job Code

44925

Position Number

00262751

Union

SEIU

Bargaining Unit

F4

Pay Group

ST05

Bureau / Division Code

00126430

Bureau / Division

Bureau of Blindness & Visual Services - Wilkes-Barre District Office

Worksite Address

8 W Market Street, Suite 200

City

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Zip Code

18701

Contact Name

Kaleya Rivera Pena

Contact Email

[e-mail]

THE POSITION

As an Orientation and Mobility Intern for the Bureau of Blindness & Visual Services, you will learn what it takes to help blind and visually impaired people learn the skills they need to travel through their lives with confidence. This structured training program focuses on planning and providing instruction that empowers people live safely and independently while promoting cultural awareness and educational background amongst community partners, professionals, and the families of people we serve.

This position is part of the Wilkes-Barre District Office; however, the caseload area may cover the following counties: Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Schuylkill.

DESCRIPTION OF WORK

In this paid internship, you will gain hands‑on experience providing orientation and mobility instruction to blind and visually impaired customers. This work helps children and adults gain the skills they need to live and travel independently within their homes, workplaces, and communities. As an Orientation and Mobility Specialist, you will perform the following duties:

• Assessments: Interview and observe individuals who are referred for services, review reports, and confer with staff to fully understand each person's needs and motivation
• Service Planning: Develop individual service plans for instruction, provide further referrals, and recommend adaptive equipment based on each person's individual needs, input, and circumstances
• Skill Instruction: Teach sequences of individualized and group instruction to provide experience-based learning and supervised practice
• Professional Development: Acquire practical work experience and knowledge of federal laws and regulations and state policy and procedures

Work Schedule and Additional Information:

• Full-time employment
• Work hours are negotiable – 7.5 hour workday and lunch period is 30 minutes or 60 minutes depending on work hours. The position eligible for Alternate Work Schedules (AWS).
• Telework: You may have the opportunity to work from home (telework) part-time, upon successful completion of the training period. In order to telework, you must have a securely configured high-speed internet connection and work from an approved location inside Pennsylvania. If you are unable to telework, you will have the option to report to the headquarters office in Wilkes-Barre. This location may be flexible depending on the selected candidate. The ability to telework is subject to change at any time. Additional details may be provided during the interview.
• Salary:In some cases, the starting salary may be non-negotiable.
• You will receive further communication regarding this position via email. Check your email, including spam/junk folders, for these notices.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE, TRAINING & ELIGIBILITY

QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum Experience and Training Requirements:

• Current enrollment in the final year of an accredited college or university bachelor's or master's degree program or certificate program in orientation and mobility.

Special Requirement

• This position requires authorization by the college or university for the student to participate in the commonwealth's Orientation and Mobility Intern program. Upon entering the internship, the student must be enrolled in the final semester of the appropriate degree or certificate program.

Other Requirements

• PA residency requirement is currently waived for this title.
• You must be able to perform essential job functions.

Legal Requirements

• This position falls under the provisions of the Child Protective Services Law.
  • Under the Law, a conditional offer of employment will require submission and approval of satisfactory criminal history reports including, but not limited to, PA State Police clearance, PA Child Abuse history clearance, and FBI Fingerprint clearance.

Veterans

• Pennsylvania law (51 Pa. C.S. *7103) provides employment preference for qualified veterans for appointment to many state and local government jobs. To learn more about employment preferences for veterans, go to www.pa.gov/agencies/employment/how-to-apply.html and click on Veterans.

Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS)

• 711 (hearing and speech disabilities or other individuals).

If you are contacted for an interview and need accommodations due to a disability, please discuss your request for accommodations with the interviewer in advance of your interview date.

The Commonwealth is an equal employment opportunity employer and is committed to a diverse workforce. The Commonwealth values inclusion as we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most qualified people to serve the citizens of Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, ancestry, union membership, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, AIDS or HIV status, disability, or any other categories protected by applicable federal or state law. All diverse candidates are encouraged to apply.

EXAMINATION INFORMATION

• Completing the application, including all supplemental questions, serves as your exam for this position. No additional exam is required at a test center (also referred to as a written exam).
• Your score is based on the detailed information you provide on your application and in response to the supplemental questions.
• Your score is valid for this specific posting only.
• You must provide complete and accurate information or:
  • your score may be lower than deserved.
  • you may be disqualified.
• You may only apply/test once for this posting.
• Your results will be provided via email.