When planning for your future outside of the military, consider a career with VA, where you can join thousands of other Veteran employees who enjoy career benefits that help them find work/life balance, plan for the future, and prepare for the unexpected.
You’ll also have the chance build a unique connection with our patients, Veterans just like you who can benefit from your shared experiences.
“Because I am a Veteran, I want to do my best to do whatever it is that I can to serve Veterans,” explained Dana Jones, a Coast Guard Veteran and program manager at VA. “I have the honor of being able to come to work every day and know that what I’m working towards is working for the benefit of all Veterans.”
To help you on your journey, VA has made numerous resources available for Veterans like you who want to continue their public service and shift to a civilian career.
Veterans’ preference
Veterans’ preference provides a fair, uniform method to provide consideration to qualified Veterans seeking federal employment.
When an agency uses a category rating system, as VA does, preference candidates who have a compensable service-connected disability of 10% or more are placed at the top of the highest category on the referral list, unless that position is specifically scientific or professional at the GS-9 level or higher.
Candidates with a less than 10% disability rating, or no disability rating at all, are placed above non-preference candidates within their assigned category.
Special hiring authorities for Veterans
As a Veteran applicant, you may be eligible for special hiring authorities to gain a competitive edge in the hiring process. These hiring authorities include:
- The Veterans’ Recruitment Appointment (VRA) which allows agencies to hire eligible Veterans through VRA eligibility or based on a Veteran’s service-connected disability without competition through the GS-11 grade level.
- The 30% or More Disabled Veteran authority, which permits any Veteran with a 30% or more service-connected disability to be hired without competition.
- The Disabled Veterans Enrolled in a VA Training Program, which allows disabled Veterans who have completed training or work under the VA Rehabilitation Training Program and received a certificate of training to be hired without competition.
- Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) authority, which permits preference eligibles and certain eligible Veterans with the ability to compete for jobs that otherwise would only be available to status employees.
Application assistance for Veterans
As you pursue a VA career, the Veteran and Military Spouse Talent Engagement Program (VMSTEP) can help. VMSTEP provides employment readiness assistance and support while advocating the use of special hiring authorities, employment programs, and retention strategies to position VA as the employer of choice for Veterans and military spouses.
Through VMSTEP, we’re able to provide Veterans, transitioning military personnel, and military spouses with assistance to develop competitive applications and secure employment with VA.
These services include:
- Federal resume support and revisions
- Interview preparation and advice
- Guidance on dressing for success
- Assistance navigating USAJOBS.gov
“Just having programs that help Veterans and their spouses their resumes, with interview techniques and things like that, with landing the job that they want, VA is here to help you,” said Bradley Page, an Army Reserve Veteran who now works as a management and program analyst for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA).
Work at VA
Join a team where your experience matters, and where you can help Veterans just like you.
- WATCH Bradley Page and Dana Jones discuss working at VA.
- LEARN what VA has to offer Veterans and transitioning military personnel.
- EXPLORE our step-by-step guide to the application process.
- SEARCH for the job you want at VA.
