One problem many veterans face is a sense of displacement when they return from service.
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It is a difficult road to integrate back into life as a civilian and find the right career path.
Luckily, USA JOBS is an official government website with a special path for veterans to help them find employment with United States agencies.
For veterans who have served on active duty in the United States Armed Forces and left under honorable discharge.
It’s likely they meet the eligibility for veterans’ preference and other veteran hiring options.
Veterans’ preference is where the agencies will give special consideration to veterans who are applying to a given position.
It is possible candidates will even receive preference over non-veteran applicants.
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This preference can apply to permanent and temporary positions in the competitive service of the executive branch.
There are three kinds of veterans’ preferences with varying point levels.
Veterans who qualify as Disabled are eligible for 10-point preference.
Veterans who are categorized as Disabled have a service related disability or received a Purple Heart.
Those who are in the Non-disabled category are eligible for a 5-point preference.
They must have been in a war, campaign, or expedition for which a medal or badge was authorized, OR actively served for more than 180 consecutive non-training days during the period:
Beginning September 11, 2001, and ending on August 31, 2010, the last day of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
During the Gulf War, between August 2, 1990 and January 2, 1992
Any part of which occurred after January 31, 1955 and before October 15, 1976.
OR between April 28, 1952 and July 1, 1955.
The last category is called Sole survivorship and it has a 0-point preference eligibility.
This category is for veterans who were released or discharged from active duty after August 29, 2008.
As the only surviving child in a family where the father or mother or one or more siblings served in the armed forces.
And was killed, died as a result of wounds, accident, or disease, is in a captured or missing in action status, etc.
AS LONG AS the death, status, or disability was not because of intentional misconduct or willful neglect of the parent or sibling and was not incurred during a period of unauthorized absence.
Something to note about the 0-point category is that no points are added to the score.
But the veteran can be listed above non-preference eligibles of the same quality category or with the same examination score.
These preference points are for competitive service.
Agencies use a numerical ranking system, and an additional 5 or 10 points are added to qualified veterans.
If an agency uses a category rating, then preference eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more make the top of the highest category on the referral list.
An exception is made for scientific or professional positions at GS-9 levels or higher.
If a position is excepted from competitive service by law, agencies have to follow the rules of Congress.
There are a few well-established veteran hiring authorities that all veteran applicants should know.
The first is the Veterans Recruitment Appointment, commonly called the VRA.
This is an excepted authority that lets an agency non-competitively appoint an eligible veteran.
Eligible veterans are those who served during a war or are in receipt of a campaign badge for service in a campaign or expedition.
OR are a disabled veteran, OR are in receipt of an Armed Forces Service Medal for participation in a military operation, OR are a separated veteran within 3 years of discharge, AND separated under an honorable or general discharge.
If the veteran meets these requirements, they can get appointed by the VRA at any grade level up to and including a GS-11 or equivalent as an excepted service appointment.
After good work for 2 years of continuous service, they get converted to competitive service.
As long as the veteran meets the requirements under law to be considered a covered veteran, they can apply under VRA a limitless amount of times.
The next authority is the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998, which is known as the VEOA.
This act provides preference to eligible veterans and allows them the opportunity to compete for certain positions under an agency’s merit promotion procedures.
The VEOA is valid only when the agency is filling a permanent, competitive service position and wants candidates outside its workforce.
Under this act, eligible veterans and preference eligibles can apply to jobs otherwise only open to “status” candidates, who are “current competitive service employees and certain prior employees who have earned competitive status.”
To be eligible for the VEOA, a veteran’s latest discharge must be an honorable or general discharge AND they must be either a preference eligible (defined in title 5 U.S.C. 2108(3)), OR
a veteran who substantially completed 3 or more years of active service under honorable conditions.
Under the VEOA, the preference is only the ability to compete. It does not give entitlement to be selected ahead of any non-preference candidates.
It also does not apply to internal actions like promotions, transfers, or reassignments.
Lastly, the 30% or More Disabled Veteran authority lets an agency non-competitively appoint veterans with a 30% or more service-related disability.
Eligible veterans must be retired from active military service with a service-connected disability rating of 30% or more.
OR have a rating by the Department of Veterans Affairs showing a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more.
With this, it can get veterans temporary (at least 60 days but not to exceed 1 year) or term (more than 1 year, but not more than 4) appointments in the competitive service.
It does not have a grade level restriction.
The application for veterans is fairly straightforward, but it will obviously require special documentation.
First, create an account with login.gov.
Next, make another account with USA JOBS, and add the Veterans hiring path to the profile.
When looking for jobs on USA JOBS, there will be a “This job is open to” section in the job announcement.
There is a special green veteran icon that indicates that this job is open for veteran applications. There is also a veterans filter in the search.
Veterans will need to have traditional documentation, as well as the DD-214 and SF-15 form if they plan on claiming preference.
A website called Fedshirevets.gov has many extremely helpful resources for veteran applicants.
This website has extensive resources to help veterans, transitioning service members, and their families.
Resources include help with veterans’ preference eligibility, special veteran appointing authorities, and many more veteran-related issues.
They have a whole page dedicated to frequently asked questions, as well as a virtual classroom for better learning.
For veterans who feel left behind by the rest of the world, applying for a federal service job can be a great way to get back to civilian life.
Veterans should apply as soon as possible and capitalize on the many different opportunities.