Career Planning

Understanding Veterans’ Preference, Part 3/3

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Our third and final article about veterans’ preference is about “points” and how they work in federal hiring. As discussed in earlier articles, veterans’ preference is applicable in hiring, not for internal promotions, reassignments, and other personnel actions regarding existing federal employees. Veterans preference points apply only in announcements that are open to all citizens / all sources / delegated examining. Veterans’ preference points do not count for postings that are open to status applicants, even if the applicant is applying under VEOA.

Veterans’ preference can be confusing. Veterans’ preference eligibility is based on dates of active duty service, receipt of a campaign badge, Purple Heart, or a service-connected disability. Please know that not all active duty service may qualify for veterans’ preference.

Only veterans discharged or released from active duty in the armed forces under honorable conditions are eligible for veterans’ preference. This means you must have been discharged under an honorable or general discharge.

If you are a “retired member of the armed forces” you are not included in the definition of preference eligible unless you are a disabled veteran OR you retired below the rank of major or its equivalent.

There are basically three types of preference eligibles, disabled (10-point preference eligible), non-disabled (5-point preference eligible) and sole survivorship preference (0 point preference eligible).

You are a 0-point Preference eligible – no points are added to the passing score or rating of a veteran who is the only surviving child in a family in which the father or mother or one or more siblings:
1. Served in the armed forces, and
2. Was killed, died as a result of wounds, accident, or disease, is in a captured or missing in action status, or is permanently 100 percent disabled or hospitalized on a continuing basis (and is not employed gainfully because of the disability or hospitalization), where
3. The death, status, or disability did not result from the intentional misconduct or willful neglect of the parent or sibling and was not incurred during a period of unauthorized absence.

You are a 5-point preference eligible if your active duty service meets any of the following:
1. For more than 180 consecutive days, other than for training, any part of which occurred during the period beginning September 11, 2001, and ending on August 31, 2010, the last day of Operation Iraqi Freedom, OR
2. Between August 2, 1990 and January 2, 1992, OR
3. For more than 180 consecutive days, other than for training, any part of which occurred after January 31, 1955 and before October 15, 1976.
4. In a war, campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized or between April 28, 1952 and July 1, 1955.

You are a 10-point preference eligible if you served at any time, and you:
1. have a service connected disability, OR
2. received a Purple Heart.

Most agencies use what is called Category Rating for all citizens’ announcements; in essence, this means that applicants are assigned to one of (typically) three categories: best qualified, well qualified, and qualified. Another way to think about the categories is gold, silver, bronze. In category rating, points are not added to an applicant’s score; instead veterans who meet basic qualifications for a given job posting are assigned to a category.

Preference eligibles are divided into five basic groups as follows:

  • CPS – Disability rating of 30% or more (10 points)
  • CP – Disability rating of at least 10% but less than 30% (10 points)
  • XP – Disability rating less than 10% (10 points)
  • TP – Preference eligibles with no disability rating (5 points)
  • SSP – Preference eligibles with no disability rating (0 points)

Disabled veterans receive 10 points regardless of their disability rating. There is no “extra credit” for a disability rating in excess of 30%.

Preference eligibles who have a compensable service-connected disability of 10% or more (CPS, CP) are placed at the top of the highest category on the referral list (except for scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 level or higher). XP, TP, and SSP preference eligibles are placed above non-preference eligibles within their assigned category. For positions at the grade 9 and above which require education, veterans appear at the top of the category for which they are rated. For example, for a position in the Accounting job series which requires 24 hours of accounting, a 30% compensably rated applicant could be placed in the gold, silver, or bronze category, depending upon their qualifications; in a job series which does not require education, that same applicant would automatically be assigned to the gold category (assuming that they meet basic qualifications).

Veterans’ preference is complicated and more nuanced than I have been able to present in these 3 articles. There are some veterans who do not get points, and others who can use veterans’ preference in multiple ways. A good source of information about veterans’ hiring in the federal government is Feds Hire Vets, which bills itself as the One Stop Resource for Federal Veteran Employment Information. https://www.fedshirevets.gov/.

And, if you are still not sure of your preference eligibility, the Department of Labor has a useful decision tree which can be found: http://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/vets/vetpref/mservice.htm.

Looking to Transition from Your Military Career?

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Transitioning from the military is doable but it takes a strategic approach. Follow these tips for a successful transition:

  • Give yourself enough time. Getting a federal job takes time under the best of circumstances. Most federal job postings receive as many as 400 to 1,000 or more applications—and many of those are from former military members. I was working with an agency that posted a grade 6 position; they received 1,200 applications and 900 of them were from 30% or more compensably rated vets. Give yourself at least 6 months (and more realistically, 12-18) to get a federal job; you should start applying at least 120 days before you leave the military.

Read more

Understanding Veterans’ Preference, Part 2/3

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This is the second part of our three-part article on veterans’ preference. In this article, we will discuss the various appointment authorities that federal HR offices may use to hire transitioning military members.

These special authorities represent a few of many appointing authorities that agencies can use entirely at their discretion. Veterans are not entitled to appointment under any of these authorities.

Veterans’ Recruitment Appointment (VRA)
VRA is an excepted authority that allows agencies to appoint eligible veterans without competition, if the applicant is:

  • in receipt of a campaign badge for service during a war or in a campaign or expedition; OR
  • a disabled veteran, OR
  • in receipt of an Armed Forces Service Medal for participation in a military operation, OR
  • a recently separated veteran (within the last 3 years), AND
  • separated under honorable conditions (this means an honorable or general discharge), you are VRA eligible.

Veterans can be appointed under this authority at any grade level up to and including a GS-11 or equivalent. This is an excepted service appointment. After successfully completing 2 years, the veteran will be converted to the competitive service. Veterans’ preference applies when using the VRA authority.

Agencies can also use VRA to fill temporary (not to exceed 1 year) or term (more than 1 year but not to exceed 4 years) positions. If a veteran is employed in a temporary or term position under VRA, he/she will not be converted to the competitive service after 2 years.

There is no limit to the number of times an applicant can apply under VRA.

Applicants must provide acceptable documentation of their preference or appointment eligibility. The member 4 copy of the DD214, “Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty,” is preferable. If claiming 10-point preference, the veteran will need to submit a Standard Form 15, “Application for 10-point Veterans’ Preference.”

Veterans Employment Opportunity Act of 1998, as amended (VEOA)
VEOA is a competitive service appointing authority that can only be used when filling permanent, competitive service positions. It cannot be used to fill excepted service positions. It allows veterans to apply to announcements that are only open to so called “status” candidates, which means “current competitive service employees.”

To be eligible for a VEOA appointment, the applicant’s latest discharge must be issued under honorable conditions (this means an honorable or general discharge), AND the applicant 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.

When agencies recruit from outside their own workforce under merit promotion (internal) procedures, announcements must state VEOA is applicable. VEOA eligibles are not subject to geographic area of consideration limitations. When applying under VEOA, the applicant must rate and rank among the best qualified when compared to current employee applicants in order to be considered for appointment. Veterans’ preference does not apply to internal agency actions such as promotions, transfers, reassignments and reinstatements.

Current or former Federal employees meeting VEOA eligibility can apply. However, current employees applying under VEOA are subject to time-in- grade restrictions like any other General Schedule employee.

“Active Service” under VEOA means active duty in a uniformed service and includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, full-time National Guard duty, and attendance, while in the active service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary of Defense.

“Preference eligible” under VEOA includes those family members entitled to derived preference.

Applicants must provide acceptable documentation of their preference or appointment eligibility. The member 4 copy of the DD214, “Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty,” is preferable. If claiming 10-point preference, applicants will need to submit a Standard Form 15, “Application for 10-point Veterans’ Preference.”

30% or More Disabled Veteran

30% or More Disabled Veteran allows any veteran with a 30% or more service-connected disability to be non-competitively appointed.

Veterans are eligible if they are:

  • 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.

This authority can be used to make permanent, temporary (not to exceed 1 year) or term (more than 1 year, but not more than 4 years) appointments in the competitive service. There is no grade level restriction.

When using this authority to appoint on a permanent basis, the candidate is first placed on a time limited appointment of at least 60 days and then converted to a permanent appointment at management’s discretion. When the authority is used for temporary or term appointments, the applicant will not be converted to a permanent appointment.

A copy of the applicant’s DD-214 and SF-15 must be supplied.

Disabled Veterans Enrolled in a VA Training Program
Disabled veterans eligible for training under the VA vocational rehabilitation program may enroll for training or work experience at an agency under the terms of an agreement between the agency and VA. While enrolled in the VA program, the veteran is not a Federal employee for most purposes but is a beneficiary of the VA.

Training is tailored to the individual’s needs and goals, so there is no set length. If the training is intended to prepare the individual for eventual appointment in the agency rather than just provide work experience, the agency must ensure that the training will enable the veteran to meet the qualification requirements for the position.

Upon successful completion, the host agency and VA give the veteran a Certificate of Training showing the occupational series and grade level of the position for which trained. The Certificate of Training allows any agency to appoint the veteran noncompetitively under a status quo appointment which may be converted to career or career-conditional at any time.

Understanding Veterans’ Preference and Employment Eligibility, Part 1/3

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If you are a transitioning military member, it is important to understand your veterans’ preference eligibility and options. Some former members may be eligible for as many as four different kinds of preference and/or consideration. As the applicant, it is your responsibility to ensure that you properly annotate your USAJOBS Profile with your eligibilities and upload the requisite documents (DD-214 and SF-15). It is also important that you apply correctly.

Veterans’ preference does not apply in all hiring situations. Let’s first look at when veterans’ preference applies:

Preference in hiring applies to permanent and time-limited positions in the competitive and excepted services of the executive branch. Preference does not apply to positions in the Senior Executive Service (SES). The legislative and judicial branches of the Federal Government also are exempt from the Veterans’ Preference Act unless the positions are in the competitive service (Government Printing Office, for example) or have been made subject to the Act by another law.

Preference applies when filling competitive and excepted service jobs, and when agencies make permanent, temporary, term, and other time-limited appointments. Veterans’ preference does not apply to promotion, reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer or reinstatement.

Veterans’ preference does not require an agency to use a particular appointment process. Agencies have broad authority under law to hire from any appropriate source of eligibles including special appointing authorities. An agency may consider candidates already in the civil service from an agency-developed merit promotion list or it may reassign a current employee, transfer an employee from another agency, or reinstate a former Federal employee. In addition, agencies are required to give priority to displaced employees before using civil service examinations and similar hiring methods.

To receive preference, a veteran must have been discharged or released from active duty in the Armed Forces under honorable conditions (i.e., with an honorable or general discharge). “Armed Forces” means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. However, the VOW (Veterans Opportunity to Work) To Hire Heroes Act of 2011 amended Title 5 and requires Federal agencies to treat active duty service members as veterans, disabled veterans, or preference eligibles for purposes of appointment in the competitive service.

VOW requires Federal agencies to treat active duty service members as veterans and preference eligibles when they submit a “certification” when applying for a Federal job. The “certification” is any written document from the armed forces that certifies the service member is expected to be discharged or released from active duty service in the armed forces under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is signed. Therefore, agencies must accept applications and consider for appointment and veterans’ preference any service member who submits a certification in lieu of a DD form 214. Prior to appointment, agencies must verify the service member is eligible for veterans’ preference, unless the service member is appointed under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 5534a, “Dual employment and pay during terminal leave from uniformed services.”

Military retirees at the rank of major, lieutenant commander, or higher are not eligible for preference in appointment unless they are disabled veterans. (This does not apply to Reservists who will not begin drawing military retired pay until age 60.)

For non-disabled users, active duty for training by National Guard or Reserve soldiers does not qualify as “active duty” for preference.

For disabled veterans, active duty includes training service in the Reserves or National Guard.

Our next article will look at the various kinds of preference.

8 Tips to Help you Move on from your Military Career

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Looking to Transition from Your Military Career? It’s certainly doable, but it does take a strategic approach. Follow these tips for a successful transition:

  • Give yourself enough time. Getting a federal job takes time under the best of circumstances. Most federal job postings receive as many as 400 to 1,000 or more applications—and many of those are from former military members. I was working with an agency that posted a grade 6 position; they received 1,200 applications and 900 of them were from 30% or more “compensably” rated vets. Give yourself at least 6 months (and more realistically, 12-18) to get a federal job; you should start applying at least 120 days before you leave the military.
  • Understand your veterans’ preference eligibilities. You are likely eligible to receive consideration as a vet in multiple ways (even for the same job). It is critical that you understand the various authorities, appropriately document your USAJOBS Profile, and use your various eligibilities appropriately. A later article will discuss the various veterans’ preference eligibilities and programs.
  • Create a targeted, federal style resume. Do not depend on your two-page resume to get you a federal job. Make sure you develop a federal resume; a federal resume is typically 4 to 6 pages.
  • Translate your military experience into civilian speak. Even if you are applying at the Department of Defense (DoD), do not assume that the Human Resources (HR) people who review your resume will understand your military experience or rank. Instead of referring to supervising soldiers, talk about supervising employees. Instead of saying that you led a battalion, talk about leading 500 employees.
  • Loose the acronyms. Your resume should not be acronym-laden. Again, HR people will not understand all of the military jargon and it makes your resume hard to read. And in most civilian organizations, it does not really matter whether you were associated with CENTCOM or EUCOM—or what ship you served on.
  • Make sure you answer the occupational questionnaire appropriately. Before deciding whether to apply for a job, look at the questionnaire. If you cannot provide the highest and best answer to every question, and back up your answers in your resume, it may not be the right job for you.
  • Apply for the right jobs. Getting a federal job requires, in addition to the above, applying for jobs for which you are truly qualified. That means that you already have the required specialized experience. Its not about “knowing” that you can do the job; its about proving that you already have. And make sure that your resume uses all of the key words from the job posting.
  • Be patient. The final step in getting a federal job is patience; it is likely that you will need to apply for multiple jobs. While it is certainly possible that you will get the first federal job you apply for, in my experience, it is not likely. So be prepared for your search and good luck!

Top 10 Jobseeker Mistakes

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Are you making mistakes in your job search? Chances are, you’re making at least one or two — if not more! Run through this list and identify which mistakes you’re currently making — and then follow the suggestions to learn how to stop making that mistake!

Top 10 Job Seeker Mistakes

  1. Looking for a Job vs. a Career. Wait, I shouldn’t look for a job? Don’t just look for a job — look for a career. A calling. What are you meant to do? How can you use your skills, education, and experience for maximum benefit? You may not see that position advertised in a job posting. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. What kinds of problems could you solve for an organization? What kind of organization needs those problems solved? Investigate how you could solve that problem for that kind of organization.
  2. Not Targeting Your Job Search. What kinds of jobs are you interested in? What kind of organization do you want to work for? If your answer is, “I don’t care, I just need a job,” your job search is less likely to be successful than if you spend some time thinking about where you want to work, and what you want to do (and how to get there!).
  3. Not Making It Easy for an Employer to See How You’d Fit In. Generic resumes don’t attract employer attention. Instead, you need to show an employer how you can add value to their organization. You need to customize your tool for the job. You wouldn’t use a hammer to tighten a screw, would you? You can’t use the same resume to apply for vastly different jobs — for example, an Information Technology (IT) position and a job as a budget assistant. Figure out what the key components of the job are, and then showcase how you can do those things in your resume.
  4. Confusing Activity With Action. Are you confusing “busywork” with progress? Are you spending a lot of time researching jobs online and applying for lots of positions? While it’s recommended that you spend at least an hour a day on your job search if you are currently employed (and two to three times that if you are currently unemployed), make sure you are tracking how much time you are spending, and what you are spending it on. Spend your time on high value tasks — like identifying and researching organizations you’d like to work for, and trying to connect directly with hiring managers, and having coffee with someone who works for the organization you’re applying at — and not just simply spending time in front of your computer.
  5. Paying Attention to Other People’s Opinions. “You have to do this,” “Never do that,” “My cousin’s best friend got a job by standing out in front of the organization wearing a sandwich board.” Everyone’s got an opinion about how to conduct a job search. Some of it is confusing, some of it is just plain wrong. Your friends and family can be wrong about how the job search works, and it might hurt your chances to get your dream job. Trust your instincts. Don’t believe everything you read online, and remember that one person’s opinion is just that — one person’s opinion.
  6. Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results. “I applied for six jobs and haven’t heard anything back.” Well, then something’s not working. Either stop applying for advertised positions, start following up on the applications you’ve already put in, or figure out a different way to connect with your dream job. It’s been said that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If what you’re doing isn’t working, do something different!
  7. Not Paying Attention to What Worked For You Before in Your Job Search. This is the opposite of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This time, we want you to achieve the same result as before — a great job. So look at what worked for you the last time you landed the job you wanted. Were you networking at a professional association meeting? At your child’s basketball game and struck up a conversation with the person next to you? Or did you apply on an agency’s website? Consider doing more of what worked for you last time and see if it works for you again.
  8. Putting All Your Eggs In One Basket. “But this is my dream job!” While that may be true, you will have a better chance of getting a better job if you don’t rely on a single opportunity. Wouldn’t it be great to have two or three job offers to choose from? That’s only going to happen if you diversify your job search. Apply for multiple positions — even a couple you think you wouldn’t necessarily accept. You never know — you might learn in the interview process that it really is your dream job.
  9. Not Spending Enough Time on Your Job Search. You’ve probably heard it said that looking for a job is a job in itself. That’s partially true. Yes, some people will hear about an opportunity from a friend and get hired (sometimes without even applying). But for the vast majority of jobseekers, you’ll have to invest time in getting your resume prepared, applying for positions, following up, and more.
  10. Spending Too Much Time on Your Job Search. On the other hand, it is possible to spend too much time on your job search. It’s easy to get wrapped up in your job search and, the next thing you know, it’s 1 a.m. Remember, one of the best ways to find your next job is talking to people you know. So give yourself permission to “stop working” on your job search and hang out with your friends. (And maybe make some new friends while you’re at it!)

Also, don’t overlook the following common mistakes:

  • Networking The Wrong Way. Second only to not using your network at all is using it incorrectly. Your network is comprised of all the people that you know and also all the people that they know. Don’t just think that because you don’t personally know anyone who works for Organization ABC that you’re out of luck using your network. Ask the people you know who they know. But remember that networking requires relationship building and relationship management. If you haven’t talked to someone for five years, don’t let your first contact with them be, “Hey, can you help me get a job at your organization?” Author Harvey Mackay has a great book on this: “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty.”
  • Being Unprepared For Your Job Search. You need tools to help you succeed in your job search. An updated, targeted resume. A “complete” LinkedIn profile with at least 150 connections. Cover letters. Thank you letters. Answers to the top 20 interview questions you might be expected to answer. You wouldn’t go into battle unarmed; don’t go into a job search unprepared.
  • Not Thanking People Who Have Helped You Along The Way. Once you’ve successfully landed your new job, don’t forget to go back and thank those people who helped you with your job search. That will help ensure they’re willing to help you the next time you’re looking to make a move.