Learn more about the following authorities and see if they might apply to you.
Veterans’ Recruitment Appointment
Veterans’ Recruitment Appointment (VRA) is an excepted authority that allows agencies, to appoint eligible veterans without competition. If you:
- are in receipt of a campaign badge for service during a war or in a campaign or expedition; or
- are a disabled veteran; or
- are in receipt of an Armed Forces Service Medal (includes the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal) for participation in a military operation; or
- are a recently separated veteran (within the last 3 years) and separated under honorable conditions (this means an honorable or general discharge).
You 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, you will be converted to the competitive service. Veterans’ preference applies when using the VRA authority.
Agencies may 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 you are employed in a temporary or term position under VRA, you will not be converted to the competitive service after 2 years.
There is no limit to the number of times you can apply under VRA as long as you meet the definition of a covered veteran under applicable law.
You must provide acceptable documentation of your preference or appointment eligibility. The member 4 copy of your DD214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty," is preferable. If claiming 10-point preference, you will need to submit a Standard Form (SF-15), "Application for 10-point Veterans’ Preference."
Veterans Employment Opportunity Act of 1998 (VEOA), as amended
The VEOA is a competitive service appointing authority that can only be used when filling permanent, competitive service positions and the agency has decided to solicit candidates from outside its own workforce. 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 and certain prior employees who have earned competitive status.”
To be eligible for a VEOA appointment, your latest discharge must be issued under honorable conditions (honorable or general discharge), and you 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.
When agencies recruit from outside their own workforce under merit promotion (internal) procedures, announcements must state VEOA is applicable. As a VEOA eligible you are not subject to geographic area of consideration limitations. When applying under VEOA, you 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 concerned.
"Preference eligible" under VEOA includes those family members entitled to derived preference.
Learn more about Family Member Preference at FedsHireVets.
When applying for federal positions via USAJOBS individuals must provide acceptable documentation of preference or appointment eligibility. The member 4 copy of your DD214, “Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty,” is preferable. If claiming 10-point preference, you will need to submit a Standard Form (SF-15), “Application for 10-point Veterans’ Preference,” and any other supporting documentation required by the form.
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.
You are eligible if you:
- retired from active military service with a service-connected disability rating of 30% or more; or
- have a rating by the Department of Veteran Affairs showing a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more.
This authority can be used to make permanent, 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. There is no grade level restriction. There is no requirement that you be converted to a permanent position, but an agency has the authority to convert such a position to a permanent position if it chooses to do so.
When using this authority to appoint on a permanent basis, you are 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, you will not be converted to a permanent appointment.
You must provide acceptable documentation of your preference or appointment eligibility. The member 4 copy of your DD214, “Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty,” is preferable. If claiming 10-point preference, you will need to submit a Standard Form (SF-15), “Application for 10-point Veterans’ Preference,” and any other supporting documentation required by the form.
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 trained for. 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.
Schedule A: Appointing Authority for People with Disabilities
Though not specifically for veterans, the Schedule A Authority for People with Disabilities, is an excepted authority that agencies can use to appoint eligible veterans who have a severe physical, psychological, or intellectual disability.
To prove your eligibility to be appointed to a federal job under Schedule A, you must: be qualified for the job for which you are applying (i.e., have the necessary competencies and relevant experience to perform the job); and provide “proof of disability” documentation - typically a letter stating that you have an intellectual disability, severe physical disability, or psychiatric disability. You can get this letter from your doctor, a licensed medical professional, a licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist, or any federal, state, or local agency that issues or provides disability benefits.
Sample Schedule A letters can be found on the OPM website: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/disability-employment/getting-a-job/sampleschedaletters.pdf
Veterans are encouraged to seek consideration under all the hiring authorities they are eligible for, in addition to claiming their preference under the competitive examining process, if applicable.
Job classifications within the federal government
Wage Grade (WG 1-15)
- Hourly employees
- Federal employees in trades and labor occupations
- Considered blue-collar jobs
- Positions come with benefits
General Schedule (1-15)
- Salaried employees paid a fixed amount/year
- Considered white collar jobs
- Positions come with benefits