Why are a majority of the jobs within the VA only available for the VA or canteen employees and not available for all veterans ???

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 14:46:45 -0400

As I have been searching through USAJOBS for available positions and I have noticed a peculiar pattern. A majority of the VA jobs are only available for VA or canteen employees. Why ????

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 17 at 2014 3:24 PM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 15:24:49 -0400

I noted this same situation! If you get an answer I'd like to know.....

Response by SSG John Bacon made Sep 17 at 2014 3:55 PM

SSG John Bacon — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 15:55:27 -0400

Yeah Same here. I would assume Politics is involved.

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made Sep 17 at 2014 7:40 PM

MSG Wade Huffman — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 19:40:28 -0400

If you dig a little deeper, you will find this is true of nearly EVERY Federal agency. In answer to your question, though, beats me... but it's definitely institutional.

Response by PV2 Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 17 at 2014 8:02 PM

PV2 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 20:02:58 -0400

I will say for USDA where I work we look for Veterans not just federal employees but civilians. We just hired a graphic designer who was a 20 Year Navy guy. The VA has so many culture issues it's not funny. Try USDA or HUD or such.

Response by Sgt Vance Bonds made Sep 18 at 2014 12:25 PM

Sgt Vance Bonds — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 12:25:04 -0400

I asked about this at the VA Hospital in Reno Nevada. They told me that they hire and promote from within first. ..locally. then they go out national VA system then open register. The belief was that VA employees have a right to promotion within their own agency first. This is the same thing the Navy civil service told me recently. They hire local, regional, national and THRN open register. You can't go ft om Navy Region SW to
NW. Even if your Navy. Little Empire Builders!

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2014 2:02 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 14:02:27 -0400

I rarely see jobs that are posted for only current agency employees. Maybe it depends on the agency, grade, and job series. Most IT positions are under OPM's "Direct-Hire Authority."

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Sep 22 at 2014 8:33 AM

SFC Mark Merino — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 08:33:09 -0400

And all the qiock placement veterans preference jobs are GS-2 making $10 an hour (cutting grass and painting---despite the veteran's qualifications). Why can't their HR people work like a state employment agency and match up the resume to open jobs that pay higher?

Response by SFC Dr. Joseph Finck, BS, MA, DSS made Dec 18 at 2014 1:11 PM

SFC Dr. Joseph Finck, BS, MA, DSS — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:11:03 -0500

SFC Private RallyPoint Member This is a great question. I have seen many VA Police positions which are for internal VA applicants only. This astounds me as I know the VA Police require applicants to have law enforcement experience prior to making application, but they seemingly waive this if the person is working for the VA.

I am a Federal employee and apply constantly to VA positions with little more than notice of referral returning.

I hope you are able to attain the employment you desire with the VA, but have little insight into why the hiring practices are what they are.

I do know the VA is able to hire 30% or greater disabled Veterans without announcing the position publicly. My understanding is the VA HR section at each facility maintains an applicant file of these persons and when positions come along for which you are qualified they contact you. I had this happen in one instance, but the position paid less than my current Federal position.

Like you, I would truly enjoy working with and basically for other Veterans.

Thank you for your question.

Response by MSG Brad Sand made Dec 18 at 2014 4:15 PM

MSG Brad Sand — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 16:15:51 -0500

Because they are good jobs and they don't want someone better qualified taking it.

People will try and say something different, but they are just trying to take care of their own.

Response by 1SG David Niles made Dec 19 at 2014 11:47 AM

1SG David Niles — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 11:47:15 -0500

I have applied on USA jobs many times, I have only been contacted once, many times I was told that I did not qualify for the job I was applying to. Ten years Military Police, Ten years Intel, 17 years corrections and these are the type of jobs I was applying for. Not qualified, they did not want a vet. I have tried to apply for the VA to assist other vets, figured being a Retired First Sergeant, I would have something they could use. Nope, never even recieved a response from them.

Response by SPC Leisel Luman made Dec 21 at 2014 12:53 AM

SPC Leisel Luman — Sun, 21 Dec 2014 00:53:35 -0500

USAJOBS was a beast when I got out and was applying for GS jobs. Some you will see look like duplicates but one will have a letter behind it determining if it's in house hire only or open to everyone. I took a low pay GS teck job just to get in the door. Then I was promoted to the nursing position I wanted in Aviation Medicine at Fort Rucker. Phone the contact listed and continue to call or show up to HR with Hard Copies. I found out about the job listed at Rucker from USA jobs but HR said they don't even look at that. Stick with it and follow through with the listed contact.

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made Dec 26 at 2014 11:09 PM

SSG (ret) William Martin — Fri, 26 Dec 2014 23:09:03 -0500

I was told by a DoD employee that the hiring department must place a job in USAA but like some say, they noticed those jobs are open to the VA employees. For a long time I thought the idea of hiring a veteran was and still is a joke. You can only hired if you know someone. When you apply on USAA jobs you need to make your resume to get a "hit" from the system and then if someone is a buddy of supervisor Billy Bob and they did like he was instructed do he is hire regardless if he is not qualified. Its all a bunch of hog wash.

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made Dec 26 at 2014 11:19 PM

SSG (ret) William Martin — Fri, 26 Dec 2014 23:19:23 -0500

I couldn't even get selected as a janitor, and I even match the requirements of the job. It's a joke. I was out from 04" to 07". I worked at the main warehouse on Fort Riley, KS and I tried my best to get "buddy, buddy" with several people not no luck there. Many of the old retired SMs who working on the second retirement walked around like everyone owed them something. Until the contractors took over the sacrificial jobs of some of the lower level GS level positions there were several young and pretty females working those jobs to include some pretty old ladies with ZERO military service and what they had in common was that their husbands or fathers were also working for the government. These young GS level employees walked about like they were better than me, a combat veteran. When it came to them being laid off by the government some of them took jobs with the contractor.