Your steps to apply

Chaplain
Veterans Health Administration · West Roxbury, Massachusetts · Closes in 6 days

1 Check you can apply
2 Resume and documents
3 Apply on USAJOBS
4 After you apply

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1 Check you can apply You are here

Who can apply: The public.

This job is open to U.S. citizens only. Past, current, and upcoming graduates of VHA Health Professions Trainee programs can also apply, but must send proof such as an SF-50.

Experience: For the GS-11 level, you need one year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade. For the GS-9 level, no experience is needed beyond the basic requirements. The job can be filled at any level from GS-9 to GS-11.

Education: You need a Master of Divinity degree or an equivalent graduate-level theological degree from an accredited college, university, or theological school. If you do not have one, an approved educational equivalency review from a nationally recognized chaplain board certification body is accepted. Education cannot be used to replace experience at this grade.

Licenses and certifications:

Ecclesiastical endorsement from the official national endorsing body of your faith group, dated within the past 12 months
Board certification as a Chaplain from BCCI or a certifying body with a reciprocity agreement with BCCI

Experience can be paid or unpaid, volunteer work included: if it matches the duties, it counts. The full rules are in the announcement.

2 Resume and documents

Write a federal resume for this job. For each job you held, give the month and year you started and ended, your hours per week and what you did, using the words of the experience the announcement asks for. Many announcements accept resumes of up to 2 pages: check this one.

Resume ready: dates, hours per week, duties Long-form resume or CV showing job title, duties, month and year dates, and hours per week for each job Ecclesiastical endorsement dated within the past 12 months Transcript if you use education to qualify Proof of four units of Clinical Pastoral Education if you are not board certified SF-50 if you are a current or former federal employee or a VHA trainee graduate DD-214 if you claim veterans' preference SF-15 if you claim 10-point veterans' preference

3 Apply on USAJOBS

Closes in 6 days (November 9, until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time).

You sign in to USAJOBS with a Login.gov account, answer the questionnaire and upload your documents, then you submit. Answer the questionnaire honestly: your resume must show what you claim.

How they rate you: You are rated on how well you meet the qualifications, and your resume and answers will be verified. You may be asked to send written answers to knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). An incomplete application receives an ineligible rating, and errors or missing information can affect your consideration.

Apply on USAJOBS ↗

4 After you apply

In USAJOBS, under Applications, you can see where your application stands: received, reviewed, referred to the hiring manager or not, then selected or not. It can take a few weeks.

For the interview, prepare three examples with the STAR method: the Situation, the Task, what you did (Action) and the Result.

If they choose you: a tentative offer, then a background check, then the final offer with your start date.

Tips for this job:

Get your ecclesiastical endorsement dated within the past 12 months, since an incomplete package is rated ineligible.
Make your resume show the month and year for each job, plus hours worked per week, and describe duties in detail.
The 2-page resume limit does not apply here, but you must send a long-form resume or CV and any SF-50 or DD-214 that applies to you.

Kandidatu is an independent website: only the official posting counts. Read it before you apply.