Your steps to apply
Chaplain
Veterans Health Administration · Walla Walla, Washington · Closes in 6 days
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1 Check you can apply You are here
Who can apply: Federal employees - Excepted service, Federal employees - Competitive service, The public, Veterans.
You must be a U.S. citizen, national, or someone who owes allegiance to the U.S. The job is open to the public, current federal employees, and Veterans or eligible family members, who may receive veterans' preference. Other federal agencies' permanent employees are considered first, then Veterans, then the public.
Experience: You need one year of experience equal to GS-9 level that is directly related to chaplain work. The job is GS-11, but you could be selected anywhere from GS-9 to GS-11, and you must also show the listed skills, such as advance care planning and crisis counseling.
Education: You need a Master of Divinity or an equivalent graduate-level theological degree from an accredited school, with transcripts showing the confer date. You can also use an approved educational equivalency review from a national chaplain board certification body. Foreign degrees must be evaluated by a NACES-affiliated agency and found equal to a U.S. degree.
Licenses and certifications:
- Board certification as a chaplain from BCCI or a U.S. certifying body with a reciprocity agreement with BCCI, requiring 4 units of CPE
- Ecclesiastical endorsement from your faith group's official national endorsing body, dated within the past 12 months
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.
3 Apply on USAJOBS
Closes in 6 days (November 10, 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 listed in the announcement. Your application, resume, and supporting documents will be verified, and errors or missing information may lower your rating or make you ineligible. Referred applicants may be contacted for an interview.
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 last 12 months before you apply, since it is required.
- Send transcripts that show the degree confer date, and send a long-form CV rather than a 2-page resume.
- If you are not yet board certified, know the temporary appointment is limited to 2 years and requires proof of 4 CPE units.
Kandidatu is an independent website: only the official posting counts. Read it before you apply.