Your steps to apply
Clinical Lab Scientist
Veterans Health Administration · East Orange, New Jersey · Closes in 87 days
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1 Check you can apply You are here
Who can apply: The public.
The job is open to the public. You must be a U.S. citizen, national, or person who owes allegiance to the U.S. to apply.
Experience: You need 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level for GS-11, which is GS-10. Preferred experience is 2 to 5 years as a CLS Generalist covering all lab sections.
Education: All applicants need a bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university. For GS-11, 3 full years of progressively higher graduate education, or a Ph.D. or doctoral degree in medical technology or a directly related science, can be used instead of experience.
Licenses and certifications:
- Generalist certification as a Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) from ASCP BOC or AMT, or as a Medical Technologist (MT) from ASCP or AMT
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 87 days (January 29, until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time).
The cut-off for the first applicant list is November 15, 2026, and later lists will be sent as needed until the vacancy is filled.
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 will be rated on how well you meet the qualifications, based on your questionnaire and application documents. Your application, resume, and supporting documents will be verified, and errors or missing information may lower your rating or make you ineligible.
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, a security clearance (Other), then the final offer with your start date.
Tips for this job:
- Apply by the first applicant list cut-off of November 15, 2026, to be considered in the first round.
- Attach your professional certification, since a generalist MLS or MT certification is required.
- If you use education to qualify, send your transcript and confirm your school is accredited by a U.S. Department of Education recognized body.
Kandidatu is an independent website: only the official posting counts. Read it before you apply.