Your steps to apply
Dentist – Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
Veterans Health Administration · Washington, District of Columbia · Closes in 86 days
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1 Check you can apply You are here
Who can apply: The public.
Open to the public, but only U.S. citizens, nationals, or those who owe allegiance to the U.S. can apply. Non-citizens may be appointed only when qualified citizens cannot be recruited. Veterans get preference when qualifications are about equal.
Experience: Completion of an approved residency in general practice or a dental specialty, or comparable experience as a dentist actively treating medically compromised patients. The full performance level is AD-15. The appointing official may waive this requirement under unusual circumstances.
Education: A Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) or Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from a dental school approved by the VA Secretary, such as a school accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). Foreign schools must meet the listed rules. Degrees must come from accredited institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Licenses and certifications:
- Current, full, and unrestricted license to practice dentistry in a U.S. state, territory, Puerto Rico, or D.C.
- Maintain state registration if the state requires it to keep your license active
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 86 days (January 29, until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time).
Applications are reviewed on set cut-off dates starting November 12, 2026, to fill the first available vacancies, so applying early may help.
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, resume or CV, and supporting documents. Your application and 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, then the final offer with your start date.
Tips for this job:
- Send a long-form resume or CV; the two-page resume limit does not apply to this job.
- If you use your education to qualify, attach transcripts from accredited schools.
- To claim veterans' preference, select it in the questionnaire and attach your DD-214 and, if needed, an SF-15.
Kandidatu is an independent website: only the official posting counts. Read it before you apply.