Your steps to apply
Health Technician (Ophthalmology)
Veterans Health Administration · Los Angeles, California · Closes in 49 days
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1 Check you can apply You are here
Who can apply: The public.
This job is open to the public, but you must be a U.S. citizen to apply. Veterans' preference applies, and preference-eligible applicants are referred first.
Experience: For GS-5, you need one year of experience in a health care field, such as nursing, medical assistant, or health technician. For GS-6 to GS-8, you need one year of experience at the grade below plus specific knowledge and skills (KSAs) listed in the announcement.
Education: Two years of college above high school with at least six semester hours directly related to health care, or an associate's degree in a health care field. You can also combine experience and education, such as six months of health care experience plus one year of college above high school. Education must come from schools recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Licenses and certifications:
- Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA) certification from JCAHPO. Applicants pending this certification may be referred but cannot be hired until it is complete.
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 49 days (December 18, 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, based on your questionnaire and documents. Your application and supporting documents will be verified, and missing or unclear 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:
- Confirm your COA certification before applying, since you cannot be hired until it is complete.
- If you use education to qualify, attach your transcript to your application package.
- Describe your health care experience clearly with dates and duties, because the VA verifies it. The deadline is 11:59 PM ET on 12/18/2026.
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