Your steps to apply
Health Technician (Ophthalmology)
Veterans Health Administration · Mather AFB, California · Closes in 8 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 (or owe allegiance to the U.S.) to apply. The announcement says the position is open to U.S. citizens.
Experience: You need one year of experience in a health care field, such as nursing, medical assistant, or health technician, to qualify at GS-5. Higher grades need one year of experience at the grade just below (GS-6 needs GS-5 level, GS-7 needs GS-6 level, GS-8 needs GS-7 level), plus specific skills listed in the announcement. Paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work, counts.
Education: Two years of education beyond high school with at least six semester hours in a health care field, or an associate's degree in a health care related field. Education can also be combined with experience, such as six months of health care experience plus one year beyond high school, or six months of experience plus an Armed Forces health technician or ophthalmology course, or six months of experience plus an independent study course in Ophthalmic Medical Assisting.
Licenses and certifications:
- Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA) certification from JCAHPO
- Active BLS certification (listed as an ongoing duty)
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 8 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 the online questionnaire and on the USA Hire online assessment, which measures general job competencies. Your application, resume, and documents will be verified, and errors or missing information may lower your rating or affect consideration.
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:
- The 2-page resume limit does not apply to this job, so a long-form resume or CV is fine.
- Hold your COA certification before you are hired, because pending certification can delay hiring.
- If you claim veterans' preference, select it in the questionnaire and upload your DD-214 and any required forms.
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