Your steps to apply
Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor
Veterans Health Administration · Pensacola, Florida · Closes in 7 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, but you must be a U.S. citizen to apply. Veterans' preference applies, and current permanent VA employees and other federal employees should apply under announcement CBST-13098688-27-DAY.
Experience: You need at least 1 year of mental health counseling experience gained after your master's or doctoral degree, at the GS-11 level, from VA or non-VA work. You must also hold a license to practice independently.
Education: You need a master's or doctoral degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling, or a related field from a program accredited by CACREP (Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs). Traditional rehabilitation counseling programs do not qualify.
Licenses and certifications:
- Full, current, unrestricted license to practice independently as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, including diagnosis and treatment
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 7 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 will be rated on how well you meet the listed qualifications, based on your questionnaire and documents. Errors or missing required documents may lead to an ineligible rating or lower your overall rating.
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:
- Include your transcript with your application, because you must submit it when you use education to qualify.
- Make sure your license is included in your application package, since it is a required document.
- If you claim veterans' preference, select it in the questionnaire and upload your DD-214 and any SF-15 with proof.
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