Your steps to apply
Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)
Veterans Health Administration · Bangor, Maine · Closes in 14 days
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1 Check you can apply You are here
Who can apply: The public, Internal to an agency.
The job is open to the public and to current VA employees, and the announcement says applicants must be U.S. citizens. Veterans' preference does not apply, but veterans are encouraged to apply.
Experience: The basic requirements say no experience is needed, but the GS-06 grade requires 1 year of experience equivalent to GS-05. Qualifying experience includes clinic work in a hospital or doctor's office that involved scheduling many appointments, customer service, and computer scheduling software. You must also show advanced knowledge of medical terminology and of access-to-care processes.
Education: A high school diploma, GED, or a state or territorial proficiency certificate meets the basic education requirement. There is no education substitution for the GS-06 level.
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 14 days (November 17, until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time).
Applicants may be referred for consideration before the closing date, 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 application, resume, and supporting documents. The agency verifies your information, and errors or omissions may affect your rating; you may also be asked to complete USA Hire assessments.
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:
- Make your long-form resume or CV specific about dates, hours per week, and scheduling volume, since the agency will not assume experience
- Include a transcript if you use education to qualify, and SF-50s if you are a current or former federal employee
- Submit your full application package and any USA Hire assessments before 11:59 PM ET on the closing date
Kandidatu is an independent website: only the official posting counts. Read it before you apply.