Your steps to apply
Occupational Therapist
Veterans Health Administration · Buffalo, New York · Closes in 2 days
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1 Check you can apply You are here
Who can apply: The public.
The announcement says the job is open to the public and to U.S. citizens, nationals, or people who owe allegiance to the U.S. The conditions of employment also say you must be a U.S. citizen to apply, and non-citizens may be appointed only when qualified citizens cannot be recruited.
Experience: Experience needed depends on the grade. For the GS-9 level, you need a bachelor's degree in occupational therapy plus 2 years of work as an occupational therapist. For GS-11, you need 1 year of experience at the GS-9 level that is directly related to this job, and for GS-12 you need 1 year at the GS-11 level; outpatient occupational therapy experience is preferred.
Education: You need a degree from an occupational therapy program approved by ACOTE (the accrediting body for these programs). You may qualify with a bachelor's in occupational therapy plus 2 years of experience, a bachelor's in occupational therapy plus 2 full years of graduate education in a related field, or a master's or higher in occupational therapy. For GS-11, three years of progressively higher graduate education in occupational therapy or a directly related field, or a doctorate in occupational therapy, also qualifies. Foreign graduates qualify with a current, full, active, and unrestricted license, and foreign education needs a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency.
Licenses and certifications:
- Current NBCOT certification as an occupational therapist
- Full, current, and unrestricted state license to practice occupational therapy
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 2 days (November 5, 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 qualifications, based on your online questionnaire, resume, and supporting documents. Your experience will be verified, and pre-employment reference checks may be made. Errors or missing information can 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, a security clearance (Other), then the final offer with your start date.
Tips for this job:
- Attach a long-form resume or CV; the 2-page resume limit does not apply to this job.
- Describe each job with clear, specific dates and duties, because the agency will not assume anything about your experience.
- Submit the complete package by 11:59 PM ET on 11/05/2026, including the questionnaire and all required documents.
Kandidatu is an independent website: only the official posting counts. Read it before you apply.