Your steps to apply
Optometrist
Veterans Health Administration · Poplar Bluff, Missouri · Closes in 22 days
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1 Check you can apply You are here
Who can apply: Veterans, The public.
Only U.S. citizens can apply, unless the VA cannot find qualified citizens; then non-citizens may be appointed. The job is open to the public, and veterans and certain family members of veterans may claim veterans' preference.
Experience: You must have completed a VA-approved residency training program, or have 2 years of licensed clinical optometry practice in the United States that involved managing medically complex patients. Three years of experience at a VA facility or private practice is preferred. Pay is set through a formal pay-setting process.
Education: You need a Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree from a school of optometry accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE), or another approved school listed for the year you finished. Foreign education needs a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency sent with your transcript.
Licenses and certifications:
- Current, full and unrestricted license to practice optometry in a U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, or D.C.
- Registration in your state of licensure if required, and passing all parts of the National Board of Examiners in Optometry exam for basic licensure
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 22 days (November 20, until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time).
The announcement may close before the listed closing date if the position is filled another way.
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 based on how well you meet the qualifications listed. Your application, resume, and supporting documents will be verified, and errors or missing information may affect your 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, a security clearance (Other), then the final offer with your start date.
Tips for this job:
- Use the VA Clinical Resume document link in the announcement for the two-page resume field, and put your full CV in the Other field
- Make sure your Doctor of Optometry degree comes from an approved, accredited school and that your residency or 2 years of practice is clearly shown
- Apply online by 11:59 PM ET on 11/20/2026, and include the announcement number in the Notes field if you cannot apply online
Kandidatu is an independent website: only the official posting counts. Read it before you apply.