Your steps to apply

Registered Nurse-Inpatient Mental Health Nurse
Veterans Health Administration · Jackson, Mississippi · Closes in 6 days

1 Check you can apply
2 Resume and documents
3 Apply on USAJOBS
4 After you apply

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1 Check you can apply You are here

Who can apply: Internal to an agency, The public.

The job is open to the public, but only U.S. citizens, nationals, or people who owe allegiance to the U.S. can apply. Current permanent employees of the hiring VA medical center and current permanent VA employees nationwide are referred first.

Experience: The announcement lists several grade levels. For Nurse I, Level III, you need an ADN plus 2 years of professional nursing experience (one year at Nurse I, Level II), or a BSN plus 1 year of professional nursing experience at Nurse I, Level II. VA also prefers 3 to 5 years of inpatient mental health experience.

Education: You must graduate from a school of professional nursing accredited by ACEN or CCNE, or meet the foreign school rules listed in the announcement. A BSN is preferred. Some grade levels accept a BSN, master's, or doctoral degree in place of extra nursing experience.

Licenses and certifications:

Current, full, active, and unrestricted nursing registration in a U.S. state, territory, Puerto Rico, or D.C. (one full and unrestricted license)
Graduate Nurse Technician exception: candidates without a license may get a 120-day temporary appointment while pursuing one

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.

Resume ready: dates, hours per week, duties Long-form resume or CV showing job title, duties, start and end dates (month/year), and average hours per week Institution name and degree conferred date, plus license state and expiration date Most recent SF-50 if you are or were a federal employee DD-214 if you claim veterans' preference SF-15 with proof if you claim 10-point preference Transcripts if you rely on education to qualify License or professional certification copies, if applicable

3 Apply on USAJOBS

Closes in 6 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 how well you meet the qualifications, and your experience is checked against five nursing dimensions: practice, veteran/patient driven care, leadership, professional development, and evidence-based practice. VA verifies your application and may check references; missing information or errors can lower your rating or make you ineligible.

Apply on USAJOBS ↗

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:

Your resume must list dates (month/year), duties, and average hours per week for each job.
Include the school name, degree date, and license state and expiration date on your resume.
If you claim veterans' preference, select it in the questionnaire and attach your DD-214.

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