Your steps to apply
Staff Psychologist – BHIP Therapist
Veterans Health Administration · Syracuse, New York · Closes in 58 days
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1 Check you can apply You are here
Who can apply: The public.
Open to the public. The announcement lists U.S. citizens, nationals, and people who owe allegiance to the U.S., but the conditions of employment say you must be a U.S. citizen to apply.
Experience: For GS-11 (entry level), no experience is needed beyond the basic requirements. For GS-12, you need at least 1 year of post-doctoral experience as a professional psychologist, comparable to GS-11. For GS-13, you need at least 2 years as a professional psychologist, with at least 1 year at the GS-12 level.
Education: A doctoral degree in psychology from a program accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), with a specialty that matches the job. You also need a professional psychology internship accredited by APA or CPA that matches the job. The announcement lists other paths, such as re-specialization, a doctoral degree from 1951 to 1978, and board certification.
Licenses and certifications:
- Full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia
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 58 days (December 31, 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. Your application, resume, and supporting documents will be verified, and errors or missing information may lower your rating or make you ineligible. The VA also performs pre-employment reference checks.
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 a long-form resume or CV that shows dates and clear details; the 2-page resume limit does not apply to this job.
- If you use education to qualify, attach transcripts from schools accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized agency.
- Submit the full questionnaire and all required documents by 11:59 PM ET on 12/31/2026, because incomplete packages may be rated ineligible.
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