Your steps to apply
Staff Psychologist – Mental Health
Veterans Health Administration · Davenport, Iowa · Closes in 30 days
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1 Check you can apply You are here
Who can apply: The public.
You must be a U.S. citizen to apply. The agency says this announcement is open to all U.S. citizens, health professions trainees, and other federal agencies.
Experience: GS-11 (entry level) needs no experience beyond the basic requirements. GS-12 needs at least 1 year of experience as a professional psychologist at the GS-11 level, and GS-13 needs at least 2 years as a professional psychologist, with at least 1 year at the GS-12 level.
Education: You need a doctoral degree in psychology from a program accredited by APA, PCSAS, or CPA, and the degree's specialty must match the job. You also need a completed professional psychology internship accredited by APA or CPA. School psychology degrees are not accepted. Other options include a doctoral degree in any area of psychology plus an approved re-specialization program, or a doctoral degree from 1951 to 1978 with a mainly psychological dissertation.
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 30 days (December 1, until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time).
This is an open continuous announcement, and it stays open until it is closed, cancelled, or filled, so it may close before the stated closing date of 12/01/2026 at 11:59 PM ET.
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 resume, CV, and supporting documents, which will be verified. Errors or missing information may result in an ineligible rating or lower your overall rating.
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:
- Upload the standard Clinical Resume Document in the Resume field and your full CV in the Other field.
- Write separate answers to the GS-12 and GS-13 knowledge, skills, and abilities, since the agency highly recommends it.
- Include your transcript, which you must submit, and confirm your license and degree details match what you list.
Kandidatu is an independent website: only the official posting counts. Read it before you apply.