Jobs Posted on USAJOBS

Since I have been applying for positions to work for the government, especially for the Veterans Affairs and Dept. of the Air Force, it has come to my attention that when a job is posted on USAJOBS, it doesn't necessarily mean there is an opening at that location. This is something I had no clue about for quite sometime, but after a few contacts I made while waiting to hear back on my application, I learned that some job openings are posted to continuously accept applications.

Just recently I had applied for a position to work at McChord AFB in Washington in the Airman/Family Readiness Center. This job opening states that there are few vacancies at numerous locations on Air Force bases, however if you missed the section that states

************IMPORTANT INFORMATION CONCERNING STANDING REGISTERS************

THIS IS A STANDING REGISTER AND WILL BE USED TO FILL ANTICIPATED VACANCIES (PERMANENT, TERM AND TEMPORARY) AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS AS OPENINGS OCCUR.

Your application will only be reviewed and a notice sent when an actual fill request is received. Salary may vary depending on your experience, education, etc. Your resume will remain on file 90 days after the closing date for consideration.

You would have sent your resume out with high hopes just like myself, not realizing that there's actually no jobs at the moment and none planned in the near future. I found this out when I emailed someone at the Airman/Family Readiness center. I never knew these types of postings existed; I would hit the main points of the job posting such as the location, salary, duties, qualifications and how to apply. Many times I wouldn't even scroll down on the first page where you will see this paragraph in bold lettering.

However when you see any job posting advertising a position saying there are numerous vacancies open, you are led to believe that possibly you will find out within a few months about whether you will get an interview or not, because it sounds like you have a great shot with all the openings they mention. Usually the jobs you apply for will get back to you within a few months at the most, though many have gotten back to me within a couple of weeks after the last day to apply.

Another recent email I received by a person in the Human Resource department, at my local Veterans Affairs, sent me an email explaining about an Internship that was posted through the Veterans Affairs Internship program. Once again I wrote to the person in the email to find out how I could go about applying for the internship. That's when I found out there are no positions open. Here's the email I received from the person about the internship.

Steve, all recruitment for Intern programs at Northport is done through Human Resources and we are not currently recruiting for any Interns in any field. The programs we have here are HR, Budget and Biomedical Engineering. Unfortunately, while preceptor names are listed on that we site, that means an office may participate in the Intern program but it is not necessarily recruiting at this point in time because there are no current vacancies. A bachelor's degree qualifies an individual at the GS-5 or 7 grade levels and Intern vacancies being filled at those grades must be announced in USAJOBS. Intern positions can also be filled at the GS-9 level, which requires a masters degree in a related field or specialized experience in the field. If you are looking nationwide at USAJOBS and see no Intern vacancies, then no one is actively recruiting at this point. Most Intern slots are filled starting in June and so it is possible that all recruitment has closed for any remaining vacancies. Unfortunately, listing the fact that a program exists at a particular medical center does not mean there is a current vacancy. It sounds like that listing gave the impression that all those sites are hiring an Intern, and that is not necessarily the case at this point.

Yes, the listing I was looking at did give me the impression that there were openings, and in the end there was none. Though I learned from her email that if there are openings for an internship position they will be posted on USAJOBS.

In the end I figured the best thing to do, is constantly check USAJOBS, apply for all kinds of positions you believe you are eligible for even for the continuous recruitment ones, because you never know when there is an opening and something may open up down the road, but don't sit and wait. Also I now learned to email someone in the human Resources dept. of the facility you plan on applying for, to make sure there is an actual opening and whether or not your taking the right steps to applying for the position. These people are very helpful and have no problems writing you back for the most part as you saw what the person at my local VA sent me within a day.

Checkout my WIKI page below, which has some great links to information pertaining to employment and internships.

MY WIKI - Jobs / Internships