?How to Get A Job With the VA?

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i love my country, as you can tell by my screen name, i am enthusiastically prone to patriotism. yesterday i completed my cna training through a well-respected vocational training institution in denver. i was a good student, and was proud to get 100% on my written final and 96% on my clinical skills. shortly i will be taking the colorado exam for certification.

i am a 58-year-old female who has just entered a career transition from a sales career to nursing. i have chosen to enter nursing through cna, to lpn, to rn or if i am lucky, and win the lottery, cna to rn. it has been by life long wish to be able to become a nurse, but early marriage, finances, a family business that needed my help, and putting my children through college demanded precedence over my personal wants, commonly known as the "mama syndrome". it is a little belated but it is now time for me.

i would be thrilled if i could get a job working in a veteran's hospital as a cna, complete my education and working years for the va. i feel that this would be a positive, helpful way to participate in support of my country and to show my appreciation to the wonderful people who have protected my rights, freedoms and great fortune to have lives the life of an all american girl.

i have a lot of questions about the possibilities and outcome of my working in the va hospital system that i hope some of you will be willing to answer for me. some of my questions may seem naive, and stupid, but i know very little about any of this so please bear with me.

  • is there a mandatory retirement age? at 58, is it too late for me?
  • in about 24 to 30 months, my husband and i will be moving to florida. if i begin working for a va facility here, can i keep my seniority, any retirement etc. and transfer to another facility within the system?
  • where are va hospitals located in south west florida?
  • there are a gazillion out patient facilities listed in s.w. florida? i know this is a really stupid question, but ...what are they, what is done there, etc.?
  • will i feel out of place in a va hospital? are most employees military and non-civilian? are most of the people working for the va young? are there any old women and men working for the va?
  • is there a web site that has any jobs listed?
  • how do i get hired? what is the process?

i hope that you all will help me with as much input as you can on this.

thank you,

allamericangirl :nurse:

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Call the VA that you are interested in working at, ask for human resources, explain your goals and ask for a application to be sent to you. The VA I work at does not have CNA but do have Healthcare Techs's. You can also google the website for VA careers. Good luck to you.

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Thank you for your advice. I guess my greatest concern is if age will be an issue. I would work in the laundry and scrub floors just to get my foot in the door if I can see that it would be a viable future for me and not to be looking at a mandatory retirement age that would cut me off mid way through completing my education and service there.

Call the VA that you are interested in working at, ask for human resources, explain your goals and ask for a application to be sent to you. The VA I work at does not have CNA but do have Healthcare Techs's. You can also google the website for VA careers. Good luck to you.
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Here is the phone number of Miami VA Medical center dept. of veteran affairs,human resources: (305) 575-4455 ext. 3155 . I did apply for a position in the VA system, it took a long time before I was interviewed, just be patient. I don't remember an age limit either. Good luck!!

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Kule! Thanx!

AAG

Here is the phone number of Miami VA Medical center dept. of veteran affairs,human resources: (305) 575-4455 ext. 3155 . I did apply for a position in the VA system, it took a long time before I was interviewed, just be patient. I don't remember an age limit either. Good luck!!
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Specializes in Critical Care.

Age is not a factor, nor is handicap. I love working for the VA, it takes a while once you send in your application, get interviewed, physical, orientation, etc.. but it is worth it. So what is your update, did you contact your local VA?

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Thank you for caring to ask about me... I really appreciate it.

Today I did my hair so that my dark roots don't show (the problem with bottle blondes!), am soaking my face with oily goop to plump out some of the wrinkles, am duct taping all of the lint off my black business suit, steam pressing it, and polishing my sensible black high heels that make my legs look good ... so at least something will look good, am reviewing my resume for mistakes, printing off copies, looking at Hospital Job Aps on the web so I am familiar with them ... whew...

Hope I don't find out that I should have gotten tatooed, a belly ring, and have worn a black spandex pants and a top with my navel sticking out... LOL ... OMG! ...

Tomorrow morning at 7:30 am "sharp", I am headed out the door with 20 resumes in hand, a list of where I worked when, and my CNA school certificate. I am hitting the hospitals with the Denver VA Hospital 1st on the list! Thought I would go there, talk to who ever will talk to me from the house keeping staff up as far as I can go ... then go to their personnel office if they have one and .... that is the plan. From there I just keep going to hospitals all week .... after that I start with the LTC facilities.... where I really don't want to work ... but when I start that I will start with the VA facility FIRST again. I used this week, my first week out of school to catch up on my house and laundry that got trashed while I was in school. I will keep you posted on all progress. Even if I get hired somewhere else I will keep going after the VA jobs. Thank you BadBird :loveya:

Age is not a factor, nor is handicap. I love working for the VA, it takes a while once you send in your application, get interviewed, physical, orientation, etc.. but it is worth it. So what is your update, did you contact your local VA?
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check out VAcareers.com...they post job listings there, don't know if that site will give you any more of the info you need. I entered nursing at age 46, and have never had age be a factor in hiring. Lucky for us, everyone needs nurses so badly right now, don't know about CNAs. Most of the larger employers have educational reimbursement for job-related classes. I know quite a few CNAs who worked part-time and went to school full-time to get their RN Associate degrees (with their employer paying for it). It only takes a couple years to do it. You could take the prerequisites like Anatomy, Biology,etc., first; while putting yourself on a waiting list (yes, there is one at most colleges) for the RN program at a community college. I decided against the BSN due to my age, but am thinking about pursuing it on-line in a couple years. I started nursing clinicals at age 43, working part-time and raising 3 kids, who are now 19,12 and 6. When I was in nursing school our class consisted of 40 men and women. There were 8 of us who were over 40, 2 women in their 50s. It was a little wierd ar first, but soon it seems 'everyday' to be going to school with people who are young enough to possibly be your grandkids. Good luck to you...you can do it if you want it bad enough!

Thank you for caring to ask about me... I really appreciate it.

Today I did my hair so that my dark roots don't show (the problem with bottle blondes!), am soaking my face with oily goop to plump out some of the wrinkles, am duct taping all of the lint off my black business suit, steam pressing it, and polishing my sensible black high heels that make my legs look good ... so at least something will look good, am reviewing my resume for mistakes, printing off copies, looking at Hospital Job Aps on the web so I am familiar with them ... whew...

Hope I don't find out that I should have gotten tatooed, a belly ring, and have worn a black spandex pants and a top with my navel sticking out... LOL ... OMG! ...

Tomorrow morning at 7:30 am "sharp", I am headed out the door with 20 resumes in hand, a list of where I worked when, and my CNA school certificate. I am hitting the hospitals with the Denver VA Hospital 1st on the list! Thought I would go there, talk to who ever will talk to me from the house keeping staff up as far as I can go ... then go to their personnel office if they have one and .... that is the plan. From there I just keep going to hospitals all week .... after that I start with the LTC facilities.... where I really don't want to work ... but when I start that I will start with the VA facility FIRST again. I used this week, my first week out of school to catch up on my house and laundry that got trashed while I was in school. I will keep you posted on all progress. Even if I get hired somewhere else I will keep going after the VA jobs. Thank you BadBird :loveya:

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another thing...your age will be a asset applying for some scholarships. i recieved two decent scholarships for organizations that support women returning to the work force..worth a try!

i love my country, as you can tell by my screen name, i am enthusiastically prone to patriotism. yesterday i completed my cna training through a well-respected vocational training institution in denver. i was a good student, and was proud to get 100% on my written final and 96% on my clinical skills. shortly i will be taking the colorado exam for certification.

i am a 58-year-old female who has just entered a career transition from a sales career to nursing. i have chosen to enter nursing through cna, to lpn, to rn or if i am lucky, and win the lottery, cna to rn. it has been by life long wish to be able to become a nurse, but early marriage, finances, a family business that needed my help, and putting my children through college demanded precedence over my personal wants, commonly known as the "mama syndrome". it is a little belated but it is now time for me.

i would be thrilled if i could get a job working in a veteran's hospital as a cna, complete my education and working years for the va. i feel that this would be a positive, helpful way to participate in support of my country and to show my appreciation to the wonderful people who have protected my rights, freedoms and great fortune to have lives the life of an all american girl.

i have a lot of questions about the possibilities and outcome of my working in the va hospital system that i hope some of you will be willing to answer for me. some of my questions may seem naive, and stupid, but i know very little about any of this so please bear with me.

  • is there a mandatory retirement age? at 58, is it too late for me?
  • in about 24 to 30 months, my husband and i will be moving to florida. if i begin working for a va facility here, can i keep my seniority, any retirement etc. and transfer to another facility within the system?
  • where are va hospitals located in south west florida?
  • there are a gazillion out patient facilities listed in s.w. florida? i know this is a really stupid question, but ...what are they, what is done there, etc.?
  • will i feel out of place in a va hospital? are most employees military and non-civilian? are most of the people working for the va young? are there any old women and men working for the va?
  • is there a web site that has any jobs listed?
  • how do i get hired? what is the process?

i hope that you all will help me with as much input as you can on this.

thank you,

allamericangirl :nurse:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in psych.

The VA called for an interview my interview was almost three weeks ago! They told me either way they would let me know. No returned phone calls from the interviewers. The receptionist said that they have not decided yet. Does anyone know this process, it's much different from what I'm used to. :coollook:

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That also happened to me--I interviewed and was told I was a strong candidate. It was about a week later when they called to say that they had to offer the job within the VA(I kinda wondered why they hadn't done that first) then I never heard from them again. It is very disappointing,because the whole process is so time consuming and then you don't even find out what happened.

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Specializes in Nursing Education.

The VA takes a great deal of time to secure a position. I wish I could tell you why. When I first went to the VA for a position, they told me that they were on a hiring freeze. As an RN, I wondered if they were the only hospital in the country on a hiring freeze. Several weeks later, I called again and they asked me to come in ... I interviewed and then waited and waited and waited. Finally, after several calls, I was asked to come back in. In the end, it took over 4 months for them to finally make a job offer to me.

When I started working with the other nurses, I slowly began to realize that my experience was not unique and most of the nurses all waited varying amounts of time ... some as long as 6 months before an offer was made. Unfortunately, this is the reason that the VA has a hard time filling positions ... most nurses need to work and can not wait several months for the VA to make up their minds.

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