what am I doing wrong?

You're probably going to have to be a little more specific about what you're doing before we can answer that. What's your background and what kind of positions are you applying for? Location? Have you gone to any interviews? If so (or even if not), have you looked at some sample performance-based interview questions that the VA uses? Are all your application materials up to date and complete? We can't possibly know "what [you're] doing wrong" without knowing more in general.

Sorry for the delayed response. So, approx. 7 months after my initial post here about my experience, I was contacted by a recruiter who forwarded my application to a Nurse manager. Short story, I was hired....after another 7 months.

The takeaway for those attempting to get on with the Federal Govt.?

It is a long, almost exhaustive process. I was already an fed employee with outstanding performance evals (routinely exceeds expectations) and it still took 1.5 years and 47 applications to get a transfer to a different federal Facility/Branch.

3 things I learned:

1)-Don't give up

2) Apparently, the different branches of federal service do not play well together; hence lack of cooperation, stonewalling, and just general douche baggery

3)-File a FOIA request on every application you have submitted, or better still: Retain an attorney to send/File a FOIA for you (this method seems to motivate the most people with the least amount of energy expenditure)

PIN