VA Hiring Process

Got the official letter today, stating they are Withdrawing tentative offer of employment because I did not provide sufficient information to complete Vet/Pro employment process.

What the Heck? Just talked to HR two weeks ago who stated it was all complete and closed? Putting a call into the supervisor who sent me this letter asking for comfirmation because I was told by so and so it was complete.....and the real reason was budget.

Totally bummed but moving on. Hoping this is not how it is going to be for every job. I am really really past being disappointed with Nursing.

There is a county school nurse job that I am applying for, and taking a $800 audiometry class for because it is a requirement, and I would love this job, but wondering if it is worth it to even try. So freakin frustrated. And my Nursing Scholarship is on my butt becasue I have not found a job yet and they want to put me in default. Amazing I do not drink or smoke! Maybe I should start!!!!

Thanks for the vent. Hope your application process goes better.

Don't know what to say elprup other than if you know who the person is that told you the VETPRO was done/complete I would definitely ask the director about this..it takes a lot of time and patience to get on w/the VA and the expense they go through for VETPRO - something sounds amiss here and I would hate for you to lose out because of an oversight. I have found quickly that one person says one thing and another person another...I didn't give up on a few things I was promised though it took months.

As far as the school nurse position..I don't know how much experience you have as a nurse, usually those position do require some experience..the $800 class it seems should be offered by them if it's a condition of employment but maybe times have changed so much that isn't the case. Go for it - you will never know otherwise.

Nursing is a tough game these days - for a variety of reasons but I really don't know of any secure occupation in these economic times.....good luck to you. I hope something positive happens for you soon.

Thanks Marshall,

I emailed everybody questioning where I went amiss with the VA ~ including the one who told me it was complete. And just sent out my check for the class. I will end up somewhere. Thanks again for all your assistance. You rock!

Nope, no job. The year I spent at clinic does not count because I was hired below my RN, even though they used me as RN. Also because there was, and still is, no Nurse Manager or Medical Director who can vouch for my duties, even though HR sent a letter stating I was utilized as a RN. Also, my references were not from Nurse Managers - well except one, who was my supervisor for 3 months until she was let go...ooh but she was an LVN. I should have never stayed there a year, but I thought it would at least give me some experience. wrong! take care you all and I do truly appreciate all the assistance you provided.

Can anyone tell me why some jobs say vetpro and others don't? What does it really mean and does that mean it takes a lot longer if hired?

As far as I know all medical positions require VETPRO..if you have a question about it I'd call and ask the HR person. What it really means is an expensive background check. As far as it taking longer - longer than a usual background check where the hospital pulls up your license and calls a few references? Yes. For a variety of reasons, one, VETPRO goes back YEARS and if you have more than 30 days w/o employment you have to be able to provide a reason why and someone to verify that time, also, part of VETPRO depends on references getting their part - which is usually mailed to them - at least it was for me - back to the HR dept. You can read through the posts here and other places about this. You will not apply for a nursing position at a VA, get interviewed and hired in a few days or few wks. It takes time - sometimes lots of time...i'm told my process was quick and from application to hire was almost 3 months.

Stumbled across the forum and appreciate all the good information. Ok, my wife is not one to do these types of things but I thought I would as I find it informative. Wife has decided to apply for a VA RN job. So far she has applied to 3 different positions in 3 different areas of the country. The hometown position had mutiple openings and she received the " eligible - referred to selecting official" 3 days after the closing. I thought was pretty fast but it has been almost 4 weeks now and not heard anything further. Another position a week after closing, she received a NOR only stating she was EL (eligible for the position) - that was just recently and nothing further since then. The final position it has been 10 days since closing and not received any notification of results yet. I asked her if she wanted to call the HR lady for any of these and said no she does not want to bug them and they have my resume and application and will call me if they want. If it were me I would call just get a timeline but then I am not a very patient person to begin with. Anyway, hopefully she will get an interview soon and by reading the comments here, it has helped a lot knowing what to expect.

The hiring process in some cases literally has taken years and does not take less than months - even after scoring an interview - that's the easy part...it is NOT as fast/easy/understandable as the private sector. And, depending on where she is applying, some things may have changed..there have been and are going to be some lay-offs and closing of some dept in one of the VA's in my state (Ga).

If she doesn't hear something at the 1 month mark, then I'd suggest calling and seeing if she is still be considered but right now..it's too early.

I have a question about the application process for any of you who have been through it... I put my application in over a month ago, and an email to the nurse recruiter just got me a standard reply stating it is in the "qualifications review" process. Is it normal to take over a month for a call back? Do they just wait until the closing date for the job posting (not until September) to start interviewing people? Just wondering if there is any way to know what's going on without being too annoying. I really want this job, and I know I'm qualified for it!

86toronado,

From my understanding, the hiring manager isn't given potential candidates list until after the closing date of the job. I had a few interviews before eventually securing my position and I'm sure I was never contacted until after the closing date for those positions. The timeframe varied, I was contacted a few days after the closing date to as far out as 1 month.

I was a federal technician in a different field then went to nursing I have been in a nursing home for 2 months glad for work glad for experience but I do not enjoy it. So I was thrilled when I was tent offered the job at va for primary care clinic next day I went in for finger printing and physical that weekend I completed my equip and vet pro my references already received and mailed back questionnaire so now I just wait for my board date then start date. I am so looking forward to this I will be taking 9 years retirement to the job and can buy back my active duty time taking me up to 12 years toward retirement can't wait

Update: wife received a call today from HR for a position that closed almost 3 weeks ago in which there had not been any kind of notification of results. So the call was surprising. The HR person asked her if she was still interested in the position and asked if there were any questions she had about the position. The HR person then told her that the hiring manager would be contacting her but did not give any timetable nor did my wife ask. I consider this a positive development. I hope in this case that the hiring manager has already reviewed her application and asked HR to verify her interest in the position before making contact.