Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor

Department of Veterans Affairs › Veterans Benefits Administration (34 current openings)

Tyler, Texas Spokane, Washington Lakewood, Colorado Sacramento, California Atlanta, Georgia Fort Walton Beach, Florida Champaign, Illinois Honolulu, Hawaii Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington Jacksonville, Florida Guam, Guam Lexington, Kentucky Norfolk, Virginia Providence County, Rhode Island Los Angeles, California Colorado Springs, Colorado White River Junction, Vermont Augusta, Maine Seattle, Washington Washington, District of Columbia Fort Riley, Kansas Hampton, Virginia New Orleans, Louisiana Richmond, Kentucky San Diego, California Fresno, California Saint Petersburg, Florida Sunrise, Florida Bremerton, Washington Salt Lake City, Utah Roanoke, Virginia Virginia Beach, Virginia Oakland, California Orlando, Florida Moreno Valley, California Montgomery, Alabama Columbus, Ohio Baltimore, Maryland Reno, Nevada Fort Bragg, North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina Charleston, South Carolina Boston, Massachusetts Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Winston-Salem, North Carolina Manchester, New Hampshire Jackson, Mississippi Portland, Oregon Arlington, Texas Muskogee, Oklahoma Las Vegas, Nevada Clarksville, Tennessee Fort Drum, New York Saint Paul, Minnesota Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Austin, Texas Columbia, South Carolina Albuquerque, New Mexico

Full-time Security Clearance: Other

Application Deadline:

2026-09-04

Posted:

2026-08-21

About 2 weeks left

Apply on usajobs.gov

Salary: $61,722 – $145,468 per year (GS-9/12)

Salary context

Based on 95 annual-salary jobs in the same occupational series. This role pays around the middle of similar positions.

Job Details

Position Overview

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors (VRCs) provide and coordinate a wide range of rehabilitation, counseling, and case management services to disabled Veterans and other eligible individuals. The purpose, objectives, services, and outcomes are developed by the VRC during the evaluation. The program's primary focus will be on helping the Veteran find work and set goals and objectives to help them become more independent in their daily lives.

Duties

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

Perform initial rehabilitation evaluations, entitlement assessments, rehabilitation planning, problem-solving, and adjustment counseling.
Provide case management, including the coordination of all rehabilitation services, case documentation, and employment services; and, as necessary, the administration and interpretation of vocation testing.
Provide services for employer consultation, employment development and placement, career counseling, and vocational planning and assessment.
Combine data from diagnostic tests and medical records to give a comprehensive picture of strengths, weaknesses, capabilities, and interests to help patients find a suitable employment or independent living objective.
Partner with Vet Centers, career centers, local Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program, Specialists, Local Veterans' Employment Representatives, VA employment programs, and others to provide job search and placement services.
Conduct counseling using a variety of approaches, including tele-counseling, depending on the needs of the Veteran.
Provide information and assistance with the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program through individual and group therapy sessions.

Promotion Potential: The full performance level of this position is grade GS-12
Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description Title/PD#: Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor/PD38542A, PD38544A, and PD38543A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Bargaining Unit: Yes-1276

Qualifications & Requirements

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the cut-off date and/or closing date of this job opportunity announcement, 09/04/2026.

This position is covered by a single agency qualification standard, VA Handbook 5005/157, part II, appendix F2, dated July 28, 2023.

NOTE: Applicants must meet both the Basic Requirement and the Specialized Experience as stated below.

1. BASIC REQUIREMENT:
A. Education. Successful completion of a master's degree (or higher) in rehabilitation counseling, rehabilitation services, clinical rehabilitation counseling, counseling psychology, mental health counseling, career counseling or social work from an accredited college or university.

B. Internship or Experience Requirement. The required (1) supervised internship or (2) post-master's degree experience is described as follows:

Supervised Internship: The education in paragraph 1A must have included a supervised internship in rehabilitation counselling or case management specialization. The internship must have been supervised by a professional in vocational rehabilitation or a closely related professional field that typically has oversight for vocational rehabilitation programs.

Experience: One-year post-master's degree work experience in direct delivery of professional vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities.

C. Grandfathering Provision. VRCs employed in the Veterans Benefits Administration on the effective date July 28, 2023, of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including certifications that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements in this standard but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:

VRCs who are grandfathered into the GS-0101 occupational series may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance level of a career ladder, changed to a lower grade within the occupation or placed in a supervisory or managerial position.
VRCs who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of this qualification standard may not be extended or reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of this standard.
If VRCs who are grandfathered under this provision leave the occupation, they lose protected status and must meet the full qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation

2. CREDITING EXPERIENCE:
A. Creditable Experience. Creditable experience must have required the use of KSAs associated with current professional vocational rehabilitation counseling practice. Creditable experience can be obtained through employment as a VRC. This may be demonstrated by providing direct rehabilitation counseling services to individuals with disabilities in the context of a professional counseling relationship, which may include vocational rehabilitation and personal adjustment counseling, case management, assessment, or rehabilitation, training, and employment services coordination.

B. Quality of Experience. Creditable experience must have been obtained post-graduate and be directly related to the duties to be performed to qualify to work as a professional VRC. Qualifying experience must also be equivalent to professional vocational rehabilitation counseling experience at the next lower level. NOTE: If work experience is credited for the basic requirement, that experience cannot also be used for qualifying at the GS-11 or GS-12 levels.

3. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:
In addition to meeting the basic requirements, applicants must meet the specialized experience listed below:

To qualify at the GS-09 grade level: None above the basic requirements listed above.

To qualify at the GS-11 grade level: Applicants must have completed at least 1 full year (52 weeks) post-graduate work experience providing professional vocational rehabilitation services equivalent to the next lower grade level of GS-09, in a federal, state and/or private setting. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: Experience that reflects the management of vocational rehabilitation counseling or case management workload involving persons with a wide variety of disability conditions (e.g., mental health, physical, cognitive, visual/auditory, substance abuse).

OR
EDUCATION
In addition to meeting the basic educational requirements, applicants may substitute experience with successful completion of 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education or a Ph.D. (or equivalent doctoral degree) in rehabilitation counseling or counseling psychology, as described above.

To qualify at the GS-12 grade level: Applicants must have completed at least 1 full year (52 weeks) post-graduate work experience at the GS-11 or equivalent of professional management of vocational rehabilitation counseling or case management workload involving persons with a wide variety of disability conditions (e.g., mental health, physical, cognitive, visual/auditory, substance abuse) in a federal, state and/or private vocational rehabilitation setting. Note: This is the journey (or full performance) level for this occupation. Specialized experience is defined as: professional vocational rehabilitation counseling work in delivery of service to adults with disabilities; providing case management that involved determining entitlement ranges from simple to complex; AND direct delivery of vocational rehabilitation services to adults with disabilities in rehabilitation programs, other than those in correctional facilities.

There is no substitution for work experience for the basic educational requirement nor the GS-12 grade level.

4. MODIFICATIONS OR WAIVERS: Management officials who are delegated the authority may modify or waive the specific requirements of this standard in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraphs 8-12 of this part.

Note: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge and skills, and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience you document, including volunteer experience.

Education

Transcripts are required for all applicants and must be uploaded prior to the closing date of the job opportunity announcement. Delaying the upload of your transcripts can result in a later submission and review of your application. Applications will be reviewed once all required documents are received. An omission of transcripts by the closing date will result in an ineligible rating.

The required education under this single-agency standard is the successful completion of a master's degree (or higher) in rehabilitation counseling, rehabilitation services, clinical rehabilitation counseling, counseling psychology, mental health counseling, career counseling or social work from an accredited college or university.

Awarded/Conferred master's degree is required and must be reflected on transcripts submitted at the time of application. Transcripts (unofficial and/or official) must show evidence of a supervised internship and must also show that the degree has been awarded/conferred and the date awarded.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/

If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | U.S. Department of Education

Requirements

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

your performance and conduct;
the needs and interests of the agency;
whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.Additional Conditions of Employment are as follows:

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
You may be required to serve a probationary or trial period
Subject to background/security investigation
Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements I-9 Acceptable Documents.
Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.

Evaluations

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, transcripts, and supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.

Application questionnaire: Applicants must complete a questionnaire as part of the application process. Applicants identifying as meeting minimum qualifications for the position will move on to the next phase of the assessment process.

USA Hire online assessments: Applicants must complete the online USA Hire Assessments measuring critical competencies required to perform the position announced. Examples used in the assessments include scenarios addressing the underlying competencies required for this position. Applicants who complete the online assessments will move on to the next phase of the assessment process.
Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Flexibility, Influencing/Negotiating, Integrity/Honesty, Interpersonal Skills, Learning, Reading Comprehension, Self-Management, Stress Tolerance, and Teamwork

Resume review: After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required Basic Requirement (IOR) and specialized experience. Resumes submitted for Federal positions may not exceed two pages. We will not review additional information beyond your resume and academic transcript (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume). Applicants passing the resume review will move on to the next phase of the assessment process.

Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or your further consideration for employment.
During our review, if your resume and application package does not support your questionnaire answers, we will adjust your rating accordingly.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Applicants who do not fully address in their resumes the specialized experience needed for the position (as described in the job opportunity announcement), or who do not possess the education to substitute for it, will not be referred for further consideration.

Your application will be evaluated using the rule of many method based on your responses to the assessment questions and the documents you submit. If you meet the basic requirements for the position, your application will be evaluated

Ranking and preference: Qualified candidates will be ranked in score order after completing all assessments. Candidates with Veterans' preference will be ranked ahead of candidates without Veterans' preference with the same score.

Referral method: A cut-off score of 70 or above will be referred. All candidates tied at the cut-off score will be referred.
If you are referred to the hiring manager for consideration, you will be rated on the following agency-specific competencies based on your application.

Customer Service
Therapy and Counseling
Technical Competence
Planning and Evaluating
Oral Communication
Writing

Required Documents

Required Documents:
Resume (limited to 2 pages)

You must provide a resume detailing your specialized experience and competencies relevant to the position.
For qualifications determinations your resume must reflect hours worked per week, the inclusive dates of employment, and the level of your experience. If your resume does not reflect this information you will not receive credit for the experience.
If you submit more than one copy of your resume, the most recent version will be reviewed. The latest timestamp will be used to determine which version of your resume is "most recent." It is your responsibility to check the status and timestamp of all documents you submit as part of your application. We would recommend that you not submit more than one version of your resume.
If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, we will not use it to make eligibility and qualification determinations, and you may not be considered further for the vacancy.

Accepted Documents:

Cover Letter
DD-214/ Statement of Service
Disability Letter (Schedule A)
Disability Letter (VA)
Four essay questions
PCS Orders
Performance Appraisal
Proof of Marriage Status
Resume
Separation Notice (RIF)
SF-15
SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
Transcript

Transcripts

If you are basing all or some of your qualifications on education or if a degree is required for the position, a transcript must be included as part of your application package.
An unofficial transcript may be submitted, however, it must reflect your name, the name of the school, course names, levels, credits earned, grades received, and degree conferred if applicable.
Your transcript (official of unofficial) must reflect the degree conferred date if you are substituting a degree for experience.
A photocopy of your degree is not acceptable in lieu of a transcript.
An official transcript will be required at a later date if you are selected for the position.
Whenever possible it is preferable that you submit copies of official transcripts. Unofficial transcripts may lack essential information necessary for a full evaluation of your qualifications.

Applicants claiming Veterans' preference must also submit:

A legible copy of your DD Form 214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty," showing all dates of service, as well as character of service (Honorable, General, etc.) is required. The member copy 2 or 4 of your DD Form 214 is preferable, as they show the characterization of service. Copies of DD-214s can be requested from the National Archives.
Current active duty members must submit a signed statement of service from their commander dated within the last 120 days that reflects their expected discharge date, their release from active duty under honorable conditions, any medals awarded, and the timeframe of their service so that eligibility can be determined.
Veterans or others (spouse, parent, widow, widower) claiming 10 point preference must also submit an SF-15 and all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference. This includes a VA letter supporting your disability claim with the overall percentage listed.
If you are unsure as to whether you qualify for Veterans' preference, please consult the U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Preference Advisor.

Applicants claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must also submit:

Certification of expected separation or reduction-in-force separation notice, your most recent performance evaluation, and an SF-50 demonstrating your separation or the position you will be separated from; or
Worker's compensation separation (agency certification of inability to place employee and notification of separation or a separation SF-50; or
Disability annuity termination (notification from OPM of disability annuity termination and separation SF-50 of the last position held); or
Military reserve or National Guard technician special disability retirement annuity under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456 (certification of special disability retirement annuity from a military department or National Guard bureau and separation SF-50 of the last position held).

Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure that all required documents have been submitted by the closing date of the announcement. You will not be contacted for additional information.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the Application Preview and submit the documentation specified in the required documents section above. https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13039692

Applicants can only apply to one location.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date 09/04/2026 to receive consideration. The application process is as follows:

Click the Apply Online button.
Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation.
Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date.
If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice.
Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials.
Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended.
Set aside about two (2) hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link.
Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused.

Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us.

To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.

Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.

Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.

Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume:

Prioritize most relevant and recent experience
Use concise, results focused language
Align language from the job announcement
Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies
Remove outdated or unrelated experience
Use the USAJOBS resume builder

Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at:

https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/

Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email.

Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made. Referred applicants may be contacted at any time during the hiring process. Please check all forms of communication (including email, voicemail, and spam folders), based on the contact information provided with your application, regularly to ensure you don't miss any updates. Failure to respond to communications may result in you being disqualified from consideration.

You will receive a final notification of results once a decision has been made.

You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.

Source: Data sourced from USAJOBS