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🇺🇸 Civil Service Examination (USAJOBS / OPM federal hiring) · flashcards
Civil Service Examination (USAJOBS / OPM federal hiring) Veterans' Preference and Special Eligibilities Flashcards
49 question-and-answer cards covering Veterans' Preference and Special Eligibilities as it is examined in Civil Service Examination (USAJOBS / OPM federal hiring). 24 of them are printed below, taken from across the deck — no signup, no paywall on the preview.
24 sample cards from the Veterans' Preference and Special Eligibilities deck
Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.
What is the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA)?
A competitive-service hiring authority that lets eligible veterans apply to job announcements open to 'status' candidates (open to current federal employees/merit promotion) even if they are not current federal employees.
Which veterans are eligible to apply under VEOA?
Preference eligibles, OR veterans who substantially completed 3 or more years of continuous active service (with an honorable/general discharge), even if not preference eligible.
Under VEOA, into what service is the appointment made?
The competitive service; a VEOA appointee acquires career or career-conditional status.
Does VEOA give a veteran extra preference points in the rating process?
No; VEOA only grants eligibility to compete for merit-promotion (status) announcements. It does not add preference points, though preference still applies to the rating if the announcement is also a competitive examination.
What is the key difference in announcement access between VRA and VEOA?
VRA is a noncompetitive excepted-service appointment (no announcement competition needed); VEOA lets a veteran compete on merit-promotion announcements otherwise limited to status candidates.
What is the '30% or more disabled veteran' hiring authority?
A noncompetitive appointing authority allowing agencies to appoint a veteran with a 30%+ service-connected disability rating to any position for which qualified, in the competitive service.
How is a veteran qualified for the 30% or more disabled veteran authority?
Retired from active military service with a disability rating of 30% or more, OR rated by the VA as having a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more.
Is there a grade-level cap on appointments under the 30% or more disabled veteran authority?
No; unlike VRA, there is no grade-level limit (subject to the veteran meeting qualifications).
Into what type of appointment does the 30% disabled authority initially place the veteran, and how does it convert?
It is an initial time-limited or temporary appointment that the agency may noncompetitively convert to permanent (career/career-conditional) competitive service at any time during the appointment.
What is Schedule A hiring authority for persons with disabilities (5 CFR 213.3102(u))?
An excepted-service authority allowing noncompetitive appointment of people with intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities.
What documentation must a Schedule A applicant provide?
Proof of disability (a 'Schedule A letter') from a licensed medical professional, licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist, or any federal/state/DC agency that issues or provides disability benefits.
Is a Schedule A appointment for people with disabilities the same as veterans' preference?
No; Schedule A is a disability-based excepted authority separate from veterans' preference, though a disabled veteran could qualify under either path.
How does a Schedule A excepted appointment convert to the competitive service?
After completing 2 years of satisfactory service, the appointee may be converted noncompetitively to a permanent competitive-service position.
What is military spouse preference / the Military Spouse hiring authority (Executive Order 13473)?
A noncompetitive appointing authority allowing agencies to appoint eligible spouses of certain members of the armed forces to competitive-service positions.
Which three categories of military spouses are eligible under the EO 13473 spouse hiring authority?
(1) Spouse of an active-duty member relocating on a PCS move; (2) spouse of a 100% disabled service member injured on active duty; (3) un-remarried widow/widower of a service member killed on active duty.
Under the PCS-relocation category, what time limit applies to a military spouse's eligibility?
The spouse must be appointed within 2 years of the service member's PCS relocation orders date.
How many times can a military spouse use the EO 13473 noncompetitive authority per PCS move?
Eligibility is generally available for the duration tied to the relocation orders (within the 2-year window); usage rules limit it to that relocation period rather than unlimited permanent eligibility.
Is the EO 13473 military spouse authority the same as the DoD/Priority Placement Program (PPP) Military Spouse Preference (Program S)?
No; EO 13473 is a government-wide noncompetitive hiring authority, while DoD's Military Spouse Preference (Program S/PPP) is a separate priority placement program for DoD positions overseas and stateside.
What is Indian preference in federal hiring?
A statutory preference (under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and related laws) giving qualified American Indians/Alaska Natives hiring preference for positions in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Indian Health Service (IHS).
What documentation establishes Indian preference eligibility?
Form BIA-4432 (Verification of Indian Preference for Employment) certifying enrolled membership or descent from a federally recognized tribe.
Has Indian preference in BIA/IHS hiring been upheld against challenges that it is racial discrimination?
Yes; in Morton v. Mancari (1974) the Supreme Court held the preference is a permissible political (not racial) classification tied to tribal self-government.
Name two 'other statutory paths' besides VRA/VEOA that provide noncompetitive or special federal hiring eligibility.
Examples: Peace Corps/AmeriCorps VISTA noncompetitive eligibility, Pathways Programs (Interns/Recent Graduates/PMF), Foreign Service family member appointments, and Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act eligibility.
Can a veteran claim preference for a Senior Executive Service (SES) position?
No; veterans' preference does not apply to SES positions or to most merit-promotion (internal) actions—it applies to competitive examining and certain RIF actions.
How does veterans' preference affect a Reduction in Force (RIF)?
Preference eligibles receive additional retention standing—they are placed above non-preference employees within the same tenure group and subgroup (Subgroup AD/BD), giving them greater protection from separation.
What this deck covers
The Veterans' Preference and Special Eligibilities deck follows the Civil Service Examination (USAJOBS / OPM federal hiring) Veterans' Preference and Special Eligibilities syllabus — 3 chapters and 9 topics — so questions land on material that is genuinely examinable rather than trivia around it. That works out to roughly 16.3 cards per chapter.
Answers are written to be recallable, not just readable — averaging about 175 characters, which is long enough to carry the reasoning and short enough to say out loud.
A deck like this earns its keep on the second and third pass. Read the syllabus first so you know the shape of the subject, then use the cards to find the specific facts that have not stuck.
Veterans' Preference and Special Eligibilities flashcards FAQ
How many Veterans' Preference and Special Eligibilities flashcards are in this Civil Service Examination (USAJOBS / OPM federal hiring) deck?
49 cards. This page previews 24 of them, sampled evenly across the deck so you can judge the difficulty before installing anything.
Are these Civil Service Examination (USAJOBS / OPM federal hiring) flashcards free?
Yes. The preview here is free to read with no signup, and the full 49-card deck is free inside the Examius app.
What do the Veterans' Preference and Special Eligibilities cards cover?
They follow the Civil Service Examination (USAJOBS / OPM federal hiring) Veterans' Preference and Special Eligibilities syllabus — 3 chapters and 9 topics — so the questions track what is actually examinable.
How should I use these flashcards?
Read the syllabus first so you know the shape of the subject, then drill the deck. Examius schedules each card with spaced repetition, so cards you keep missing come back sooner and ones you know drift further apart.