VA Manager Says ‘Thank God’ They Don’t Have To Hire Veterans

A Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hiring manager said in a sworn deposition “thank God” they don’t give veterans hiring preference for well-paying jobs.

The statement came when a VA dentistry chief was asked if being a veteran helps someone get a dentist job in the agency. His response was “not really. And thank God,” The Daily Caller News Foundation recently discovered in a court filing.

Being a scout master in the Boy Scouts would do more to help someone get a top job at the VA than serving in the armed forced, Dr. Gonzalo Solis Sanchez of the VA Caribbean Medical Center said.

He was speaking in a July 2014 deposition in an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint brought by a dentist who is a veteran.

Q: What other factors are considered, aside from the ranking numbers that you award during the interview? A: Well, probably the awards, recognitions that the person has had. In this interview, I know that there was a section that we used, given to me by the chief of staff, that it was taken into consideration if this person was involved in outside activities, like, you know, being a scout master, or– Q: Or a member of the Armed Forces? A: Not really. I’ve been in the Armed Forces, and I was not selected for the position of chief in three occasions, so- Q: So that doesn’t have any– A: Not really. And thank God, because I am a veteran, and I prefer for selections to be made on preparation than — I’ve always heard here that in Title 38 positions, that is not taken into — that’s not the main title taken into consideration...

Hmmmmm..... As a Title 38/Title 5 hybrid VA employee with veteran’s preference points and who has sat on quite a few hiring panels, I dispute the statements made by the dentist in this article.

With potentially hundreds of applicants for each position, receiving veteran’s preference points is one of the first parts of the process. Anyone here can go to USAjobs.gov and find a position and click “apply.” That takes you to the first of many steps to be selected for a government position. Part of the very first application is a section about your veteran status, that must be backed up by a DD214.

Applications must be done electronically, and each application is computer analyzed for points criteria: veteran status, disabled status, does the applicant meet the minimum education requirements for the position, minority status if they choose to disclose, etc, etc. If a person is unable to fill out the electronic application, they are referred to a local VSO or DAV office where they can receive help with it, and if they don’t have a computer they are free to come into the HR department of the VA facility doing the hiring for that position and apply on the computer in HR that is just for that situation. Each application is scored by computer, with the applications that score in the top 10% sent forward for further review by HR staff (actual people).

The top 10% of scored applications are sent forward to the hiring manager who posted the job. This is done by application number, with personally identifiable information removed. The applications are being considered by the hiring manager without knowledge of the race or gender of the applicant (unless it is relevant to the position). The hiring manager selects the applications out of the ones they receive whom they would like to interview.

Interviews are done by phone, even if the applicant is on-site. The interview panel has at least 3 people on it who may or may not work in the same general type of job as the applicant has applied for. There are standardized questions that every applicant is asked and standard criteria that the interview panel looks for in the applicants answers. For example, a question may be: “Tell us about a time you had to resolve conflict with a co-worker.” Some of the criteria for that answer that I as a member of the interview panel would be told to listen for include: “did the applicant resolve the problem in a timely manner?” or other such things that are very measurable and specific, and are also scored numerically.

After the first round of interviews are done, the scored results of the interview are sent back to HR for further evaluation. Additional items are scored by HR, such as GPA for degree (if required by the position), and items discovered on background checks, etc.

Not all positions (but most Title 38/Title 5 hybrid positions) go through a second interview. If there are only a few applicants, a second interview to identify the stronger candidates may not be necessary.

The top 10% by numerical scoring of the applicants after the first interview panel are sent back again to the hiring manager. The next interview panel consists of 3-5 VA employees working directly in the same field as the posted position. There are again standardized questions, some of which may involve outside activities or things like that. By this point in the process, the people being interviewed are known to be educationally qualified, have passed preliminary background checks, and have been evaluated to be among some of the top candidates for the posted position. More subjective data is looked at in this second interview, such as community activities, membership in professional organizations, etc.

When those interviews are complete, the scoring tallies of the second interview panel are sent back to HR for further weeding out of the less strong candidates. The top 5 candidate applications are then sent back to the hiring manager along with the applicant’s full resume (which the hiring manager has not yet seen). The hiring manager and interview panel review the resumes (sometimes there are things on a resume that may not have come out to the hiring manager thus far that could be significant). The interview panel reviews the resumes and send them back to HR, ranked in order of the hiring manager’s preference to offer a job.

When preliminary background checks and license checks etc are complete, if any candidates have fallen off (disciplinary actions against their license, etc...) they are removed from consideration, and the highest scoring candidate is offered the position. Many times the second candidate is notified of a backup offer also..it is completely possible to have an offer and not make it through the rest of the process when comprehensive background checks, in depth evaluation of educational preparation and assorted other things goes on. THAT is an expensive process, and not one that is pursued for every applicant.

In the case mentioned in this article, it sounds like there were people more qualified for the position than this dentist. He may not have ever made it past the initial process where his veteran’s preference points were considered, or may have made it to the very final interview process when far more subjective things are being considered, such as community service and activities. There may have been others with higher veterans preference points (combat time, length of service, etc...). Another thing to consider is that many veterans do not qualify for dental care through the VA: if they are 100% service connected or if their service connected injury is dental related, they do. But that’s not all or even most veterans.

With a few exceptions (internal transfers or Special Congressional Appointments <-— which cannot be done for anyone in healthcare whose position requires a license..doctors, dentists, nurses, etc.), most jobs within the VA, from janitor to healthcare workers, to VA police, to executive leadership team goes through this general process. As far as some jobs being excluded to public posting? Yes, absolutely. Just like any other company that hires from within, so does the government. Considering the time involved in the hiring process and the cost of background checks and interview panels, etc, current government employees may have preference for government jobs as a cost and time saving measure, but they still have to be fully qualified for the position they are applying for.

ANYONE can go to USAjobs.gov and check this out for themselves. There were over 165 applicants for the Title 38/Title 5 hybrid position I currently hold, and I have sat on no less than a dozen interview panels. I am familiar with the process and how each applicant is advanced or stopped throughout the process. I hate it for the dentist, but it sounds like sour grapes, and yet another attempt to blame the VA with partial or inaccurate information.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.