You may have heard about Schedule A hiring before, but didn’t quite understand what it was. Follow along and you’ll learn what it is, how to get it, and what you can do with it.
Schedule A is first and foremost a hiring authority in the federal government that involves disabilities. This hiring authority allows someone that might not have any other status to be able to apply for government jobs. It can also allow for non-competitive hiring of a government job at the discretion of the hiring manager.
In order to obtain Schedule A status you must meet one of the following three criteria:
- Severe Physical Disability
- Mental Disability
- Intellectual Disability
If you have a disability that falls into one of the three categories, all you need to do to prove it is have a doctor write you a letter stating so. The letter does not have to be overly specific, or even disclose what your specific disability is. It just needs to state simply that you as their patient meet the criteria for Schedule A. Once you have this letter you are now ready to start applying to federal government jobs.
As mentioned before, you have two options:
- Non-competitive hiring
- Competitive hiring
The hiring manager has the ability to hire Schedule A applicants before a job announcement is ever posted. In order for you to be considered for a position before it is posted you will need to submit your resume to the HR office where you are wanting to work. They will keep you application on file and then will be required to submit your application to the hiring manager for consideration before a job is posted.
Consideration simply means that your application was sent. The hiring manager is not obligated to fill their vacancy non-competitively if they don’t want to.
If they choose not to fill non-competitively, then you are still able to apply to the coming job announcement. That is, if they open it to the area of consideration that includes Schedule A as an eligibility.
The Schedule A eligibility opens doors for non-Veterans that wouldn’t normally be possible. The letter is relatively easy to obtain and can make a world of difference in federal hiring. It is understood that claiming a disability might bring a negative connotation in the private sector, but I can assure you the is nothing negative about using this status to get the federal government job of your dreams.
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