Unique opportunities: Five entry-level jobs at VA you might not know existed

While you may immediately associate careers at VA with clinical roles and medical professions, there are a number of entry-level jobs that keep the wheels running smoothly.

Let’s take a look at five unique positions that you might not have realized are available on our team.

Administrative assistant

You’ll find administrative assistants in nearly every department at VA, working to assist administrative leadership and professional staff with clerical duties.

As an administrative assistant, you’ll have a healthy dose of responsibilities in your day-to-day work, as you’ll be integral to the smooth management of your department. Policies, budgets, fiscal management, personnel, logistics or even property management may fall to you in your daily duties.

Motor vehicle operator

Drive patient transport vehicles – including emergency vehicles, vans, buses and more – as a motor vehicle operator.

You’ll shuttle Veterans to and from VA Medical Center facilities, private health care facilities, Veteran’s homes or even railways, bus stations or airports. You might be called upon to operate cars, station wagons, vans, pick-ups and panel, stake or open-bed trucks.

In addition to driving, you will be responsible for the maintenance of your vehicles, both interior and exterior, keeping them in a clean and serviceable condition for your passengers. Inspecting your vehicles for wear and tear and reporting concerns to the appropriate department also falls under your responsibilities.

Prosthetic representative

A prosthetic representative helps provide prosthetic and sensory aids services to Veterans. They also work directly with Veterans and clinical teams to assist Veterans in applying for automobile adaptive equipment, home improvement and structural alterations, and clothing allowances.

You may also conduct home visits with other health care providers to assess a Veteran’s home for upgrades or equipment necessary to improving patient quality of life. Record-keeping is also a large part of the job, as you will be responsible for providing documentation management surrounding your efforts to assist Veterans.

Recreation therapist

Provide recreation therapy and diversional activities for the residents of VA’s Community Living Centers as a recreation therapist.

You’ll need a general understanding of the leisure needs of a variety of patient populations to evaluate the history, interests and skills of patients to establish better guidelines for individual projects.

You’ll also administer and interpret a wide variety of creative skills tests and interviews to evaluate mental, emotional, social, spiritual and physical capabilities of patients. The ability to motivate others is essential, as you may need to encourage not only your patients, but those who assist you with the care of these Veterans, too.

Transportation assistant

A transportation assistant reviews and authorizes travel and lodging requests for Veterans traveling from their home to VA medical appointments.

As a transportation assistant, you may find yourself providing and coordinating transportation through VA resources or non-VA common carriers. You may also be making reservations for lodging for Veterans and their families, making sure all the necessary paperwork is complete to make their trip as smooth as possible.

Work at VA

Roles like these – whether administrative, technical or support – may not immediately come to mind when you think of VA, but these roles are important to VA and the Veterans we serve. Browse these careers and more as your first step toward a career at VA.

• HEAR from current employees.
• LEARN how to navigate the hiring process.
• ATTEND a hiring event.
• SEARCH for open positions.

NOTE: Positions listed in this post were open at the time of publication. All current available positions are listed at USAJobs.gov.