It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you search for jobs on USAJOBS. For starters, even searching for open positions at just the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) returns thousands of results. Luckily, USAJOBS has several very effective filtering options that can help you narrow down your options. Here are six tips to tailor your VA job search and get the best results for your needs.  

1. Start with the VA Careers search function. By using the built-in search on the homepage, you’ll automatically filter your search to only include VA jobs.  
2. Search by location. If relocating isn’t an option for you, adjust your filters to only include results where you could feasibly accept a job. Within your USAJOBS search, you can even search by multiple locations at once or by the distance from a specific location.  
3. Tailor to hiring paths. In addition to filtering out job postings that you may not be eligible for, tailoring your search to specific hiring paths can also highlight positions where you may have an edge over other candidates. For instance, if you’re eligible for Veterans’ Preference, make sure you select the hiring path specific to Veterans.  
4. Tailor by job series. To find results that fit your unique skillset, consider narrowing your search by job series. This will show groups of similar occupations, categorized by Professional Occupations or Trade, Crafts and Labor occupations. Within the two larger groups, there are smaller “series” or families of similar occupations.   
5. Sort your results. Job search results in USAJOBS automatically display by relevance to your filters and keywords. However, you can also filter by other categories, like high to low salary, closing date or distance from your location. This way you can find the postings that fit your most important metrics without having to scroll through pages of results.  
6. Experiment with keywords. Beyond the filters you can set, you can also choose to filter jobs by specific keywords. When you type in a keyword, you’ll receive all the results that include that keyword. If you include more than one keyword, you’ll get results that include both keywords. Experiment with different keyword combinations of skills and job titles to vary the results you receive.  

As a final tip, don’t forget to save your most effective and tailored searches. You can even automate your searches and receive updates when new jobs are posted that meet your criteria.

Job hunting is stressful enough. Make it as easy as possible with searches that work smarter, not harder. Check out these additional resources to aid in your VA job hunt: