Veterans' preference and your federal resume
Preference is claimed in your application, not earned on the page. Your two-page resume still has to show you qualify. Here is how the two fit together, with the official sources for everything else.
The basics
What veterans' preference is
Veterans' preference gives eligible veterans an advantage over other applicants in many federal hiring processes. It recognizes military service; it does not guarantee a job, and it does not apply to every kind of hiring. Eligibility generally depends on your service and on having been discharged or released under honorable conditions, and the hiring agency decides each claim.
The rules have many cases, including different preference types and preference for some family members. FedsHireVets, run by OPM, is the place to check where you stand. This page covers only how preference relates to your resume.
Resume or application
What goes on the resume, and what does not
Since 27 September 2025, a USAJOBS resume can be no longer than two pages, and that applies to veterans too. The good news is that preference does not need resume space: you claim it in the application and prove it with documents.
| Item | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| That you are claiming preference | The application questions, and optionally one short line near your contact details |
| Proof of service and discharge, such as a DD-214 | Uploaded as a supporting document, as the announcement asks |
| Extra forms some claims need, such as the SF-15 | Uploaded as supporting documents, with what the form lists |
| Your military experience | The resume, written as job entries with the same fields as any other role |
Military experience
Fitting a military career on two pages
Preference can move you up, but only if HR first finds you qualified, and that judgment comes from your resume. Treat each assignment as a job.
- Write each assignment as a job entry: your duty title, the unit or organization, start and end month and year, and hours per week, the same fields a civilian role carries.
- Translate military terms into the words the announcement uses. A reader in HR may not know what a job code or unit abbreviation means.
- Lead with responsibility and results: how many people you led, what you were accountable for, and what changed because of your work.
- Keep recent and relevant assignments in full and shorten older ones to a line, so a long career still fits on two pages.
- Put clearances, certifications and training the announcement asks for where a reader will find them, not in a long list of every course.
Questions
Veterans' preference questions
How preference and the two-page resume work together.
Sources & further reading
The preference and resume guidance on this page comes from these official sources, checked 15 October 2026. For your own eligibility, use them directly.
- FedsHireVets (OPM), veterans’ preference eligibility, types, and how to claim it (checked 15 October 2026)
- OPM, OPM implements two-page resume standard to streamline federal hiring, the two-page limit, effective 27 September 2025 (checked 15 October 2026)
- USAJOBS Help Center, claiming preference in an application and uploading supporting documents (checked 15 October 2026)
Federal resume
Turn your service record into a two-page resume
Write each assignment as a complete job entry in the builder, then run the free check to see how clearly it reads.
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