Is working for the VA rewarding or simply a typical government job full of bureaucracy and hierarchy?

I enjoyed my contractor job with VA as a VA Benefits Counselor. I felt that I was making a positive impact on service members who were making the transition to the civilian world. There is so much miss-information going around, especially about disability benefits, that knowing and sharing the truth with my clients really made the job enjoyable and personally rewarding.

My issition is simple:. ONLY veterans should run the VA.

I've been at theVA for 3 years. Good and bad experiences. Some people who work here feel an entitlement and will screw you the first chance they get. I've learned to pick who I talk to very carefully.

I work for the department of veterans affairs in the healthcare side. I would have to say that it is actually very similar to being in the military. You have horrible leaders, great leaders, and those you wonder how in the hell do you even have this job type of people. There are opportunities for advancement but they are few and far between. There is a lot of inter office promotions. It's all of what you make of it though.

I don't work for the VA but I do volunteer at the Denver VA Hospital. I love every minute of it! I find it very rewarding. I visit with a lot of residents at the Community Center and their opinions of their care vary. I think you can never have too many vets taking care of vets. I applaud your willingness to help your veteran brothers and sisters!! Best of luck!! Let me know if you take the job and if it will be in Colorado. I'd love to meet you. ;)

Sir... it is really a two headed coin, its either you like it or you dont. I know people who workat the VA in DC who hate working there butvlive there jobs and vice versa. I like my job a Walter Reed Betheada, but hate the place sometimes, i guess it would be up to the person.

I worked there for a year and it was the absolute worst place I have ever worked. All federal agencies are not created equal and that goes for both dollars and people. You do find some gems at the VA, honestly. However, they are few and far between and it seemed to me that most just didn't care. Very difficult culture to change...

I wish you luck. I had a bad experience working at the VA. As a Army trained Operating Room Tech. I did my job at a different level than the civilians at the VA. In the end I was fired 11 months in. The VA is a different caliber of, I wish to say professionalism, but I did not see that. Maybe if the VA had more military people the culture would change. The way I see it now, management is in it for themselves, the hell with the patients and what is right. Good luck, maybe you can make it a better place for all vets.

I worked for VA healthcare for three years and quit in disgust. There were good people and terrible people, but many didn't care about veterans and many were careerists just out to increase their own paychecks with no sense of integrity, duty or mission. On the plus side, there are many workplaces in the VA where people really care about doing the best they can for veterans. Civilians dominate, and they often suck bad. Veterans are often good, caring workers. However, even in the offices with the best people, there are limits. Regs and policies are incredibly restrictive and the system is so complicated that you'll rarely find anyone who is even aware of what goes on outside his own silo. The system attracts people who are attracted to no-challenge, iron rice bowl kinds of careers. Watch any clinic at 4:59 pm: the parking lot is empty by 5:00. You'll never believe how much grief I got from supervision when I attempted to clear up the backlog after 5 pm. That is just my limited view. I hope everyone else has had the opposite experience.

Although I don't work for the va I have talked to plenty of people. Some do it because they want to help the veterans and others do it just for a paycheck.

Personally I would say do what you heart compels you to do.