If you have a service-connected disability rating or a Purple Heart, federal hiring is not a level playing field. It is tilted in your favor, on purpose, by law. The 10-point Veterans' preference puts you ahead of non-Veteran applicants on federal hiring lists, and a VA rating as low as 0 percent is enough to trigger it. Many Veterans never claim it, or claim it wrong, which means the edge Congress wrote for you goes unused.
What it is
Veterans' preference is the points system the federal government uses when it fills jobs through competitive examination. Applicants are rated, ranked, and referred to the hiring manager, and eligible Veterans get extra consideration built into that ranking. It comes in two main strengths. The 5-point preference (code TP) goes to Veterans who served during a war, in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge was authorized, or during certain defined periods, and who have no disability rating. The 10-point preference goes to Veterans with a service-connected disability, Purple Heart recipients, and certain family members of disabled or deceased Veterans. The OPM Vet Guide is the master reference for all of it.
OPM divides preference eligibles into five groups, and the codes show up on rating sheets and certificates:
| Code | Who it covers | Points |
|---|---|---|
| CPS | Compensable service-connected disability rated 30 percent or more | 10 |
| CP | Compensable service-connected disability rated at least 10 percent but less than 30 percent | 10 |
| XP | Service-connected disability under 10 percent, or receiving compensation, disability retirement benefits, or pension from the military or VA, or a Purple Heart | 10 |
| XP (derived) | Certain spouses, widows, widowers, or mothers of Veterans who cannot use the preference themselves | 10 |
| TP | Preference eligibles with no disability rating | 5 |
| SSP | Sole survivorship discharge (after August 29, 2008) | 0 |
Source: OPM's preference groups FAQ and the OPM Vet Guide (derived preference).
What it's worth
The value depends on how the announcement ranks applicants, and OPM allows two methods.
Under the traditional numerical ranking process (the "rule of three" method), 10 points are added to your passing examination score. A disabled Veteran who scores 100 tops out at 110, which is the highest rating possible. It gets better for CP and CPS Veterans: for most positions, applicants with a compensable disability of 10 percent or more are listed at the top of the register ahead of everyone else, in order of their augmented ratings. The exception is scientific and professional positions at GS-9 and above, where all applicants are listed in order of their augmented ratings instead. An agency also may not pass over a preference eligible to select a lower-ranked non-preference eligible unless the examining office formally sustains its objection for an adequate, recorded reason.
Many announcements today use category rating instead of numerical scores. Applicants are sorted into quality categories such as Best Qualified and Qualified rather than ranked by number. Preference still bites there: per OPM, preference eligibles are listed ahead of non-preference eligibles within each quality category, and Veterans' preference is absolute within each category. In plain terms, if you land in the top category, non-Veterans in that category sit behind you no matter how they scored.
10-point preference carries one more quiet perk. A 10-point preference eligible may file a job application with an agency at any time, and if a register is closed, the agency must still add a qualified 10-point applicant to it or hold the application for future vacancies for up to three years.
Preference improves your position on the list. It is not a guaranteed hire, and it does not apply to every announcement, so pair it with the other hiring authorities in our federal hiring deep dive.
Who qualifies (and who doesn't)
Every flavor of preference starts with the same baseline: you were discharged or released from active duty in the Armed Forces under honorable conditions, meaning an honorable or general discharge.
From there, the 10-point tiers per OPM's eligibility FAQ:
- CP: a compensable service-connected disability rating of at least 10 percent but less than 30 percent.
- CPS: a compensable service-connected disability rating of 30 percent or more.
- XP: a present service-connected disability rated under 10 percent, or receipt of compensation, disability retirement benefits, or pension from the military or the VA, or a Purple Heart.
- Derived preference (XP): certain spouses, widows, widowers, or mothers of Veterans who are unable to use the preference themselves, such as the spouse of an unemployed Veteran rated 100 percent disabled or unemployable.
Campaign and expeditionary Veterans without a disability rating hold real preference too, but it is the 5-point TP flavor, not 10. If you served in a campaign and later receive a service-connected rating, you move up to the 10-point tier that matches your rating.
Who does not qualify: military retirees at the rank of major, lieutenant commander, or higher are not eligible for preference in appointment unless they are disabled Veterans. That exclusion does not apply to Reservists who will not begin drawing military retired pay until age 60. Preference also never applies to positions in the Senior Executive Service or to executive branch positions requiring Senate confirmation.
How to claim it
- Claim it inside the USAJOBS application. The application asks about preference. Answer it on every single application, because nobody applies it for you retroactively. Use the "Veterans" hiring path filter on USAJOBS to find announcements open to you.
- Upload your DD-214. The certificate of release or discharge from active duty proves your service dates and character of discharge. Free copies come from the National Archives if yours is missing.
- Add the SF-15 plus your VA letter for any 10-point claim. The SF-15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, is the standard form agencies use to adjudicate 10-point claims. Per USAJOBS, a VA letter showing your dates of service, discharge status, and disability rating may be sufficient in place of the SF-15, but carrying both closes the question. Save all three documents in your USAJOBS account once and attach them to every application.
- Know where preference does and does not apply. It applies to permanent and temporary positions in the competitive and excepted services of the executive branch. Per OPM, it does not apply to merit promotion actions, promotions, reassignments, transfers, or reinstatements. If an announcement is open only to current federal employees, your preference points do nothing there, though other authorities like VEOA may still get you in the door.
The single most common mistake we see: claiming 10-point preference without attaching the SF-15 or VA letter. HR cannot adjudicate an undocumented claim, and you quietly drop to whatever your paperwork supports.
Related benefits
Preference is one lever in a bigger toolkit. Our federal hiring authorities guide covers VRA, the 30 percent or more direct-hire authority, VEOA, and Schedule A, and for Veterans with an active clearance, the cleared job salary premium often stacks on top of a federal or contractor offer. The Benefitry jobs feed pulls current federal listings daily and matches them against your profile, including your branch, MOS, and clearance.
What to do next
Pull your DD-214 and your most recent VA rating letter, fill out the SF-15 once, and load all three into your USAJOBS account today so every future application carries your full preference automatically. Then run your free benefits scan at benefitry.io/start. Hiring preference is one of more than 4,000 federal and state benefits we check you against, and most Veterans are leaving several of them unclaimed at the same time.