Careers
WAPA IS HIRING
Federal hiring is slower than you are used to. Here is how it works.
Every WAPA job is posted on USAJOBS, and the announcement is the rulebook. Four steps get you from a first look to a complete, competitive application.
1. Create your accounts
One at login.gov for identity, one at USAJOBS for your profile and resume. Do this before a job you want is posted, since the window can be short.
2. Set a saved search
Filter by agency (Western Area Power Administration), add the official title from our career pages, and turn on email alerts. You will hear the day a job opens.
3. Write a federal resume
Longer than a private-sector resume. Dates, hours per week, and specific duties for every job. Use the announcement’s qualifications section as your guide and show clearly where your experience meets each one. Numbers beat adjectives.
4. Apply early, then be patient
Some announcements close after a set number of applications. After you apply, HR reviews, a certificate goes to the hiring manager, and interviews follow. Weeks, sometimes months. Apply to more than one.
Free help from USAJOBS, before you ever apply
USAJOBS runs its own help center for exactly the questions people bring to our booth. These are the pages we point people to most.
USAJOBS Help Center
Account setup, saved searches, application status, and what every announcement term means.
How to write a federal resume
The official checklist for a resume that survives HR review. Read this before you write a word.
Step-by-step how-to guides
Creating a profile, understanding an announcement, saving an application, checking status.
Hiring paths explained
Veterans, students, people with disabilities, military spouses, Peace Corps, and more, with the documents each one needs.
login.gov help
Identity verification, two-factor setup, and locked-account recovery.
How federal job hunting differs
Coming from private industry? Read this first. It explains why the process feels slow and what to do about it.
Why two announcements for one job?
One marked DE is open to the public. One marked MP is for current and former federal employees and people with special hiring eligibility (veterans, Schedule A, Peace Corps). If both apply to you, apply to both.
Three pay systems
General Schedule (GS) for office and professional jobs. Wage Board for craft, negotiated with IBEW. Administratively Determined for dispatchers and energy schedulers, benchmarked to other utilities. The announcement tells you which.
Starting grade
A bachelor’s degree qualifies you at GS-5, or GS-7 with strong grades. A master’s reaches GS-9. Most jobs post as a ladder, so you move up on schedule without reapplying.
Common Questions
Do I have to be a U.S. citizen?
Yes, for nearly every WAPA position. Federal competitive service jobs require U.S. citizenship, and the announcement says so under Requirements. If you are not yet a citizen, the job is not open to you until you are.
Is there a drug test?
Yes for many positions. Craft, dispatch, positions requiring a commercial driver’s license, and other safety-sensitive jobs are testing-designated, with a pre-employment test and random testing afterward. Marijuana is still illegal under federal law, so a positive test is disqualifying even in a state where it is legal.
Will WAPA pay to move me?
Relocation help is offered for some positions and says so in the announcement. It is most common for hard-to-fill craft and engineering jobs at remote duty stations, and it can come with a service agreement.
My degree is from outside the U.S.
It needs an evaluation from a credential service showing U.S. equivalency. The evaluation has to cover the type and level of education, the program content, and the school’s standing in its own country. Get that done before you apply, since it has to be uploaded with the application.
Can I work remotely?
Most WAPA jobs are tied to a duty station. Craft, dispatch, and real-time operations jobs are on site by nature. Some office positions allow telework on a schedule set by the supervisor, and the announcement states what is available. Fully remote positions are rare.
I did not hear back. Is that normal?
Yes. Check your application status on USAJOBS first, since it updates as HR reviews and refers candidates. If it has been more than 30 days past the closing date with no change, email us with the announcement number.
Do veterans get a leg up?
Yes. Preference-eligible veterans are listed ahead of non-veterans with equal scores on public announcements, and several authorities let WAPA appoint veterans without competition. See the Veterans and Military Spouses page for which documents to upload.
What if I do not meet every qualification?
Apply anyway if you meet the minimum in the Qualifications section. Everything above that is scored, not required. Do not apply if you fall short of the minimum, since HR cannot waive it.
Questions about a job or the application process?
Email pmasscrecruit@wapa.gov.
A real person in Human Resources reads it.
Last modified on October 19th, 2026