VA - Relocation Expense

[blueslily]

Hello all,

I have noticed that it looks like a lot of VA psychology jobs no longer offer relocation expenses. I have been interested in the Hawaii VA for quite a while. They used to rarely have psychology job postings on USAJobs, but now the postings are more frequent which is great. However, they do not have relocation expenses included. Moving to Hawaii will cost a lot!

I think that in order to get relocation expenses covered the announcement has to already include that benefit. But, has anyone ever had success advocating for relocation? Anyone have any suggestions or know anything about the future of relocation expenses?

Thanks!

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[AcronymAllergy]

Generally, if it's a position that isn't difficult to recruit (which most psychology positions aren't), they won't offer "extra" benefits like relocation expenses. As you've said, unless the job posting specifically states that it's been authorized, they aren't able to offer it even if they want to; I received the same response when asking for it regarding my current position, which wasn't one that was terribly easy for them to fill. Never hurts to ask, though.

 

[WisNeuro]

What AA said. It's got to be in the posted ad. You can ask, but you're dealing with HR at this point, and I can almost guarantee that they will say no. I got relo once in the VA, but it wasn't at a large hospital setting. So, go ahead and ask, just be prepared for the likely answer. Can't negotiate much in VA positions. And, with the huge hit to future budgets with the corporate tax cuts, you can almost be assured that relo and other fringe benefits will be off the table for some time.