Transcript of Monique Walker, Veterans Service Representative:

"In my job-hunting, I found that this was one of the few jobs where I could come and make a difference in people's lives. I could come and use my education and my experience to help people, help their everyday functioning, whether it's monetary benefits, or just knowing that there are people out there that care for veterans.

The VBA, which is the Veteran's Benefit Administration, provides a various range of different things for our veterans. We guarantee housing loans', we provide compensation for medical disabilities. We provide pensions for maybe disabilities that are not service-connected or related to the military service. We also do education benefits, where we'll pay a portion for veterans or their dependents to go to school.

My title is a VSR, which is veteran's service representative. So what I do is I come in, a veteran will make a claim for a different disability that they may have, that they think is a result of serving in the military. And I'll write them and say, okay, you're claiming, for instance, a knee disability. And then I get that information ready for a rating specialist, who reviews the evidence and they actually make a decision on whether or not the disability was connected to their military service and how much they'll get paid for it.

Helping veterans is very satisfying. More so than maybe someone would think other jobs would be. When I come, I truly, honestly enjoy coming to work. I enjoy what I do. I enjoy helping veterans. So when we can help them then that makes you feel really, really good about your job and about yourself.

Having a government job is a little more secure. We have steady cost of living increases every year. The people are very nice. I have worked in the private sector, and it just seems to be a difference when you're helping people as far as the attitudes are concerned. So, just overall, I just think the government has been a more pleasant experience for me.

I have a lot of good mentors here, that's another great thing about working here, who are trying to help show me the way that I would need to improve myself to do well. So I feel like there are a lot of opportunities in the VA, and I plan on taking advantage of those opportunities.

The goal is to serve the veterans that served our country. And in this position, I really do love helping. I really do love the appreciation that I get back from veterans or fellow coworkers when I do a good job. And so this is the type of job where you can come and feel good about yourself, and feel good about the service that you're giving, and look forward to coming to work the next day. ”

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Day in the Life of a VA Employee

• Veterans Law Judge, VA Central Office (VACO)
• Chief of Radiology, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) 
• Prosthetic Representative Intern, Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
• Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
• Veterans Service Representative, Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)
• Cemetery Caretaker, National Cemetery Administration (NCA)

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