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Preference Points — and the Door Into Promotion-Only Postings

Preference points on state job applications for a veteran with 90 days of service and an acceptable discharge, with more points for a service-connected disability, for the spouse of a totally disabled veteran, and for an unmarried surviving spouse. The part worth more than the points: an eligible veteran may apply for postings otherwise open only to current state employees.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Preference points on state job applications for a veteran with 90 days of service and an acceptable discharge, with more points for a service-connected disability, for the spouse of a totally disabled veteran, and for an unmarried surviving spouse. The part worth more than the points: an eligible veteran may apply for postings otherwise open only to current state employees.

What it's worth: Preference points on state applications, additional points for a service-connected disability, and access to postings recruited as promotion-only

  • The human resources department states a minimum of 90 days of service and an honorable or otherwise acceptable discharge.
  • Additional points are stated for veterans with service-connected disabilities, for spouses of totally disabled veterans, and for unmarried widows or widowers of veterans.
  • The citations given are 20 V.S.A. §1543 and 3 V.S.A. §310(f).
  • The point values themselves are not published on the department's page.

Who is entitled to it

  • Your discharge characterisation is within the usual range for state veteran programmes.
  • You are in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Claim the preference on every application. It is applied to an application that asks for it, not to a candidate the department happens to recognise.
  2. 2Look at the promotion-only postings, which is the provision most veterans never hear about. An eligible veteran may compete for vacancies advertised as open to current state employees only — a category that is otherwise closed to outside applicants entirely.
  3. 3If you have a service-connected disability, claim on that basis specifically. It is a separate and larger increment, not the same claim with a note attached.
  4. 4A spouse of a totally disabled veteran, and an unmarried surviving spouse, hold a preference in their own right. Neither needs the veteran to apply for anything.
  5. 5Ask the recruitment division what the point values actually are before deciding whether a marginal application is worth making. They are not published, and the answer changes how you spend your time.
  6. 6Keep the discharge document in a form you can attach digitally. A preference is regularly lost to an application submitted without the proof and closed before the proof arrives.
Form
Claimed on the state application, with service documentation
File with
The state Department of Human Resources, with each application
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingThe promotion-only access is the sleeper provision. In most state systems the internal-only posting is where the good jobs are advertised first, and a veteran with that door open is competing in a much smaller field than the public postings suggest.
Known gapThe department does not publish the number of points, or whether the preference applies at the interview stage or only to the scored application. Ask the recruitment division, because the two work very differently.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.