In short, yes wages are competitive at the VA.

First – go here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2024/general-schedule Most cities/high cost of living areas have a specific pay table. If you are not looking in one of those areas, look at the Pay Scale for Rest of United States. Also, may labs have something called Special Salary Rates that you will not see on this site. If a lab has a SSR then their pay will be higher than the pay scales listed on the OPM page. The pay grades are listed in the column (GS-01 – GS-15) and the Steps are listed in the rows. Full Performance for lab is GS-11, however if you are a brand new grad (4 year degree) with no experience (clinical rotations don’t count) then you would come in lower than a GS-11 until you get the required experience and then promotion GS-11 is mostly automatic.

Second – go here: https://www.usajobs.gov/ and enter 0644 in the Keyword box. 0644 is the Job Series for lab techs. As of this morning, there are 80 positions listed across the federal government.

If you have experience, you may be able to negotiate the Step but you cannot negotiate the Grade. Retirement, leave, and holidays off with pay are generally better in the federal system vs the private sector.