Saw the job posting on Saturday, September 26th. Applied that day, and then was requested to fill out an online assessment. Almost immediately after the assessment (I passed) I was sent an email requesting that I schedule a date to take Exam 473, which I took on Tuesday September 29th. I was emailed the results of the test immediately upon completion and I received an 85.5. On Friday, October 9th I received an email requesting that I complete a background check and a drug test. I filled out the online background check same day (claims to require use of internet explorer only) and then I did the drug testing the next day on the 10th. Tuesday October 13th I received an email saying I'd been scheduled for an interview to take place on Friday the 16th. I noticed there were 10 recipients of this email so I assumed I was up against 10 others for one open position. I showed up to the interview and there were only three others who also had arrived. We were all brought into a small room where the details of the position were given and they explained they would interview us one by one. They asked how many of us were veterans and of the four I was the only non-veteran. In my interview I was told that since they give preference to veterans that the only way I would get the position, regardless of my qualifications, would be if one of the three veterans did not want the position. Needless to say I didn't get the job.I was encouraged to continue applying to further open positions.