TDIU Vocational Evaluations for Veterans
You served. Now get the benefits you've earned. An independent TDIU vocational expert reviews your work history and service-connected limitations and explains whether you can secure and follow substantially gainful employment — in a clear report for veterans and attorneys.
Flat fee: $1,599 · Typical delivery 5–7 business days
Our Principal
Jackie Schabacker, MA, CRC, LPC
Jackie is an independent vocational expert with specialized focus on VA TDIU claims. With credentials as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) and Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), she brings deep expertise in translating service-connected conditions into the occupational language the VA requires. Every assessment is conducted personally by Jackie — not handed off to a generalist.
What we deliver
Narrow expertise. Higher clarity. Reports built to withstand scrutiny.
Employability Analysis
We determine whether service-connected conditions reasonably prevent substantially gainful employment under 38 CFR § 4.16.
Evidence Translation
Medical evidence and work history translated into real-world job demands using DOT classifications and O*NET occupational data.
Courtroom-Ready Reports
Concise findings with methodology explained and all sources cited — designed for VA raters, BVA judges, and CAVC panels.
What Is a TDIU Vocational Evaluation?
A TDIU vocational evaluation is an independent assessment of whether your service-connected conditions reasonably prevent you from securing and following substantially gainful employment — the employability standard at the heart of most Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) claims. It is not a medical exam and it does not assign disability ratings. A vocational expert reviews your work and education history, your rated limitations, and how those limitations interact with real jobs in the national economy, then explains the findings in a written report.
VA decisions often turn on employability, not diagnosis alone. Medical records document symptoms and ratings; they rarely spell out whether you can still perform the physical and mental demands of work you are qualified to do. Vocational evidence fills that gap by translating service-connected conditions into occupational terms — using tools such as the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and O*NET data — so raters, Board judges, and appellate panels can see how limitations affect job options in plain language.
During a TDIU vocational evaluation, the expert typically reviews your file (rating decisions, treatment records, and work history), conducts a structured interview about jobs you have held and why you left work, and analyzes transferable skills and job base erosion. The analysis addresses whether you can secure employment you are qualified for, whether you can follow it on a regular basis, and whether any work would meet the VA's threshold for substantially gainful employment under 38 CFR § 4.16. Conclusions are stated clearly, with methodology and sources cited so the opinion can be understood without guesswork.
A vocational report may be useful at several stages of a TDIU claim. Veterans often obtain one after a denial, when preparing VA Form 21-8940, or when supplemental or Board appeal issues focus on whether they can still work despite their ratings. Attorneys and accredited representatives use independent vocational opinions to develop cases, rebut VA employability findings, and support arguments at the Board or on further appeal. Vocational evidence does not guarantee a particular outcome — the VA weighs all evidence in the file — but it can provide the structured employability analysis many claims lack.
If you are exploring whether a report fits your situation, start with our overview of how our TDIU assessment process works, browse TDIU resources for veterans and attorneys, review flat-fee pricing and what is included, read answers in our TDIU vocational evaluation FAQ, or see how attorneys use vocational expert services for VA unemployability claims. You may also request a free case fit check to confirm timing and records before committing.
What Does a TDIU Vocational Expert Do?
A vocational expert for VA TDIU analyzes how your service-connected conditions affect your ability to work — not whether you have a diagnosis. The assessment is vocational, independent, and focused on employability under VA standards.
In practice, a TDIU vocational evaluation addresses five core questions:
- Employability analysis — whether you can secure and follow substantially gainful employment under 38 CFR § 4.16, given your full impairment profile
- Functional limitations — how pain, stamina, concentration, attendance reliability, and medication effects limit real job demands (not just what a diagnosis label suggests)
- Transferable skills — whether skills from past work actually open other occupations in the national economy, or whether job base erosion forecloses realistic options
- Sedentary work rebuttals — when the VA assumes desk work is available, documenting why sedentary jobs are not realistically maintainable given your documented limits (see our sedentary work rebuttal guide)
- Written opinion for VA appeals — a clear report with methodology and citations that veterans can submit after denials or on supplemental/Board appeal, and that attorneys use to develop cases and rebut VA employability findings at BVA or CAVC
Every assessment also includes review of rating decisions, C&P exams, treatment records, and work and education history — the foundation for the analysis above.
See how our TDIU assessment process works, review flat-fee pricing, browse TDIU resources for veterans and attorneys, or Request a Free Case Fit Check →
When You May Need a Vocational Expert for TDIU
Independent vocational evidence is most useful when employability — not diagnosis alone — is in dispute. Common situations include:
- VA says you can do sedentary work — when a rating decision assumes desk work is available despite functional limits on pace, attendance, or concentration (how to rebut sedentary work findings)
- Transferable skills are disputed — when the VA or a C&P examiner concludes past skills open other jobs you cannot actually perform
- C&P exam does not address employability — when medical findings exist but no one has analyzed work history against real job demands
- Extraschedular referral under 38 CFR § 4.16(b) — when ratings fall short of schedular thresholds but unemployability still needs documented support for referral
- Attorney needs independent vocational evidence — when counsel requires a defensible employability opinion separate from VA-generated records
Read our guide to the extraschedular TDIU referral standard or see how our TDIU assessment process works from intake through report delivery.
Nationwide TDIU Vocational Expert Services
If you searched for a vocational expert for VA TDIU near me, you are not alone — many veterans assume they need someone in their city before they can move forward. For a TDIU vocational evaluation, that is usually not the case. VA unemployability decisions turn on employability in the national economy, not on whether an expert has an office down the street. What matters is whether the opinion is independent, well documented, and grounded in your work history, your rated limitations, and accepted vocational methodology.
TDIU Vocational Services provides nationwide vocational expert services for veterans and attorneys across all 50 states. You do not need to travel to us, and we do not require an in-person visit. The assessment is built around a structured remote vocational interview (typically 60–75 minutes by phone or secure video), combined with electronic records review of the materials that support your claim — VA rating decisions, service and private treatment records, and your work and education history. Records are submitted through a secure intake process; the written report is delivered electronically when complete.
That remote model is deliberate. Veterans live everywhere — rural areas, overseas assignments, small towns without local vocational specialists — and TDIU timelines do not always allow weeks of scheduling around geography. A nationwide practice focused on VA TDIU also means the same expert and the same methodology apply whether you are in Texas, California, Florida, or anywhere else. Jackie Schabacker, MA, CRC, LPC, performs every assessment personally; there is no handoff to a regional contractor or a generalist who only occasionally writes TDIU opinions.
Our process is the same coast to coast: a free case fit check to confirm whether vocational evidence fits your situation, then intake, records review, the remote interview, labor market and transferable-skills analysis, and a written opinion formatted for VA, BVA, or CAVC submission. See how the TDIU vocational assessment works step by step, review flat-fee pricing ($1,599, all core deliverables included), or read how attorneys refer cases when they need independent employability analysis for a client.
Attorney referrals are common. Many veterans come to us after a law firm recommends a vocational opinion for a denial or appeal. We coordinate directly with counsel when you authorize it, and veterans may also hire us without an attorney. In every case we explain what the assessment can and cannot do: we provide a vocational opinion on employability under VA standards — we do not guarantee a particular rating or claim outcome, and we do not provide legal advice.
If you are ready to confirm fit and timing, request a free case fit check. We will review the basics of your claim and tell you whether a vocational evaluation is a sensible next step — with no obligation to proceed.
When a Vocational Report Can Help a TDIU Claim
A vocational report can support a TDIU claim when employability is in dispute — especially after a denial or on appeal. Common situations include:
- Denied TDIU claims — when the VA says you can still work despite your ratings
- Appeals — supplemental, higher-level review, Board (BVA), or CAVC
- Schedular and extraschedular TDIU — including claims under 38 CFR § 4.16(a) and § 4.16(b)
Read how extraschedular TDIU under § 4.16(b) differs from schedular TDIU.
Vocational evidence can also support case development, including:
- VA Form 21-8940 — tying work history and limitations to the employability questions on the form
- Attorney case development — independent analysis to supplement medical records and lay statements
See TDIU vocational report pricing (flat fee, no hidden costs) or contact us to discuss timing and records.
Veterans and the attorneys who represent them
Pursuing TDIU benefits
If you've been denied TDIU — or if your service-connected conditions are preventing you from working — a TDIU vocational evaluation provides the independent analysis the VA often lacks.
We review your medical records and work history, conduct a structured interview, and deliver a clear opinion on whether your conditions erode the job base enough to warrant TDIU. See vocational report pricing or request a free case fit check.
See How We Can Help You →Building stronger TDIU claims
When the VA denies TDIU on employability grounds, independent vocational evidence for TDIU claims provides the methodologically defensible analysis to rebut that conclusion at BVA or CAVC.
Our reports are formatted for legal use: clear conclusions upfront, step-by-step methodology, and all occupational sources cited. Flat fee and reliable turnaround.
Learn More for Attorneys →Simple, flat-fee pricing
- File review and records intake
- Structured vocational interview (60–75 min)
- Transferable skills and labor market analysis
- Written report with methodology and citations
- Delivery in 5–7 business days
View full pricing and deliverables · Add-ons: Rush delivery · Supplemental declarations
Frequently asked questions
What clients say
Real results from the veterans and attorneys who trust us with their most important claims.
"After two TDIU denials, my attorney recommended a vocational assessment. The report laid out exactly why my back injury and PTSD combined to eliminate the jobs I'd held for 20 years. The VA granted TDIU within 60 days of submission."
"I've used several vocational experts over the years. The reports here are formatted the way BVA judges actually want to read them — clear conclusion up front, methodology you can follow, sources cited. My last three BVA submissions with these opinions all resulted in grants."
"The vocational interview was thorough but not overwhelming. They explained every step, and the report arrived in five days. My VSO said it was the most detailed employability analysis she'd seen submitted to the VA."