Vocational Experts at Social Security Disability Hearings

What a VE does at a hearing

The ALJ may ask the VE to classify your past jobs, describe their physical and mental demands, or explain whether a person with specified limits could do those jobs or other work. A VE may also estimate how many jobs exist nationally. The ALJ’s hypothetical should include the limitations the ALJ ultimately accepts; if an important limit is left out, the answer may not address your full situation.

A VE is not your treating clinician and does not decide whether you are disabled. The judge weighs vocational testimony with the medical evidence, your work history, and the applicable rules.

Prepare for the questions and testimony

Before the hearing, make a clear list of your past jobs, dates, duties, hours, tools, lifting, standing, sitting, and any supervisory or specialized tasks. Tell your representative if the job description in your file does not match what you actually did. Review your current restrictions and be prepared to identify which parts of a proposed job conflict with them.

Common hypothetical questions ask whether a person with stated limits can return to past work, whether other jobs are available, and whether the answer changes when a particular restriction is added. Listen to the complete hypothetical and note any limit that seems missing or different from the record. You or your representative may ask focused follow-up questions. If you are unrepresented, you can respectfully ask the ALJ to clarify when it is your turn to question the VE.

• Ask what occupational information or data the VE used and how the estimate was developed.
• Ask whether the job examples fit the full set of limits in the hypothetical, including attendance, pace, breaks, standing, or use of the hands.
• Clarify whether the job numbers describe the specific occupation or a larger group of related jobs.
• Point out a concrete conflict between the job’s stated requirements and a limitation in the hypothetical or evidence.

Job examples and job-number estimates

VEs sometimes cite sedentary unskilled examples such as document preparer, order clerk, or addresser, and light unskilled examples such as mail clerk, office helper, or routing clerk. These are examples that may appear in testimony, not a promise that a particular job is available in a particular number or that every claimant can perform it. The job title, duties, and estimate depend on the evidence and the VE’s method.

Since January 6, 2025, SSA applies SSR 24-3p to vocational evidence. VEs are expected to identify relevant occupational sources and explain their general approach to estimating job numbers, but SSA does not require one single estimation method. A useful challenge is specific: ask which source was used, how the VE moved from a broad category to the cited occupation, and how the claimant’s limitations affect the estimate. The older SSR 00-4p process is no longer the current policy.

When the Grid Rules may matter

The Medical-Vocational Guidelines (Grid Rules) may direct a result in some Step 5 cases based on exertional capacity, age, education, and work experience. When the grids do not decide the case—often because additional limitations affect the occupational base—the ALJ may rely on vocational evidence. A representative can help identify which rules apply and whether the VE’s answer addresses the relevant limitations.

Medical-Vocational Grid RulesResidual Functional Capacity guides