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Tips for Writing a Federal Resume
Creating a federal resume that brings your qualifications to life and shows that you are a perfect fit for the job can be a challenge. Be sure to demonstrate how your skills, experience, training and education match the employer’s needs. Avoid misspelled words and bad grammar. Following are a few ways to make this easier.
Consider what positions you are interested in and review what qualifications or experience they require by reviewing different types of jobs and job opportunity announcements on USAJOBS . Gather information and begin to build out a description of your knowledge, skills and experience to add to your resume. How you present your skills and experience in your resume will help determine whether or not you are invited to interview for a job.
Attend job assistance training prior to departing the service. Contact your Transition Assistance Center as soon as possible and sign up for a Transition Assistance Program Workshop. If you are not near a Military Transition Center, you may use the services at Transition Assistance Offices operated by the other military services. Use your transition counselors. They have the tools and knowledge you need. If available, get their help in creating your first resume or filling out a draft application. Ask them to critique your work and then make the changes they suggest.
One size never fits all. As you apply for jobs, tailor your resume to the position’s requirements. Study the job opportunity announcement and emphasize the parts of your work history that match the qualification requirements listed there. It is important to portray your knowledge and skills as a match to the requirements of the position and demonstrate the ability to do the job. This is easy to do when you include your results, achievements and accomplishments. Minimize the use of technical jargon or specialized terminology (e.g., military abbreviations) in your resume.
Resumes are generally presented in one of three formats: chronological, functional or a combination of both. Which format you choose will depend, in part, on the type of work you have performed and whether or not you are going to continue in the same field.
- Chronological resumes list work experience according to date, with the current job appearing first. Chronological resumes work well if your career has been progressive and you plan to continue in the same line of work.
- Functional resumes are organized by the skills you have used on the job. Functional resumes work well if you are contemplating a new career, do not have a lengthy work history, or have held a number of different positions because they sell your abilities based on the skills you have acquired throughout your career. Be sure to include relevant volunteer experience.
- Combination resumes both describe your work experience and highlight your skills. Combination resumes usually provide the most comprehensive overview of your career.
Unlike resumes used in the private sector, federal resumes require additional information. For each past job, give the standard information found in most resumes. Your federal resume should include the following:
- Job announcement number, job title , and job grade of the job for which you are applying
- Your full name, mailing address , day and evening phone numbers and home e-mail .
- Country of citizenship , if different from U.S.
- Veterans – Ensure that you attach or upload supporting documentation (e.g., DD214 or Statement of Service if still on Active Duty; SF-15, Application for 10-point preference; and Disability Rating Letter of 30% or more from the VA, if applicable).
- Peace Corps / AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteers – If you are a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, you will need to provide your Description of Service (DOS) to claim non-competitive eligibility for federal jobs. AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers
- Persons with Disabilities (Schedule A) – To verify eligibility for employment under the Schedule A hiring authority, you must provide proof of disability issued by a licensed medical professions, a licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist, or any federal agency, state agency, or an agency of the District of Columbia, or U.S. territory that issues or provides disability benefits. Contact the Department’s Selective Placement Coordinators for help with hiring and accommodation requests.
- Veterans – Keep in mind that your military training may count towards qualifications. Use your Verification of Military Experience and Training (VMET) document (DD Form 2586) to document your training and education.
- Begin with your current position and list all other positions held in chronological order.
- State the job title, starting and ending dates (including month and year), prior employer's name and address (or write "self-employed," if that applies), and major duties and accomplishments. Include any positions temporarily held.
- Show the average number of hours worked per week or simply state "full-time"; salary or wage earned; supervisor's name, address and telephone number; and whether you’re most recent supervisor may be contacted.
- Veterans - Avoid using military job titles or occupational codes. Instead, look at what you did using your Verification of Military Experience and Training (VMET) as a starting point. Employers prefer proven performers, so make sure you know what employers are looking for in comparison to your military work experience.
- Indicate if your current supervisor can be contacted
- Job-related training courses (title and year).
- self-management skills refer to the way you manage yourself on the job (e.g., dependable, resourceful, etc.);
- functional skills are the skills you use on the job or have used in previous jobs (e.g., operate equipment, supervise, analyze, etc.); and
- technical skills relate to specific skills required to perform a described task (e.g., computer programming, accounting, sales, etc.)
- Current job-related certificates and licenses - Make sure you understand the licensure and certification requirements for your job objective.
- Job-related honors, awards, special accomplishments , leadership activities, memberships, or publications.
Once you have spell checked your resume, take a good look at its overall appearance. Is it appealing and easy to read? Is there enough white space? Are the margins appropriate? Have the headings, font and formatting style been used effectively? Keep in mind that your resume is an employer's first impression of you. Make sure it makes the best one possible.
- Review the job announcements carefully for key words
- Use verbs and adjectives (e.g., managed, implemented, created) that match key words identified in the job announcement.
- Eliminate military lingo (use words such as personnel instead of squad or platoon).
- Include your accomplishments; do not be shy, be truthful.
- Focus on the mission of the agency and translate your experiences.
- Your positive attitude and genuine enthusiasm goes a long way.
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Federal Resume Writing Guide. This might have already been posted, but I wanted to post this resume writing guide. I used this guide, and similar guides from other agencies, to write my resume and I've been getting referrals and interviews. It's kind of outdated but still a good resource for the examples.
A Hiring Manager's Thoughts on Resumes. I just got done wading through over 1000 pages of resumes (not a typo) for an administrative position. A few thoughts jumped out at me during that review--some universal and some specific to me. It should be obvious, but... Put your name and contact info on your resume.
Just a heads up there is a 5000 character count limit per experience block on the usajobs resume builder. In my agency, many selecting officials are stating they loathe getting resumes from the resume builder and the most current advice is to attach a .pdf instead. This is just one agency but previously it was similar, always use the builder.
Examples of relevant experiences and accomplishments that prove you can perform the tasks at the level required for the job as stated in the job announcement. Your experience needs to address every required qualification. Example. Program Analyst GS-343-11 January 2009—Present 40 Hours/Week $63,000/Year.
The USAJobs resume builder is awful! It never prints correctly on the other side. I've been a selecting official, chaired selecting panels, reviewed resumes for 18 years in federal govt. find your favorite resume template that uses headers and bullet points, follow the instructions explicitly on having your dates, hours, and pay and make sure every painful detail is included.
Federal HR Specialist here. I used to use the resume builder but I no longer use it. I prefer to use Word and then print to a PDF. The USAJOBS builder will help you avoid being disqualified for missing information in your resume, but sometimes you may notice that it prints wonky. If you upload a PDF you know exactly what the hiring manager will ...
The only way the Resume Build function is better than uploading your own if a person's resume isn't very detailed since the builder will ask descriptive in depth questions. 3. Reply. Award. Share. Ok-Koala9774. • 2 yr. ago. I started getting referrals when I started using the builder. 4.
There are only 5 steps in the grade, rather than 10 in the GS system. These are the blue-collar jobs in Federal Service. Here are the job families for WG Jobs. WG-2500 - Wire Communications Equipment Installation And Maintenance Family. WG-2600 - Electronic Equipment Installation And Maintenance Family.
Umeko91. • 3 yr. ago. I used my own resume for the first time two months ago for a position I really wanted, but mimicked the one on USAJobs Resume builder and just added a little flavor to my resume to make it stand out more. I kid you not, I actually got an email for an interview for a full time position with FEMA for the first time after ...
New to applying on USAjobs.gov. You don't have to, but it's really the best option. The main benefit of the resume builder in comparison to an uploaded resume is the fact that it has fillable fields to ensure you have all the required information in order to satisfy the job announcement.
Now, consider that when migrating a Resume Builder from USAJobs to the Agency's Applicant Tracking System (ATS), the ability to do keyword detection may or may not be set up to scan PDFs from untrusted sources. The reason for this is PDFs can have viruses that come embedded with a code that makes documents signable and (somewhat) editable.
Advice: Don't use USAJobs Resume Builder (instead, upload your own) I've heard this from past supervisors and today (as I'm rubbing my eyes after scrolling through page 452 of 694 pages of resumes for a position), I agree, don't use the resume builder in USAJobs. Just upload your own formatted resume/CV (and cover letter).
Some postings have highly specific formatting requirements, e.g. they want to know the exact start and end dates, hours worked, wages earned, etc. - these details are ones that people tend to skimp over (sometimes to save space, sometimes to save face) on self-created PDF/.docx resumes, but are mandatory in the USAJobs resume builder feature.
If you build your own, all you have to do is mimic the heading portion that the builder uses. I.e., JOB TITLE, GRADE SERIES (I bold this line AND make it a different, but not jarring color.) Company name, Address. Date range, 40 hours per week, $00,000.00 annually, Supervisor: Name, Phone. Permission to contact.
Candidate 2's resume: • Spearheaded a special project that landed the organization a $6M grant. • Developed an operations strategy that cut operating expenses by $100k during the first fiscal year. • Exceeded the exceptional standard for production by 20% and overall quality for the year was 100%.
The resume builder produces a poor product. Use the resume builder to create a base document. It will make sure you don't miss anything. Then port it into word and make it pretty. Always save as a pdf to upload. USA jobs can affect the formatting in a word doc. 3.
There are tons and tons of free federal resume writing resources out there though. And there are often federal resume writing events posted on USA jobs and eventbrite. There are youtube videos that go into painful detail about federal resumes and Schedule A wording. So if you're on the fence and have the time, maybe check out the free resources ...
After you generate the resume, move it over to word, fix the formatting and save as a pdf. Also this gives you the ability to nicely format a summary if need. If you have a resume more than 5 or so pages, you need a summary. Give the rater a way to read one or two pages and have a good initial impression.
Use the usajobs resume template so that all of the information for HR to make a determination is displayed. Upload a pdf version of your resume in the documents section of the application. That way in the event you make cert the hiring manager can view the pdf version of your resume instead of just the usajobs resume template. 2.
Always post your own resume, but also make sure you use the resume builder too. I know you're usually taught to keep resumes short and sweet but they give you the room to provide everything! Do your short resume as an attachment, but def also submit the resume builder resume as well. Also rate yourself as the highest you can on those questions.
Make sure to draft a version of your resume for USAJobs that includes all of the pieces above to qualify for review. Mistake #2: You're Not Stating the Obvious. Much of the federal resume review process looks a lot like how an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) ...
Education and work experience that is indirectly related can be excluded if the resume begins to grow too long. Be concise and keep paragraphs short. To make your resume easier to read, add a brief, relevant heading to paragraphs to maximize readability. Use bullets to describe your experiences and accomplishments.
Tips for Writing a Federal Resume. Creating a federal resume that brings your qualifications to life and shows that you are a perfect fit for the job can be a challenge. Be sure to demonstrate how your skills, experience, training and education match the employer's needs. Avoid misspelled words and bad grammar.