Federal Resume Tips, Worksheet, & Examples

Transcription

1 Federal Resume Tips, Worksheet, & Examples Applying for a federal job requires you to take a different approach and adhere to a different set of rules and techniques. Unlike private sector recruitment, the procedures followed in federal recruitment go by certain criteria and rules. What is a Federal Resume? Since the elimination of the complicated federal application, federal resumes have become the document of choice to land a federal job. Usually accompanied by KSA's (Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities), federal resumes have become the primary determinant in the federal hiring process that they sometime have more weight than interviews in the eyes of recruiters. Whether you are seeking a promotion, trying to change to a new series, or attempting to get your first job in government, you can now write a federal job application that gives a great first impression and organizes your qualifications in the most marketable way. You can focus your resume toward a federal job vacancy announcement with new resume sections that help highlight your accomplishments and skills. Different from a private sector resume and usually consisting of 3 to 10 or more pages, a federal resume requires specific information such as social security number, employers' names and addresses, supervisors' names and telephone numbers, series/grade and vacancy announcement of position applying for. Keywords are critical in the development of federal resumes and should be populated throughout to include specific experience and accomplishments which makes the resume your own. You must demonstrate that you meet and/or exceed the requirements listed in each vacancy announcement or series in for which you are applying. It would be a mistake to think that you can use your standard resume to apply for Federal positions. Not only is the format different in terms of structure, length and content, but a federal resume must include all the information required by a job announcement not following these guidelines will get you eliminated. It is also important to include specific keywords from the job announcement, as government recruiters use Resumix, software that scans and selects the resumes that will actually be read. Once it made the cut through Resumix, your resume will then be rated according to Federal Qualification Standards. It is therefore imperative that your resume is customized to the job announcement as, contrary to most civilian companies, the Federal Government is very strict in terms of candidates closely matching qualifications. The federal resume averages three to five pages, is chronological, is easy to read, looks attractive, and presents job-related and recent (the last 10 years) employment, education, training, skills and other qualifications. Skills, accomplishments, and results should be emphasized on a federal resume. Remember that human resource professionals study resumes all day long; they appreciate an easy-to-read presentation. You want them to enjoy reading and looking at your resume. The new federal resume application will not permit attachments of recommendations, training certificates, or supervisory evaluations (except the most recent). The average type size on your resume should be 11 point, with the headings in 12 point. Your name can stand out by using 14 or 16 point type. Margins are usually 1 or 1.5 inches, and it s good to include white space between major paragraphs to increase readability. Key Differences between Federal and Private Industry Resumes A federal resume is not a private industry resume. Special personal information is required for government security reasons. The following is the mandatory information that you typically would not include in your private industry resume: Social security number Supervisor names and telephone numbers Beginning and ending salaries Street address, city, state, and zip codes for employers Military status Zip codes for colleges High School name and the year you graduated The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) flyer OF 510, Applying for a Federal Job, lists what your resume should include and is reprinted in almost every vacancy announcement. Read it carefully. For you to become qualified for your desired position, this information must be easy to find on your resume. Content Updated: January 13, 2010 Page 1 of 6 Z:\Career Folders\Career Counselors\Guides\Federal Resume Tips & Example.docx

2 The Federal Resume Format Can Help You Highlight Your Background. Here Are Some Examples: Personal information: Who are you? Your personal information can catch the attention of the reader. Don t let the reader forget your name. You can make your name, address, phone numbers, and compliance details stand out. You can select the type font, type size, format, and presentation that will set the tone of your resume. Education: The resume will allow you to list your education and professional development on page 1, following your profile. You can include degree information, courses, projects, completion of a career development program, etc. Previous Experience: What if your current position is a downgrade or not relevant, and your previous position is more important for your career? You can highlight the skills from the previous experience in the profile, skills, and accomplishments sections on page 1. What if you were on a task force that was challenging and impressive and gave you more experience than your current position? You can highlight the task force or detail experiences in an accomplishment section on page 1. That way, the reader can see this experience quickly and be impressed with the relevance of your experience to the position. Focus Your Resume With a Profile Statement Profile Statement: Every resume can benefit from a profile statement. It is your introduction and the answer to the question, Tell me about yourself. Your hope is that the reader will be impressed and continue to read. The profile should be brief and perfectly targeted to the announcement. Below is the profile of an applicant for a senior program manager position, summarizing an extensive career with the Department of Health and Human Services. He s summarizing his expertise (program and civil rights), his executive (policy and programs), and his involvement in major programs in civil rights, disability rights, and accessibility standards for protected classes. This paragraph is packed with information for a fast read. A profile statement can be written for anyone, first-time federal applicants as well as existing federal employees. Program manager and administrative officer with thirty years experience in the development and application of innovative programs in the development and application of innovative programs and civil rights policies. Strong strategic perspective with the ability to balance short-term priorities against long-term organizational goals. Coherent record of effective policy development and program management. Broad experience promoting and monitoring federal programs to assure civil rights, disability rights, and accessibility standards for protected classes. Content Updated: March 12, 2010 Page 2 of 6 Z:\Career Folders\Career Counselors\Guides\Federal Resume Tips & Example.docx

3 Federal Resume Tips and Example 1. Don't forget to include information specific to the job as advertised. Information such as the job number, grade and title of the jobs you are interested in applying for. 2. Include personal information such as your full name, mailing address with zip code, any phone numbers, Social Security Number, reinstatement eligibility and civilian grade, including the job series and dates that you held the previous position. 3. Write your educational qualifications in chronological order, starting from high school to college. Include the name and city of each institution, and the type and year of diploma/degree received. Don't forget to highlight the grades that you received and any awards. Make detailed descriptions in the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). 4. You must specifically mention the major subjects and total credits you have earned. While writing these points, you may be tempted to make use of bullet points - however, while these work well for resumes targeting civilian positions, they may not be well received when applying for federal jobs. 5. You should explain things in great detail. The underlying reason for this is that education counts a lot more in federal recruitment than in the private sector. Therefore, you should use this format to help show or market how well you qualify for the job through your education. 6. Even if your education does not exactly match the qualifications as advertised, you can still qualify through equivalent experience. In this case, you can get over this hurdle by explicitly spelling out your previous experience and how it relates to the job at hand. 7. Emphasize accomplishments and results. Be as descriptive as possible. 8. If you have previous work experience having relevance to the job in question, include it with full details. Give the telephone numbers of employers, position(s) you held, numbers of hours per week and salary. Writing your accomplishments and duties (to a lesser extent) is important. You should also indicate whether it is okay to contact the previous employer. 9. Don't forget to write about any other qualifications that may be even slightly related to the job. Explain why you think they are similar by giving concrete examples such as software used, etc. Memberships, certificates or awards also count heavily in federal job applications. 10. Don't forget to enclose the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs) and mention it in the resume. Avoid the KSAs becoming an exact copy of your resume. Write the KSAs in your own style, without borrowing from samples and use lots of examples to justify your application. Always type your full name and sign it. The bottom line here is that you cannot follow the same rules for federal resumes as for civilian resumes. By following the tips above, and writing your Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) descriptively and succinctly, you will be well on your way to landing that federal job. Additional Career Resource Guides, such as Job Search Tips & Websites, Interviewing Tips & Questions, and much more are available online at and in the Career Resource Library (NUC 338). Content Updated: March 12, 2010 Page 3 of 6 Z:\Career Folders\Career Counselors\Guides\Federal Resume Tips & Example.docx

4 SSN: Citizenship: United States of America Veterans Preference: 5-Point (DD 214 attached) Federal Status: Program Analyst, GS-343(Series)-12(Grade) Objective: Ann#12345-SS, Program Manager, GS Summary of Experience Mary Doe Any Street Any Town, USA (H) (W) This should be a concise and concrete statement of work experience. Use of words like, Over 11 years experience as a... are OK, however, you want to watch how you date yourself. If you only have two years of experience, you may not want to bring this out in this summary. On the other hand, saying you have 35 years of federal experience can be just as ineffective. This summary should be about 6 to 8 lines and bulleted to quickly show what you want them to know about you up front. Use this as your brag time. Professional Accomplishments Department of Transportation, Washington, DC 8/99-Present Office of the Director 40 Hours per Week 123 Streets, Any Street Starting Salary $98,000 Any town, Any State Ending Salary $99,000 Supervisor: John Doe, Phone: May be contacted Staff Assistant, GS-Series-Grade If you do not want the person contacted, say Do not contact. Give explanation in Cover Letter as to why. These items are REQUIRED. Veteran s Preference is either None, 5-Point, or 10-Point. Federal Status, give your official job title, followed by your series and GS number. Starting and Ending Dates - Month and Year Optional; however very effective. Summarize the job here. This is optional. If the hiring office knows about this kind of work, maybe you don t need this. If they do not know about this work, this is the place to tell them, in a few concise sentences. Bullets need to focus on outcomes. Bullets should tell job duties in terms of what happened in your work or accomplishment statements. This is where your results from the work you have done in this position make you different from the other applicants. Each bullet should be somewhere between 4 to 6 lines. In some of the bullets, you can speak of your results in terms of percentages, time, or dollars.... as a result, the budget came in under 9% of the projection.... the report was submitted 70 days before it was due." My work in monitoring expenses for the program resulted in a savings of over $29 billion. The position(s) you have held for the last five years typically should have more bullets (approximately 4 to 8 bullets), since this is the position that best relates to the position for which you are applying. The position you had five or more years ago typically does not add as much value to your resume, so reduce the number of bullets for this position to maybe two bullets, unless your previous experience is the only experience from which you are taking job-related experience. Content Updated: March 12, 2010 Page 4 of 6 Z:\Career Folders\Career Counselors\Guides\Federal Resume Tips & Example.docx

5 Mary Doe, SSN: Page 2 Vacancy Announcement: SS, Program Manager, GS Department of Transportation, Washington, DC 5/95-8/99 Covered Wagons Department 40 Hours per Week Any town, Any State, Zip Starting Salary $97,000 Supervisor: Steve Eod, Phone: Ending Salary $98,000 May be contacted Program Manager, GS-Series-Grade Use a text box to summarize what you did in the position. Indent it so it stands out. Same ideas about bullets as noted above. Indent so the degree stands out. Education Master of Science in Wagon Wheels, University of Anywhere City, State Anywhere, Zip Code, 19XX Bachelor of Arts, Wheel Design, College of Anywhere City, State Anywhere, Zip Code, 19XX Diploma, Any High School, City Anywhere, State Anywhere, Zip Code, 19XX High School Info Required. Bold only the first line of the organization name and dates so they stand out. Training 2001 English Composition University of Maryland Graduate School, 3cr 2000 Computer Keyboard USDA Graduate School, 40 hrs over five days 1999 Conflict Management Price George s County Adult Education Program, 1 hr 1998 Business Management John Hopkins Medical School, First year medical student (part time) 1997 Basic Supervision DOT Connection, 40 hrs for First Time Supervisors Awards Do NOT mix training with Education. Name, City, State, zip code (if known) and date of diploma are required. Only required information is title and year; however adding name of school and hours completed could work to your advantage. List all of your awards, starting with the most recent and working backwards. 5/99 Received $25,000 cash bonus for developing a new concept in traffic management of camels 10/98 Recognized for outstanding work in developing a new phone system for the office. Certificate presented by the President of the United States To be certified usually means you did Current something special to get it. Classroom Certifications Only. attendance and the like do not count. 1/99 Business Coach Certification awarded by the National Association of Business Coaches, Anywhere, NN. Certified to conduct coaching sessions and to train others in the techniques of coaching. Content Updated: March 12, 2010 Page 5 of 6 Z:\Career Folders\Career Counselors\Guides\Federal Resume Tips & Example.docx

6 Mary Doe, SSN: Page 3 Vacancy Announcement: SS, Program Manager, GS Publications Doe, Mary. (19XX). How To Put Sails on Covered Wagons. New York: Any Publisher. Presentations Use MLA or other standard format. Will Oxen Remain the Prime Mover of Ox Carts. Presented to the National Association of Cow Dealers, Any Town, USA, March 19XX. Content Updated: March 12, 2010 Page 6 of 6 Z:\Career Folders\Career Counselors\Guides\Federal Resume Tips & Example.docx