How To Create A Compelling Federal Resume
If youve ever thought about applying for a job in the federal government, you probably noticed right away that its not your standard job search. You cant simply submit your regular resume and expect to get results. In order to pursue a career working for Uncle Sam, you need something special: a federal resume.
Standard resume vs. federal resumeThere are countless ways to create the standard resume you send to private-sector employers. You can select which format youd like to followchronological, functional or a hybridand which skills and experience youd like to highlight. A standard resume typically runs a page or two, and everything on it was selected to showcase your most relevant assets for your dream job.
On the other hand, a federal resume is a highly prescribed document that must be completed exactly as directed in order for you to be considered for a given position.
The federal resume will be evaluated and scored to see if you make the best qualified list and receive an interview, said Rhoda Smackum, UMUC Career Services Advising Specialist. A federal resume will provide the reviewer with very specific details about your education, background and work history while serving as an official application for an open position that you desire.
Then, you must and follow the directions exactly as written in the JOA.
Before You Get Started
Read the entire job announcement. Focus on the following sections to understand whether or not you qualify for the position. This critical information is found under:
- Duties and Qualifications
- How to Apply
- How You Will be Evaluated
Make sure you have the required experience and/or education before you apply. Hiring agencies use the job announcement to describe the job and the required qualifications, including:
- Level and amount of experience
- Education
- Training
Tips For Creating A Federal Resume
A resume is your ticket to a job. It must do two things qualify you for a job, and impress a hiring manager enough to offer you an interview.
In general there are two types/usages of resumes:
General information on how to enhance your federal resume:
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The Government Wants Demonstrated Experience
For federal jobs, experience trumps almost everything. Hiring agencies arent interested in potential, or as Segal says, Its not about your journey. You should have already arrived. Federal HR wants to see proven success, role mastery, and expertise.
The entire federal job application process is about demonstrating that you are the ideal candidate by showing your experience and success. Experience even outweighs education for most jobs unless an applicants education is part of the value proposition, such as scientist or mathematician jobs.
Federal HR will not make any assumptions about your resume. Even things that seem very straightforward need to be explicitly spelled out. Federal hiring practices are highly regulated, so federal HR personnel cant make those assumptions. Every assumption could risk an EEO complaint or even a call from Congress.
As Segal puts it, From a federal perspective, if its not on the resume, you didnt do it.
Government Hiring Is Changing
We help our customers succeed in the Federal Government by preparing up-to-date, professional, stand-out resumes. We also write cover letters, update LinkedIn profiles, and provide career consulting services such as application assistance and interview preparation. All of our writers are based in the United States, and we work with clients in all geographic locations.
The hiring landscape is changing. 75% of large companies use algorithms to screen through thousands of resumes when hiring. Our services are designed to help you stand out in today’s hiring environment, double your interviews, and land that dream job.
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Our Services Come With An Iron
Our goal is to help you reach your career goals. To ensure you are completely satisfied with our professional resume writing services, we offer a 5-Point Guarantee. Our resumes are proven to succeed because they are not cookie-cutter but custom, content-rich, and strategically developed to deliver a fast return on your investment. Additionally, we offer world-class customer service, as evidenced by our 99.6% customer satisfaction rate.
Are you tired of
- Applying for federal jobs, but never receiving interviews?
- Wondering how to develop your federal resume and KSAs?
- Performing in your current role, but ready to transfer to another federal agency?
- Getting passed over for promotions because youre not sure how to write your federal resume?
- Wanting to apply for a federal job, and getting sidetracked by USAJOBS?
- Being Qualified yet never Best Qualified?
- Wondering how to navigate the challenging Senior Executive Service application process?
- Navigating complex career transitions that keep you stuck in your current role?
- Never hearing back from your federal resume submission?
For a personalized consultation or to learn more about creating a federal resume, call CareerProPlus.com today at or click the button below.
Tr: What Should A Federal Resume Include
TP: Like any traditional resume, a federal resume is a key tool in the first phase of the job application process. It is designed to showcase that you have the required qualifications for the specific job you are targeting.
A federal resume needs to keep pace with government policies and procedures for hiring, which means following mandated changes required by the Office of Personnel Management . It’s important that you redesign your resume so it complies with the core elements required by the majority of government agencies, all while, of course, including unique aspects of each specific job. It should detail the key aspects of your qualifications, including your experience, education, certifications, and any other relevant data. In addition, the header should contain your personal data including your name, contact information, citizenship, Veterans Preference, and federal employment history .
Overall, it should contain the following categories of information:
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Federal Resume Writing Services
Applying for federal jobs can be frustrating and the federal resume has to be targeted to the job announcement and highlight your qualifications to be rated Best Qualified. Only applications rated best qualified are forwarded to the selecting official for consideration. Federal resume writing services can give you the edge that you need if you work closely with them to highlight your qualifications for the position applied for.
You must work closely with the federal resume writer to provide detailed information. Federal resumes and KSAs must be specific and the only way the federal resume writers can get this information is from you, so be prepared. They will need lists of your awards, detailed work history, military service job descriptions, rank and time of service if applicable, education and training, special skills and certifications, volunteer work, and temporary details and promotion information. Only you can provide the details.
A professional federal resume service uses only certified writers. They will work with you to ensure that your federal resume, KSAs, or ECQs are thorough, grammatically correct, properly formatted, tailored to the job announcement, and in a file format suitable for the job you are applying for.
Use Numbers To Highlight Your Accomplishments
Use numbers, percentages or dollars to highlight your accomplishmentsyou can find this information in things like your performance reviews, previous job descriptions, awards and letters of recommendation.
When explaining your accomplishments:
- Include examples of how you saved money, earned money, or managed money.
- Include examples of how you saved or managed time.
Examples
- Improved efficiency of document processing by 25% over the previous year.
- Wrote 25 news releases in a three-week period under daily deadlines.
- Managed a student organization budget of more than $7,000.
- Wrote prospect letter that has brought in more than $25,000 in donations to date.
These statements show in concrete terms what you accomplished.
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Writing Your Federal Resume
There are three good methods for creating your federal resume:
- Write it yourself
- Build it with USAJobss own federal resume builder
- Hire a federal resume writer
Some JVAs may actually require you to apply through the USAJobs resume builder, but it might not be obvious in the JVA itself. For this reason, among others, both Taylor and Segal suggest applying through the USAJobs resume builder instead of creating a resume from scratch.
No matter what choice you make, do not procrastinate on applying if you find a JVA youre interested in. The application process is much more time consuming than a private sector job application, and JVAs have a strict close time. There may also be unexpected requirements once youre finished applying through USAJobs.
Tips For Federal Resume Writing
One of the most important USAJOBS resume tips is following the job announcement and providing what the hiring agency is asking for. Its a step that many qualified applicants overlook because theyre using a template resume instead of developing a resume for each application.
CareerPro Global always advises that you write to the position you are applying. In other words, its not about what you want to write, as its important to include the information the hiring official wants to see and how they wish to see it.
Writing a federal resume is like a cover letter for civilian positions in that you need to make it relevant to the job announcement. The USAJOBS system first asks a series of questions in relation to the job vacancy for which you are applying. If you do not choose that you are highly qualified and experienced in all responses, there is a good possibility your resume will not make it to the hiring official.
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Get The Interviews And Offers You Deserve
The federal resume writing service offered by CareerProPlus can provide you with the tools you need to hold your own in the highly competitive federal job market. Since 1986, CareerProPlus has proudly served candidates for jobs in both the private sector and federal government, military personnel seeking post-service employment, and current federal employees seeking a promotion or career change. Our professional federal resume writers have written more than 60,000 military, civilian, and federal resumes, resulting in many of our clients landing interviews that lead to job offers. If youre having trouble getting through the application process, CareerProPlus can refine your federal resume and get you in the right place at the right time.
Resume Tips For Federal Resume Writing:
Good luck with the process and keep up the good work!
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How To Write A Federal Resume In 2021
Creating a federal resume is a lot trickier than a conventional one.
For starters, you need to make it way more comprehensive .
You also have to add very specific details, such as your GS rating, clearance, and more.
Want to learn how to create/build a federal resume the easy way?
Read on to find out:
- Whats a Federal Resume & How Does It Differ From a Conventional One
- How to Write a Federal Resume in 6 Easy Steps
- How to Look for Federal Jobs
And more!
So, lets get started.
Customer Services Resume Summaries
Many industries require exceptional customer service attributes, making this skill critical to include in your professional career summary when applying for these jobs.
32. Customer ServiceKnowledgeable customer service representative with over 12 years of experience in the retail industry. Extremely attentive and thorough with both opening and closing shifts with stock supply management.
33. CashierExperienced cashier for the past 20 years in the supply chain market. Highly meticulous in ensuring cash floats and bank deposits balance each shift for smooth operations with less than 0.5% margin of error throughout professional employment.
34. Floor Sales RepresentativeAs a floor sales representative for the past 5 years, gained the customer service skills necessary to help clients know what they need in a product. Intuitive nature and approachable demeanor were vital in gaining customer trust and building a connection during each transaction, which helped for repeat business.
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How Is A Federal Job Description Different
When a job is posted on USAJobs, its called a job vacancy announcement . This job description contains far more than the basic list of responsibilities and requirements of a private sector job description.
Quality Assurance Specialist job description from Monster.com versus USAJobs Yes, JVAs are THAT long.
Segal recommends spending at least an hour thoroughly reading through the JVA. Understanding the JVA is key to structuring your resume to not just fit the job but to also demonstrate how youre perfectly qualified.
You should use the same language that appears on the JVA on your resume to draw those lines even more clearly. Jobscan helps automate this process to make it go faster, letting you identify the most important keywords and skills.
Identify Your Highest Gs Grade
All jobs within the federal government are graded within the General Schedule to determine pay rate and job responsibility. The GS scale goes from 1 to 15 with 10 steps within each grade that have a pre-determined pay increase at each step. If you are currently employed with the federal government, include your highest GS grade and current salary range.
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Federal Job Resume Template Info
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Federal job resume template info
Federal job resume template. Federal resume templates provide the basic resume format and design for creating one such targeted resume. Resume builder use our builder to create a resume in 5 minutes. Here are additional key points to consider: be sure to only include the most important skills that are specifically tailored to the job or this industry. Federal resume template presented at the fda and hhs virtural hiring event keywords:
To build a resume in usajobs: Your federal resume should reflect the requirements for the position for which you are applying. Following are a few ways to make this easier. Comparing with a standard resume, this document includes more detailed information about your skills and past work experience.if you dont have any experience in writing this paper, you may feel confused about what to include in this document to write and format it properly. Click add work experience, enter the required information and click save work experience.to add additional work experience repeat this step or click next. Resume templates find the perfect resume template.
A Federal Resume Writing Service Featuring Top
CareerProPlus gives you access to 30+ years of experience and a writing team holding certifications such as Master Military Resume Writer, Master Federal Resume Writer, and Master Career Advisor. We ensure that your resume is not only well written, but also relevant to the types of jobs you are seeking. You will be assigned a dedicated Master Federal Resume Writer who will consult with you throughout the resume writing process. Our writers benefit from a comprehensive initial training program, ongoing refresher training, an abundance of in-house support and resources, and a skilled support network.
CareerProPlus has developed a comprehensive Quality Management System with detailed processes as part of our best practices. Weve developed a signature Headline Format style for our federal resumes that has been welcomed by government Human Resources professionals because of the how easy it makes it for them to match candidate qualifications to job vacancy requirements.
When you choose CareerProPlus, youll partner with a career management service that offers:
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