Applying for federal government jobs requires knowing how to craft an effective resume and matching it with position announcements. Among the principal difficulties for many seeking federal employment are showcasing their accomplishments and writing succinct and targeted self-assessments.
Candidates first need to read the job announcement and design a resume that matches its description. Applicants then should determine whether they are eligible for a certain job title or category based on their qualifications.
Besides deciding on the major agencies where they’d like to work, federal job seekers should know the purposes of those agencies and the duties entailed in positions in which they’re interested, said Kathryn Troutman, a federal career consultant and author of books on getting U.S. government jobs. The founder of the Catonsville, Maryland-based Resume Place, she helps prospective applicants design resumes and teaches classes for federal job trainers on how to help job candidates improve their resume.
Agencies need generalized and specialized skills, and an amount of specialized experience. For applicants, Troutman recommends keeping copies of all performance evaluations, training completed, certificates, and awards to document achievements, including accomplishments outside of work. Something that candidates often fail to do, she added, is describe their experience in sufficient detail to note the extent of their responsibilities and the complexity of positions they’ve held.
Applicants’ Knowledge, Skills, Abilities (KSAs) in Resume Process
After submitting a federal resume, applicants sometimes must address the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that a position calls for, noting their own experience, education, qualifications, and training. Ligaya Fernandez, a retired human resources management and federal hiring authority with the U.S. government, noted the importance of linking work experience with KSAs in a September 1, 2009 blog post on Troutman's Web site.
One rationale for the KSA statements was the level of writing, analysis, and interpersonal skills necessary in government jobs. But they may no longer necessarily be used in all instances.
“Knowledge, skills and abilities essays – a fixture of the USAJobs application process – were often criticized for being too onerous, reaching up to three pages per application, and sometimes asking for highly specific government skills,” wrote Sara Murray in “Federal Jobs: Easy to Spot, Hard to Get,” in the October 26, 2009 Wall Street Journal. “Now the essays have been eliminated for positions that don’t require extensive writing skills.”
USAJobs Applicants Sometimes Directed to Application Manager
USAJobs.gov is the official civil service jobs site of the U.S. federal government and was created to standardize job announcements. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) operates the site. USAJobs lets jobseekers have up to five versions of a resume stored in its database at a time even before applying for a specific job.
Application Manager is a separate system often used in conjunction with USAJobs. On USAJobs, applicants will be directed to create a separate login for Application Manager to complete biographical and eligibility information. Some job vacancies are not posted on USAJobs but on agency Web sites. If OPM is managing a position, and it is using USAJobs and Application Manager, candidates must use the system to apply for a position.
Federal resumes are three to five pages, Troutman said. “Federal resumes are at least two times longer because the federal resume is like a document, it has to prove that you have these qualifications,” she told a job trainer teleclass.
Use of Specific Keywords to Emphasize Duties
Troutman urges her clients to analyze the keywords from job duties, qualifications, and questions, and incorporate them in a resume while not using one federal resume for all positions. In the resumes, use more nouns which are searchable terms in most databases, she added. For example, use “editor” instead of “responsible for compiling documents and preparing a publication.” Candidates should indicate too if they were a project manager, contract specialist, negotiator, supervisor, or team leader.
Different categories of federal jobs have their own hiring practices. Federal agencies also have direct hire authority to fill vacancies when facing a shortage of qualified candidates or a critical hiring need. This authority may be used to hire security-related information technology managers, X-ray technicians, medical officers, those fluent in languages such as Arabic, and acquisition positions.
Agencies must publicly post such direct hire vacancies on USA Jobs but don’t have to apply veterans’ preference or rank candidates based on qualification.
Qualifications analysis considers such factors as citizenship and veterans’ status, security clearance, language skills, foreign residence or employment, computer or other significant skills, federal agency preference, past federal positions, educational background, and areas of knowledge.
In addition, the U.S. government has special hiring and added preference programs for former military personnel (including the Coast Guard), as well as spouses and other family members, and wounded veterans. The Veterans Recruitment Act grants supervisors the authority to directly hire veterans.
For Competitive Service jobs, officials with hiring authority may seek applicants from different sources. Veterans’ preference rules apply and candidates are ranked in order of qualification.
Excepted Service jobs are those with agencies that determine their own qualification requirements and are not bound by the appointment, pay, and classification rules in Title 5 of the U.S. Code. The agencies have more flexibility with recruitment incentives, salaries, promotions, and other personnel matters. These positions also are subject to veterans’ preference and jobs don’t have to be posted on USAJobs.
The first step in a federal jobs search remains a clear and detailed resume that underscores the experience recruiters would want to know about. Candidates should understand what agencies need and whether their background is sufficiently related to the skills sought.
Source: Teleclass conducted on August 7, 2009 by Kathryn Troutman, Maryland-based federal career consultant, for federal job trainers.
John Seidenberg - John Seidenberg has worked on newspapers, newsletters, radio news, and produced specialized news publications as well as freelance ...
