Writing A Federal Resume
Tips for a Strong Resume and Successful Federal Job Search
Employment with a federal government agency provides income and job security. The hiring process for federal jobs is a bit different than other jobs. Adjusting the resume is the first step in being successful in obtaining a federal job.
Gather Information
Learn as much as possible about the job. Read the hiring information thoroughly. Pay attention to the eligibility section of the position. Only a certain percentage of the available federal jobs hire outside of those already employed by the federal government. Find a copy of the position description. Once the position description is obtained, note specific information about the job. Notice key words which the hiring officials are using in the description. If specific duties are noted, pay attention to the percentages of time assigned for each duty.
Target Resume to a Specific Job
Each resume submitted should be tailored to a specific job. Evaluate job experience and skills. Rewrite job descriptions to place emphasis on skills needed for the desired job. After researching the job position description, include similar key words in the resume. Place greater emphasis on the duties which will be performed more often. Plan on spending a good deal of time adjusting a resume for each position.
Include Specific Job Experience
Each job description entry should include answers to the questions, "What did you do?", "How did you do it?" and "What were the results?" Specifics should always be listed, especially in positions requiring specialized experience. Even if the experience does not match exactly, it will show the ability to work on a similar task that will generalize to the position. Include any honors or awards received for job performance in a separate section. On a federal resume, there is no rule of thumb for resume length, so it is more important to include the details than stick to a set number of pages.
Detail Education
While mentioning you have a degree in a certain field may be enough for a typical job, it helps to detail specific courses on the federal resume. While it may not be helpful to input an entire college transcript to the resume, it will help to note specialized courses, credit hours and date courses were taken to illustrate education qualifications. Do include continuing education and non-credit courses that are relevant to the position.
Must Include Information
A typical resume will not ask for the amount of personal information which a federal resume requires.Ensure that name, social security number, citizenship, veteran's preference and information on any prior employment with the federal government is listed in the heading of your resume.
Although the federal resume requires a different approach to the resume, federal employment is worth the effort. Time and effort spent on the process of writing a resume will pay off when the result is a well-paying secure federal job.
