“writing a competitive federal government résumé

WRITING A COMPETITIVE FEDERAL

GOVERNMENT RÉSUMÉ

About your instructor: Alex Harrington, GCDF

CBP safeguards America's borders by protecting the public

from dangerous people and materials, while enabling trade

and travel.

The Federal Career Connection program was created in 2011 by volunteers to

provide facilitator-led workshops to equip job seekers with the right mix of

information and resources to enhance their federal job search.

Federal Career Connection Workshop Series• “Charting an Effective Course for

Success”Know your bearing

• “Planning and Navigating your Career

into Public Service”Know your terrain

• “Targeting Federal Jobs”Know your target

• “Writing a Competitive Federal

Government RésuméKnow your brand

What is the purpose

of a résumé?

1) To get you a job

2) To show all your past work

history

3) To show how great you are

4) All of the above

The sole purpose of a

résumé is to get you an

interview with the bloke

in charge!

British actor, Rick Gervais, "The Office" (UK TV series)

The Writing a Federal Government Résumé workshop teaches

the job seeker how to write a federal résumé that captures

transferable skills and core competencies.

Introduction

I. Before your write your résumé ... know your target career field

II. Human resources & the hiring manager: you must write for both

III. The basic skinny of a federal résumé

IV. Your personal brand … the spiciest part of you

V. If you think you need only one résumé … think again!

Course Agenda

“The choice of an occupation is a very important factor in

the success of life. The earlier it can be done the better. The

more nearly the aptitudes of the man or woman fit the

occupation, the more congenial and successful is the career.

Strong minds readily indicate the pursuit for which they are

naturally fit; others do not”.

(William M. Thayer, 1893)

Before your write your résumé ... know your

target career field

Identify Your Field of

Interest

More than 2 million federal

civilian workers employed in

350 different occupations.

The Handbook of

Occupational Groups

and Families

Federal Occupations by College Major

“...your time is much better spent tailoring a fewapplications to their target audiences than carpet-bombing the world with many untailored, genericapplications that will all probably miss their mark. Putanother way: If you are unwilling to devote an otherwiseenjoyable weekend to tailoring your application to yourtarget job, some of your competitors almost certainly willbe willing to do so — and so they will probably beat youin the competition”.

(Lily Whiteman, Career Matters, Federal Times, Feb. 4, 2013)

Human resources & the hiring manager: you

must write for both

When writing for the hiring manager,

make sure your résumé… Is eye-catching and properly sequenced

to the target job;

Targets the position (it’s not an

anthology);

Highlights your career summary;

Showcases your awesome achievements;

Presents you as an experienced veteran

of that career field;

Never begins each bullet with

“...ing” or “I”;

Leads with POWER verbs and

key words from the federal job

announcement;

Easily understood by non-

specialists;

Polished and error-free; and

Wakes up hiring managers.

And remember!

“You have only 5-10

seconds to…

Top 6 Universal Candidate Skills

Communication Skills

Problem Solving Skills

Teamwork Skills

Technical Skills

Customer Service

Continuous Development

“The federal résumé is becoming even more important as

agencies try to simplify their applications. Emphasize and

re-emphasize areas where your previous experience or

education overlaps with the duties and qualifications listed

in the job opportunity announcement”.

The basic skinny of a federal résumé

Chronological résumé is the best format:

Contains a logical flow of text;

Easy to read;

Highlights a steady work record; and

Showcases growth in responsibilities.

Federal résumé writing tips

Length:

A federal résumé can be 2-5 pages; but some senior positions

may exceed six pages;

A federal résumé highlights 10 to 15 years of experience;

A federal résumé is detailed focus; and

Some electronic résumés have restrictive character lengths.


Also remember…

Wikipedia is a good source to obtain key words (noun) of

various job descriptions;

What sets you apart is a tailored résumé to the job;

Indicate in your résumé what you can do for the employer, not

give an account of your anthology; and

Highlight transferable skills!


“The concept of personal branding within résumés is a

relatively new strategy, but has already been embraced by

many successful job changers, at all professional levels, as

a powerful, self-marketing tool. Your résumé is your calling

card, or first opportunity to influence a lasting impression

of you”.

(Meg Guiseppi, Job-hunt.org)

Your personal brand … the spiciest part of you

Your personal brand What are you most passionate about? What do you care deeply about?

What are your top 3 or 4 personal attributes – the things that define

how you make things happen?

What are your 3 or 4 greatest strengths or top motivated skills (things

you love doing) that have benefitted previous organizations?

What differentiates you from your competition for your next job? What

do you have to offer that no one else does?

Personal brand examples

PROJECT MANAGER: Delivering excellence in operations management,

design implementation, and strategic, collaborative problem-solving to the

industrial construction industry.

SENIOR EXECUTIVE: Specialize in raising the bar, creating strategy,

managing risk, and improving the quality and caliber of operations.

SENIOR DESKTOP SUPPORT SPECIALIST: Delivering leading-edge

innovation to IT solutions.

HUMAN RESOURCES STRATEGIST: Poised to deliver success-proven

operations and human-resources management methodologies in

management role.

“In today’s job-hunting environment, the most

successful job-seekers are those who

understand the value of marketing and apply

to themselves those principles that companies

have used for years to successfully sell their

products”.

(Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., Quintessential Careers)

If you think you need only one résumé … think again!

Networking Card

Lily Whiteman, author of “How to Land a Top-Paying federal

Job”

One-page résumé

Kathryn Troutman, author of the “Federal Résumé Guidebook”

Job search marketing tools

Formatted federal résumé

Electronic federal résumé

Federal résumé formats

If you’re applying to more than one type of federal career

field, then you must create a résumé for each one.

Write one résumé for each federal career field

Public

Affairs

Public

Affairs

Human

Resources

Public

Affairs

Human

Resources

Program

Analyst

1 résumé

2 résumés

3 résumés

So, what have you learned?

Before your write your résumé, you must know your target

career field;

When preparing your résumé, you should not only write to

meet the basic qualifications for the job, but also for the hiring

official;

The best type of federal résumé is the chronological format; and

Always market your personal brand, through various

communication methods.