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July 27, 2002

HOMELAND SECURITY RESUMES

By Kathryn Troutman

Would you like to be part of America's new Department of Homeland Security?

Thousands of homeland security jobs are open now!

In this article, you'll learn what knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal characteristics are needed in this new industry. You'll also become familiar with the all important "keywords" to include on your resume.

Do you have what it takes to get a job in the new Department of Homeland Security? There will be a whole new world of homeland security jobs when the new department is in place. Currently, some of these jobs are available. While we don't yet know all of the jobs that will be created, we do know the mission of the department: To protect Americans from terrorist attacks at home through transportation service management, law enforcement, protection of our borders and waters, and effective management of emergencies.

The homeland security jobs will be in a number of agencies and the jobs will be: technical/law enforcement, scientific/biological, and emergency management categories, as well as those associated with providing administrative, fiscal, and customer support for security operations.

Other major hiring in government will occur because of the large numbers of retiring federal employees within the next 5 to 10 years. About 50% of the entire 1.8 million workforce is over 49 years old. So there will be excellent career growth opportunity in government in the next few years for those who are aggressive about managing their Federal career.

The first new division, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), was founded seven months ago. Opening its recruitment doors on July 2, 2002, the Transportation Security Agency is hiring thousands of airport security and management personnel. The job announcements are published, and these listings spell out the Specialized Qualifications, as well as the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs), desired and required for the jobs.

In this article, we will study the newly written vacancy announcements for Specialized Qualifications, KSAs, personal characteristics, and industry keywords so that you can begin to create your own homeland security resume.

THE NEW TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

The Agency's Mission

Why Work for the TSA?

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is responsible for security relating to civil aviation, maritime, and all other modes of transportation. It is the lead agency for security at airports, ports, and on the nation's railroads, highways, and public transit systems. TSA is responsible for the Federal security screening operations for passenger air transportation and also for intelligence information related to transportation security. It will work to discover, prevent and deal with threats to transportation security. The agency will manage and carry out programs and regulatory activities, as well as research and develop activities related to enhancing transportation security. TSA will also coordinate inter-modal transportation security, including aviation, rail and other surface transportation, and maritime transportation. This agency will oversee most of the transportation-related responsibilities of the Federal government during a national emergency.

New Job Titles for the TSA

Since the agency is brand new, its job titles are new. The vacancy announcements are interesting, demanding (you must be available??? 24/7 for many positions), and challenging. The announcements describe the work of a Screener, Security Director, and other personnel stationed at airports across the country.

Employment opportunities are available for the following positions:

  • Administrative Officer
  • Assistant Federal Security Director
    for Screening
  • Customer Support and
    Quality Improvement Manager
  • Deputy Federal Security Director
  • Federal Security Director
  • Human Resource Specialist
  • Industrial Engineer
  • Lead Screeners
  • Scheduling Operations Officer
  • Screeners
  • Screening Manager
  • Secretaries
  • Stakeholder Liaison
  • Stakeholder Manager
  • Supervisory Screeners
  • Training Coordinator

For more information on these jobs, see http://www.tsa.gov/employment_opps/employment_opps_index.shtm.

MORE VALUABLE HOMELAND SECURITY RESUME INFORMATION:

Kathryn Kraemer Troutman is the President of The Resume Place, Inc. and is an expert in the Federal hiring process and writing outstanding applications. She designed the "federal-style" resume for the government in her book, Federal Resume Guidebook. Kathryn is an in-demand trainer inside of government on career development and resume writing. She writes a popular column on federal jobs: Career Corner found at her website: www.resume-place.com.

COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSIONS

Feel free to forward this Career Corner column to friends and colleagues. You may use this column for training in career classes with recognition of the author and website. You may not link this column to other websites without permission. For information about licensing this content write to Kathryn at kathryn@resume-place.com.

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