My book and curriculum, Ten Steps to a Federal Job™, is a favorite because of the 10 steps “campaign process” for this highly complex job search method. The curriculum is utilized in hundreds of military bases worldwide because it is easy to teach, learn, and follow.

I created the “Numbers Federal Job Search Strategy” curriculum when my daughter, Emily, and I were teaching senior NASA Engineers how to write Senior Executive Service applications. We had two days to get two ECQs written. We examined the numbers – 5 ECQs, 28 Leadership Competencies, 10 pages, 2 pages, and set time-lines for each and every writing step. In two days, the engineers had written at least two ECQs and were actually having a great time with their production and ideas.

Which numbers are your favorites? I have underlined my typical training numbers.

FEDERAL JOB SEARCH PROCESS

10 – number of Steps to a Federal Job, developed by Kathryn Troutman

USAJOBS RESUME BUILDER

5 – number of resumes in the USAJOBS builder

WORK EXPERIENCE IN USAJOBS

5 – average number of pages for a mid-career federal resume

3,000 – characters for the USAJOBS Work Experience “job block”

2,000 – characters for duties (recommended for Job #1)

1,000 – characters for accomplishments (recommended for Job #1)

7 – maximum number of jobs (recommended, but not a limit)

10 – years to write details about your work history

20 – years to write fewer details about (write less about the second 10 years of your work history)

30 – years to write even fewer details about (try not to include dates back to 30 years)

KSA ACCOMPLISHMENTS

340 – characters for a good KSA accomplishment length in a federal resume

CLOSING DATES FOR JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS

11:59 pm ET – typical closing date time for most USAJOBS job announcements

APPLICATION SCORES BY FEDERAL HUMAN RESOURCES SPECIALISTS

110 – top score for a veteran with a disability

105 – top score for a veteran with veteran’s preference

90 – minimum score for Best Qualified

80 – minimum score for Qualified

70 – minimum score to be referred for any federal job

SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRES

3 – possible ways to receive an E, the highest level in the ApplicationManager.gov Questionnaire

INTERVIEWS

2.5 – minutes for the average length of an answer to a question in a Behavior-Based Interview

30 – minutes for the average length of a Behavior-Based Interview

5 – the best possible score for an answer in an exam format Behavior-Based Interview

FEDERAL JOB SEARCH APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT TIME

3 – hours to find your documents

5 – hours to write your first federal resume

3 – months to find a federal job

10 – hours per week to search for job announcements and apply for jobs

30 – applications to submit before getting an interview (maybe)

SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE APPLICATIONS

5 – Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) for a Senior Executive Service (SES) application

28 – Leadership Competencies for the ECQs for an SES application

KATHRYN TROUTMAN

9 – authored books on federal resume writing

1996 – wrote first book on Federal Resumes – Federal Resume Guidebook

1996 – created the first website for federal resume writing, www.resume-place.com

Competition is growing for the best jobs in the country! In today’s job market, hundreds and thousands of job seekers are sending resumes for federal positions now.  It’s well publicized in the media that the federal jobs pay better, and benefits and retirement are better than private industry. These federal positions are the best jobs in the entire US.

So now there is a dramatic increase in applications per position. To compete against more competition, your federal resume has to be “super-specialized” for each position.

One federal resume does NOT fit all federal applications

We are finding at The Resume Place, Inc. that many federal job seekers are using one resume to apply for many positions. This approach is not effective. Each federal resume must be super-specialized to get a score of 90 or above and to get Best Qualified and Referred to a Supervisor. We are hearing from frustrated federal job seekers who are submitting 60, 100, even 200 federal resumes and NOT getting Referred, or if they are Referred, they are not selected for an Interview. These job seekers say they are qualified but are having no luck. One reason could be that their federal resume is NOT super-specialized toward an announcement.

Hot Tip: Don’t overlook the One Year Specialized Experience section of the vacancy announcement

What many people don’t see in the long vacancy announcements is that each job announcement will state that a position requires “One Year Specialized Experience”  for all positions. Your resume MUST show that you have this One Year Specialized experience in order to qualify for the position.

Where does an applicant find the Specialized Experience in the vacancy announcement?

Each announcement will state the Specialized Experience needed for the job. The announcement will usually say something like this: “Your resume must demonstrate that you have 52 weeks of specialized experience in this certain field. Your resume should include examples of this and this and this and this.”

Here’s how your federal resume can become a super-specialized federal resume:

Add your KSAs into the resume. Although the KSAs narratives are supposedly eliminated by the Hiring Reform, many applications will ask for your KSAs to be demonstrated in your resume. These KSAs to be added into your resume will be different for each vacancy announcement even if you are applying for generally the same types of jobs. Make your resume super-specialized by adding these KSAs right into the text of your resume in the Work Experience section to get the best score.

Highlight your Specialized Experience. Human resources specialists are overwhelmed with resumes. They have so many resumes to review, and they are looking for quick ways to eliminate you from consideration. You will want the initial Human Resources reviewer to see your specialized experience quickly. They will give you more consideration, because your resume clearly demonstrates your qualifications.  This could result in a better score on your federal resume (best scores are 90+)

Add keywords from the Specialized Experience section. Change at least 10 to 20 keywords and phrases in your federal resume for each announcement, so that the resume clearly hits the Specialized Experience. Find the keywords in the mission, duties, and qualifications sections of the vacancy announcement.

Give examples to PROVE that you have the Specialized Experience. Vacancy announcements will request examples, and you should write them in your federal resume.  These examples are your Accomplishment Record; they prove from your past performance that you will have a certain track record for future performance.

If possible, add your Specialized Experience to the first page of your resume. The most valuable real estate in your federal resume is the first page. If your last job or current job is your most relevant, list this one first.

Readability counts – add the Specialized Experience in the Outline Format Resume. Use ALL CAPS and spacing to help the HR specialist find this important specialized experience. If it’s easy to read by busy HR specialists, that can help you get a better score and get referred.

THE RESUME PLACE, INC. CERTIFIED FEDERAL RESUME WRITERS produce super-specialized federal resumes. Get professional help with your federal resumes and land one of the best jobs in the United States today!

Do you want a FREE Estimate for a super-specialized federal resume? Just complete our registration and federal resume profile. We will write back to you and give a few recommendations for super-specialized writing strategies plus an estimate for our professional services to help you achieve your federal career goals. Professional strategic writing for federal jobs is an investment in your future and career, not just a federal resume writing service.

Good luck with your Super-Specialized federal resume. Get Best Qualified, Referred, Interviewed and Hired with your Super Specialized Federal Resume. Each application is unique, no two are the same! Kathryn Troutman, Author, Ten Steps to a Federal Job™

I told the class of supervisors and executives that I had just written two newsletter articles on a technique for writing the job objectives in the SMART format by using a vacancy announcement. They were intrigued, so I showed them my two articles and my analysis of the SMART JOs.

I asked the class, “How many of you have your JOs written in the SMART format?” Nobody raised their hand. They said, “We can’t figure out how to do it”.

I admitted that the SMART JOs were hard even for me to write.

We started talking about the mandatory Supervisory JO, which is not in the SMART format. I recommended that we take the Supervisory JO and make it SMART, just for writing and thinking about your accomplishments. Here is our SMART version of the mandatory Supervisory JO (this is a shortened version that I typed):

STANDARD JOB OBJECTIVE:

SUPERVISOR: Execute the full range of HR (including performance management) and fiscal responsibilities within established timelines and regulations. Adhere to merit principles. Develop a vision for the work unit. Align performance expectations within organizational goals. Maintain a safe work environment. Ensure EEO principles adhered to throughout organization. Ensure continuing application of laws regulations governing prohibited personnel practices. Promptly address allegations of harassment retaliation.

SMART

SPECIFIC : SUPERVISOR ADD MORE DETAILS HERE ABOUT SPECIFIC

MEASURES: Performance management, fiscal within timelines and regulations; vision; performance expectations, safe, EEO, addressing allegations or problems. COVER AT LEAST TWO OF THESE – WHICHEVER MEASURES ARE RELEVANT TO YOUR JOB

ALIGNED: To meet the mission with the staff

REALISTIC: If you have the staff and resources, how you achieve the measures

TIMED: Good customer service within required timelines

THEN …CHOOSE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT SUPPORT THE ABOVE ELEMENTS:

Performance – staff training and retraining story Fiscal – decreased, increased, new hires, retired people, interns Safety – employee who may have felt threatened, resolved analysis, advocacy EEO – recruitment practice Employee recruitment – internships, other recruitment strategies

What are you doing with your SMART Objectives?

What is the relationship between your resume and your job classification? Actually, they are two different things and are used differently in the federal employment process.

The job classification is all about federal personnel processes. The classification process is a structured method of assigning a title, series, and grade to each federal position. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) publishes government-wide job grading standards that describe all the different types of work found in federal agencies. The classification specialist in each human resources office looks at the job duties your supervisor assigns to the position you occupy, and uses the OPM standards to place it in the appropriate job series. The classifier then uses these same standards to determine the grade level of the job, based on factors such as how complex the work is and how closely your supervisor reviews your work.

Although you may hold a professional degree and be qualified to perform work that is far more difficult and demanding, it is the job requirements, and not your personal abilities or work history, which determines how your job is classified. In other words, the classification process is all about the job requirements, and not about you. There are cases in which an employee has had such a profound impact on the way a job functions that it does affect the classification, but these instances are rare. In most cases, unless the supervisor is willing to change your job duties, re-writing your resume is unlikely to affect the classification.

The federal resume/job application qualifications process is all about you! If the classification process is all about the job and not about you, the qualifications process is just the opposite: that process is all about you, and not about the job you occupy. Just as job classification standards guide the classifier, OPM also publishes qualification standards to guide the staffing specialists who determine whether or not your experience qualifies you for a certain vacancy. This is where your resume comes in. When you apply for a job, the staffing specialist reviews your resume to discover whether or not you have held the right types of jobs for the required amount of time. If you have, the staffing specialist will rate you as eligible for the vacancy even if the job you currently occupy is different. So, if you occupy a technician position but hold a professional credential and the required work experience, you can qualify for jobs that may be classified in a professional job series.

Though the above is a very simplified explanation of two very complicated processes, the important thing to remember is that while it is very difficult to change your job classification, which is determined by your supervisor and the HR specialist – factors beyond your control – it is much easier to control the content of your resume, which the staffing specialist uses to determine whether you are rated as “qualified” for a job.

The Resume Place can help you explain your work history and develop your KSAs to showcase your experience in the very best light. While we probably can’t help you get your current job re-classified, we certainly can help you improve your chances of getting another one!

How can you take advantage of these opportunities to move up the career ladder? First, you need a plan!

Setting Goals Makes the Difference

If you want to position yourself to move into a new job or gain a promotion, you need to do something that makes the difference between staying where you are and moving up. No one is going to come along and just promote you or hire you away into your dream job. You must develop a plan.

Here are some ideas about how to develop a career strategy. If you will invest just one hour per week in long-term planning and goal setting for your career development, the investment in yourself will be like money in the bank when you land that new job or a promotion.

Step 1. Know Thyself. What are your personal limits? What are you willing to do to move up? Are you mobile? Are you willing to change you geographic location or move to a different agency? There is nothing wrong with wanting to stay where you are, but your career strategy will have to be much different than that of someone who is willing to move or change agencies.

Step 2. Start with a statement of your dream job. Don’t worry that you might not qualify for your dream job right now, that’s why you’re making a plan. Think about the characteristics of your dream job rather than a specific job title. For instance, do you want a job that allows you to use your communications skills or other special talents? Do you want a job that allows you to use flex time? Thinking in terms of characteristics of the job rather than its classification will help you see possibilities other than the ones you already know about.

Step 3. Expand your picture. What kinds of jobs would have some or all of the characteristics you’d like? Write them down, even if you aren’t qualified for them right now.

Step 4. Consider the obstacles. What stands in your way? Don’t be too quick to conclude you need an extra degree or a different credential-what you actually may need are different skills.

Step 5. Make a plan for overcoming each obstacle. You must face the barriers that stand between where you are now and where you want to go. If you don’t have the right skills, how can you get them? If you don’t know the right people, how can you meet them?

Step 6. Develop a timeline. Once you identify your goals, the obstacles, and how you’ll overcome them, you need to assign a time line to achieve those goals. Ask yourself, “When do I want to achieve my goal?” Then break your plan down into phases or steps. What do you need to do first? Is there a step you need to take before that? Work backward until you identify the very first action you need to take to reach your goal.

One hour a week doesn’t seem like a lot of time, and it isn’t. But that’s all you need to focus on at this point. In one hour, you could gather all the material you need for your resume. In one hour, you could read your or another agency’s website to review new programs and mission statements.

The advantage of spending one hour per week is that it keeps you from feeling overwhelmed by a long-term project. In just a few sessions, you will be amazed at how much progress you’ve made. Setting up and going through this process will give you a feeling of immense control and personal security. If there’s a set-back in your agency, you don’t have to panic: you’re already on your way to something better. If you don’t like a particular offer or work situation, you don’t have to let desperation drive your decision: you can continue to develop yourself. Invest time in yourself: it will make the difference.