I have heard this anecdotally from others, but today I put this to the test. I used the USAJOBS 3.0 Advanced Search to find IT Specialist positions for a client. My search was: IT Specialist, Washington, DC, GS 12/13, and Federal Employee. Search results: 119 positions. BUT … only 9 positions were IT Specialist positions; the rest were Contract Specialist, EEO Specialist, Public Affairs Specialists, etc. This number could be a historic low; I normally would find well over 100 IT Specialist positions using this type of search.

I do believe that in the next couple of months, as the USAJOBS 3.0 issues get resolved, there will be a backlog of vacancies that will be posted.

What does this mean for you NOW? Get ready for a potential influx of job announcements! The next few months may well present one of your best opportunities to land a government job.

The government will be hiring again. Get ready to compete with a targeted federal resume written toward specific occupational standards.

While we wait for USAJOBS 3.0 to get fixed, we are offering a special price to get your federal résumé the best it could possibly be with the help of our certified writers.

We are offering $100 to $130 savings on our already-discounted packages for federal resume consulting & writing, cover letters, and USAJOBS submissions. Take advantage of this USAJOBS 3.0 debacle to get expert help with a good discount. The silver lining: take advantage of the great timing to get your federal resume written, targeted, posted in the USAJOBS 3.0 resume builder before the holidays. You’ll be done before the holiday rush.

This discount will last only 30 days. So don’t wait; check out our services and order your federal resume writing package. SAVE NOW!

– Kathryn Troutman, President, www.resume-place.com and www.fedjobtraining.com

USAJOBS 3.0 went up last Wednesday!  Have you checked it out?  Our reviews have found some important updates to USAJOBS that you will want to be aware of. We have certainly heard some complaints about accessing the new site and the advanced search function.  However, the resume builder has clearly been improved with new features and additional space. This change can make a big difference for the savvy federal job search applicant who can adjust their resume to take advantage of these improvements.

Find out what you need to know and what you need to do to improve your resume visibility in USAJOBS 3.0. Join our upcoming webinars to get the details of our review and our recommendations. Our USAJOBS 3.0 webinars are being offered once a month for the next few months.  The first webinar is THIS FRIDAY–don’t miss this opportunity to get ahead of the game! Register now »

Here are some immediate improvements to USAJOBS that we want to make sure you know about:

• USAJOBS will now be searchable by HR recruiters!
• USAJOBS 3.0 allows you to customize your job search.
• Your USAJOBS account is now managed by your email ID.
• USAJOBS 3.0 has a new Profile format with five pages of questions to answer to update your information.
• Work Experience Block space limit has increased from 3,000 characters with spaces to 5,000 characters with spaces.
• Work Experience job listings are now at the top of the Work Experience page. This helps resume writers to quickly see which jobs they have already listed without having to scroll down to the bottom of the page.  The same improvement has been made for the Education section.
• Now there are expand and shrink functions that allow you to see up to 50 lines of type in the Work Experience block, a huge increase from the previous 15 lines, making it easier for resume writers to get the full picture of their writing.
• Training and Publications increased to 5,000 characters with spaces from previous 3,000 characters.
• Final Resume View comes up automatically for you to quickly preview your final product and get a look at how the recruiters will view your resume. Make sure you use this opportunity to proof your resume carefully and make changes to improve the readability of your resume.
• Resume Upload: Now you can upload a Word document version of your resume into USAJOBS to be searchable by recruiters. There is even a sample federal resume that is acceptable, and tips for writing a good federal resume on this page.

Learn how to translate these changes into federal job search success in USAJOBS 3.0.

Here are some of the questions we will answer in our webinars:

• How can you make the most of the additional space for your resume?
• What changes should you make to your resume to make it more searchable in the new system?
• What does it mean that you can customize my job search?
• What is this feature? How can you use it to improve your chances of getting your resume recognized?
• What are the tips you should know for filling out the five-page profile section to make your information more visible to HR recruiters?
• What should you be careful about when managing your account information in the new system?
• How are the hiring eligibility and preferences fields being used by HR?
• What do you do with your Social Security number in USAJOBS 3.0?
• What do you writing the 500 character personal information block?

Overall, the improvements in the Profile, Resume Builder, and Resume Upload are very good. I especially like the restructure of the Work Experience and Education pages, so that the listing of jobs and education is on the top screen. And the 5,000 characters are now great (especially for former CHART resumes), and I like the Expand and Shrink work experience blocks. AND … the final preview of the resume before the FINISH button is really nice.  That is a great finale for a lot of hard work!

Thank you, USAJOBS 3.0 Resume Builder Team. This is a great improvement for thousands of resume builders who would like to land a federal job or internship! Kathryn Troutman, Author, Federal Resume Guidebook, 5^th Ed.

Register Now »

After I posted my blog two days ago about the USAJOBS 3.0 transition, I learned about some important updates regarding the USAJOBS 3.0 transition for another Resume Place, Inc. Blog. I am very glad to see these updates and would like you to share the dates, times and access to USAJOBS info with your colleagues and federal job-seeking friends.

During the transition to USAJOBS 3.0, please be aware that:

>> The transition will begin at 5:00 pm EDT on October 7 and extend through the Columbus Day Holiday Weekend. OPM has worked hard to compress the schedule to just the Columbus holiday weekend.

>> There will be announcements posted to USAJOBS prior to and even during the transition. OPM requested agencies close their announcements before October 6th. Many agencies chose, however, to leave announcements open over the transition period. So, during the transition, a listing of open announcements will be available on USAJOBS.gov, but not the robust search function.

>> The search and apply functions will continue to be available until 5:00 pm EDT on October 7, 2011, at which time the transition will begin.

>> Jobseekers can access USAJOBS during the transition. In fact, we suggest they visit USAJOBS.gov for daily status updates.

>> Jobseekers will NOT be able to upload/build a resume or check status during the transition, because the data is stabilized during the transition – nothing is added, deleted or changed until after the transition is complete.

>> Who’s doing the update: OPM has an IT staff (the Human Resources Tools and Technologies staff in Macon, GA) that focuses specifically on building and maintaining secure, scalable HRIT systems for OPM, as well as other Federal organizations. Different personnel within that organization work on the different systems HRTT builds and maintains. USAJOBS and USAStaffing are just two of the systems maintained by HRTT. The USAJOBS staff within HRTT will execute the transition of USAJOBS along with the USAJOBS program office staff. Note: USAStaffing is an OPM-owned Talent Acquisition System (TAS); Monster and other vendors also offer TASs. TASs interface with USAJOBS, but are the “back-end” systems used by HR specialists within the federal agencies.

>> OPM will extract, validate and convert five billion lines of data (not documents) before loading it into USAJOBS 3.0.

>> USAJOBS 3.0 will no longer capture social security numbers as previous versions did in the account profile. Some applications submitted through USAJOBS, however, may request SSN based on the hiring agency’s requirements.

>> Still a good idea: Before the search and apply functions are taken offline on Oct. 7, you may want to consider downloading and backing up the latest versions of your resumes posted in USAJOBS.

• No new announcements will be posted Oct. 1, 2011 to Oct. 12, 2011.
• No access to USAJOBS will be allowed Oct. 6 to Oct. 12, 2011.

Five billion documents are being reviewed and re-uploaded into a new USAJOBS system in Macon, Georgia by USAStaffing IT specialists. The USAJOBS IT specialists will be downloading, analyzing, and re-uploading over 5 billion documents from jobseekers who have their resumes and documents loaded into USAJOBS 2.0; eliminating your Social Security Numbers; doing something with passwords (you will probably have to reset your password with your same email account after the Oct. 12 reset); and set up parameters for Resume Mining by HR specialists.

There won’t be a totally new look and feel, but there will be some new features that are better for you and for the HR customers who post the positions.

Before the site is down on Oct. 6, you may want to consider downloading and backing up the latest versions of your resumes posted in USAJOBS.

If you are an active federal jobseeker, what can you be doing while USAJOBS is down for six days, and there are no new announcements for almost two weeks?

Below is a list of suggested activities that will keep your federal job search moving forward and prepare you for when USAJOBS becomes available again:

Activity #1: Review and edit your federal resume versions.

Copy out your resumes from the builders and then update and improve the content. Work on new accomplishments that should be featured on pages 1 or 2 of your resume (since KSAs are now in the resume). Review your keywords for each of your occupational series targets. You can look at the OPM Classification Standards for keywords since USAJOBS will be down.

Activity #2: Prepare for a Federal Job Interview.

Work on your Top Ten List of Accomplishments so that you can be more prepared for the Behavior-Based Interview in October to December of this year. Use the KSA CCAR Builder designed by the author of this article. Tell your story in a compelling way with the Context, Challenge, Action and Result principles. Practice your stories and get ready to land a federal job.

Activity #3: Read the American Jobs Act.

Check over the information to see whether there is something that could affect your job, your payroll taxes, or other jobs-related info. I like the Short Fact Sheet. Some of the ideas are highly useful.

Activity #4: Read new reports on Merit Systems Protection Board website.

Browse excellent Federal Employment-Related Studies that could help the federal jobseeker to gain insight into federal jobs and federal employment “language” include Job Simulations: Trying out for a Federal Job and A Call To Action: Improving First-Level Supervision of Federal Employees.

Activity #5: Read the latest reports from Partnership for Public Service.

The latest publication posted on 9/8/11 is a white paper on Best Places to Launch a Career in the Federal Government Snapshot.

Activity #6: Set up an account and look for jobs on www.avuecentral.com.

This is a separate website for federal jobs for certain agencies. Avuecentral.com will have some federal jobs posted for their client agencies: Peace Corps, Forest Service, US Marshals, Millennium Challenge, Library of Congress, USAID, and a few others. These agencies are “clients” of Avue and post on avuecentral.com. You can apply for Avue positions without touching USAJOBS.gov. You can set up an account here, and search for job titles that could be of interest to you. You will find that at avuecentral.com the position descriptions are listed for the posted job. This is an interesting source for keywords and language for your federal resume.

Activity #7: Say Good-Bye to DONHR’s CHART website.

On Oct. 12, 2011, the Department of the Navy’s Civilian Hiring and Recruitment Tool will no longer be accessible to the general public. The CHART site has been posted since around 2000 and is one of the last Resumix automated recruitment sites. CHART recruited for US Navy and USMC Civilian positions. All of the CHART job posting will be moved to USAJOBS and applicationmanager.gov after Oct. 12, 2011. According to the website, “Applicants are strongly encouraged to save a printed and electronic copy of their CHART resume and transfer this information to an USAJOBS account by 30 September 2011.” See the fact sheet on how to move your resume from CHART to USAJOBS.

Activity #8: Read GovExec for articles on federal hiring topics.

Excellent Government Executive writers will write about federal jobs, federal employment, USAJOBS 3.0, Resuming Mining, Veteran’s Hiring, and many other topics about federal hiring for 2011 and 2012.

Activity #9: Read and join GovLoop.

This is a new government website where federal employees and managers write about federal job topics. You can write about your own background with the popular INTRODUCTION membership feature.

Activity #10: Read FedManager.

This resource contains informative articles on federal employment, security clearances, employment case law, and Tips of the Week by Kathryn Troutman.

Activity #11: Check out your federal retirement benefits.

You can find more information about federal retirement benefits on Scott Thompson’s popular website, www.myfederalretirement.com. You can even calculate your retirement with his handy-dandy retirement calculator.

On September 16, 2011, President Obama signed the “America Invents Act,” overhauling our patent system in order to stimulate our nation’s economic growth. At the same time, he announced new initiatives designed to help entrepreneurs create jobs. See http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/16/president-obama-signs-america-invents-act-overhauling-patent-system-stim. The historic patent reform legislation is intended to speed the patent process so that products can be brought to market faster. Among other things it provides a fast track option for patent processing within 12 months, cutting the average wait time by a factor of 3.

Although the legislation is intended to spur future jobs in the private sector, it is creating jobs in the public sector now. The new law provides additional resources allowing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to continue to combat a backlog of nearly 700,000 patent applications.

On USAJobs.gov today, there are dozens of jobs posted for USPTO, representing approximately one in five of all jobs posted for the entire Department of Commerce. Posted positions include four for patent judges, two of which are in cutting edge fields (biotechnology and IT). Two are Senior Executive Service (SES) positions, including a new Director of Planning and Budget and a senior level trademark attorney. All posted positions are graded at GS-11 and above, covering broad areas of expertise, among other things, public affairs, security, engineers, economists, educators, and document management specialists.

The new law provides additional incentives to help move ideas from bench to bedside. NIH, for example, will establish a new National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). NCATS will help biomedical entrepreneurs develop ways to reduce the costs and time needed to develop new drugs and diagnostics. An initial project involves partnering with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to support development of a chip to screen for safe and effective drugs far more swiftly and efficiently than takes place now.

In a related development, USPTO will collaborate with the National Science Foundation and Small Business Administration to help emerging technology companies take advantage of the USPTO’s small business programs and resources. The USPTO pilot will support 100 grants, with more expected as the program takes off. This is designed to fit hand-in-glove with the accelerated examination process provided under the new America Invents Act. Again, this suggests additional federal jobs will be created as well.

Those who wish to apply for current openings need to act swiftly. As has been widely reported, USAJobs is about to undergo its long awaited overhaul. Scheduled to be offline from October 6 to 12, 2011 (although they have been cagey about the precise dates until recently), USAJobs’ postings now all reflect closing dates of October 3 or sooner. Since new or unfilled positions will not be posted until some time later this year, prudence dictates applying for these positions now. Although avuecentral.com will continue to post jobs for their agencies: Peace Corps, Forest Service, US Marshall’s Office, Millennium Challenge, etc., and other agencies may accept applications via email, fax, and even the US Postal Service, all announcements for USPTO positions state prominently that applicants “must apply online,” meaning, through USAJobs.gov. In other words, if you are interested in a USPTO job, you’ve no time to waste!

Read More About the USAJOBS 3.0 System!

Learn how The Resume Place can help you with your Federal Resume Writing every step of the way!

If you find the USAJOBS federal job application system frustrating and difficult, there’s some good news coming your way. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is about to give the government jobs website a complete makeover. The newly redone website is set to make its debut on October 13th. Agencies will be closing all announcements by October 6th, so the old system can be taken off line and the new one set up, and all data moved over. OPM is promising a few new changes that job applicants should like.

First, according to OPM associate director of employee services Angela Bailey, OPM will be able to search resumes for specific applicant information. This is a process that currently takes months. The result will be quicker, more efficient, better-targeted recruiting efforts. Agency recruiters will be able to find and use data and information much more quickly.

In addition, the goal is to make the system more user-friendly. Job seekers will only have to enter personal information once. Users will also be able to expect improved search results with details about salaries, grade levels and job categories.

OPM is working on more changes to streamline the federal hiring process, including a skills testing tool, to replace the Knowledge Skills and Abilities (KSAs) statements that applicants are currently trying to squeeze into their resumes. Stay tuned. It looks like more change is on the way.

The good news is that anyone who applied during that time is getting a second chance. Any position that closed between August 7th and 10th has now had its deadline extended to August 15th. In addition, HHS says anyone whose application was affected by the outage will receive a notice from OPM. That means that if you applied during this time, it’s time to make sure your resume and supporting documents are still organized and together. The government is making sure you can still take that shot at the job you want.

The staff at The Resume Place is committed to helping you locate, apply for, and land government jobs. The Resume Place also provides our clients with expert federal career training and consultation. Contact us today for a free estimate on your federal resume writing project. Visit us at http://www.resume-place.com or give us a call at (888) 480-8265.

The Federal Times published an article regarding the USA Staffing computer glitch.

The application process is still complicated, but if you can play poker, golf, bridge, monopoly, or another game with complex instructions and a little strategic thinking, you can compete for a federal job. Here are a few of my favorite tips and insights about what’s new and important in federal hiring after the hiring reform of last year:

1. The written narratives as part of the government jobs application – KSAs – are mostly gone.

This is the best news about the hiring reform that was implemented in November 2010. Before then, government job applications required half-to-one-page written narratives for about four or five required skills for the position, such as: how you can “communicate orally,” “plan or coordinate,” or provide technical expertise in your field.

2. Time for applying for federal jobs is cut in half.

Many more jobseekers are applying for federal positions now that the narrative KSAs are eliminated. This change means that the total time investment required to apply for each position is roughly half of what it would have been under the old system.

3. Now is the time to apply.

The government agencies finally got their budget for 2011. But the budget year will be over at the end of September 2011. So this is a great time to look at announcements and apply for positions. They’ll still be hiring after the budget year ends, but right now there are more positions posted.

4. The government job application process is totally online, with a resume builder and upload system.

I recommend that you copy and paste your resume into the builder, even though it will take you 30 to 45 minutes to set up your first resume. The resume builder will prompt you to give certain resume details that are critical for your qualifications, such as month and year of employment dates for at least 10 years, hours worked per week, supervisor’s name, phone numbers of employers, and salaries for positions going back 10 years.

5. Federal positions are the best in the country.

The entire application process — from finding the best announcement through using the resume builder, completing the questionnaire and uploading both the cover letter and transcript — will take time, determination, and patience. But the end result could be an outstanding career for you, security for your family, and an opportunity to provide service to America.

Tips for Applying

Set up your accounts to apply for government jobs. There are usually two parts to each application:

1. The Resume Builder in USAJOBS.gov; and
2. The Questionnaire in ApplicationManager.gov

Both systems require a user name and password. The Questionnaire can have between 10 and 80 questions, but they are multiple choice, so they don’t take too long.

Give yourself as much credit as you can. Read the multiple-choice questions and determine your answers carefully. You will be self-scoring your skills for the human resources reviewer. You will usually have 5 choices for each question, and can often choose one of the following:

1. I have no experience or education in this skill area.
2. I have education in this field, but have never done this work.
3. I perform this work closely supervised.
4. I perform this work independently, with little or no supervision.
5. I am an expert in this work. I supervise others or I am the person who is consulted in this area because of my expertise.

Your resume must match the answers to your questionnaire. If you select the “5″, or the highest score, your resume must demonstrate this expertise. Edit your resume slightly for each application, so that the resume shows that you have the skills that are listed in the announcement and the Questionnaire.

Order your college transcripts right away. You do not have to upload originals. You can scan all of your transcripts into one file and upload them into USAJOBS.gov. Later the agency you are applying to might ask for an original, but they are not needed for the applications.

Write a cover letter now with your application. You can upload this into USAJOBS or ApplicationManager. This is another step that you can take with your federal application according to recent Federal Hiring Reform regulations. The letter is optional, but could help you stand out.

For up to date advice, tips, and news regarding federal jobs and the federal application process, “like” The Resume Place on Facebook and follow Kathryn Troutman on Twitter.

The big challenge of adding KSA accomplishments into your USAJOBS federal resume is space. Each work experience section in the USAJOBS Resume Builder allows 3,000 characters, including spaces. You have to decide how much space will be dedicated to your keywords, duties and responsibilities, and how much will be dedicated to your KSA accomplishments. How do you describe an impressive KSA accomplishment when you may have been in your position for 5 to 10 years? Last week, during a federal resume writing class I recommended that applicants write 1,500 characters about their job responsibilities and 1,500 characters on their KSA accomplishments, or any combination that will add up to 3,000 characters. But, both duties and KSA accomplishments are critical to get best qualified for a position.

Many accomplishments in federal resumes are too short and do not include enough detail to prove you have the knowledge, skill or ability at the level and complexity of the target position. For instance, the following is a single sentence description of an accomplishment: “I was lead staff to evaluate the district’s request to provide $9 million in funding to electrify 13 diesel rubber tired gantry (RTG) cranes at the Port of Baltimore.” That’s interesting, but doesn’t include the result of the evaluation of the request.

One option is to use the old, long KSA style, which included the popular Context-Challenge-Action-Results (CCAR) formula and write a mini CCAR. With the limited space, you cannot include a full page blow-by-blow description, and careful writing and editing must produce a story that engages the HR specialist and the supervisor, and proves your past performance. Include your role or title during this project or activity, a few actions, a short challenge and a result.

A State of Maryland Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Engineer wrote about her KSA accomplishment in support of environmental quality. The KSA required in the announcement stated: “Ability to direct internal and production control reviews and validity studies.” The applicant wrote the following 527-character KSA accomplishment in her USAJOBS federal resume:

“PRODUCTION CONTROL REVIEWS: Wrote EPA Program Guidelines to support production control reviews and implement requirements to best prevent fraud and to set up internal controls. I was lead staff to evaluate the District’s request to provide $9 million in funding to electrify 13 diesel rubber tired gantry (RTG) cranes at the Port of Baltimore. I discovered that the current engines in the RTG cranes had not been certified to the standards for new off-road engines. I informed the District the project could not be funded, as Baltimore does not fund projects in which the applicant is not in compliance with current regulations.”

This writing technique will provide critical information to the human resources specialist and help them determine if you are qualified or best qualified for the position. Additionally, the supervisor receiving your resume, along with many others, may be impressed with your KSA accomplishments, which could lead to an interview for the position.

When writing your federal resume in USAJOBS, be aware of the space limitations and make a decision as to how to divide the 3,000 characters between your duties and accomplishments. A total of five to seven KSA accomplishments are recommended for all of your work experience sections. Remember, supervisors will read the accomplishments to determine if they want to interview you for the position.

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