THE RESUME PLACE, INC. CERTIFIED FEDERAL RESUME WRITERS AND EDITORS

Kathryn Troutman
President & Founder, The Resume Place

As Director of our writing, editing, and coaching services, Kathryn Troutman recruits, develops, and trains outstanding individuals for The Resume Place team. Whether you're seeking writing help or job-search coaching, your project will be monitored through Kathryn to maximize your success.

Writers and editors for particular resumes and other application pieces are determined by Kathryn and our Client Coordinator, Kelly Roscoe. The choice is based on your areas of job experience, the project's timing, and the expertise of the writers and editors. Our skilled writers and editors are knowledgeable both about Federal application materials and the Federal marketplace. (See their bios below.) They also develop excellent resumes for private industry, career change, and retirement activities.

Kathryn Troutman is the leading national expert on the Federal job market, and she appears regularly in the media. She is interviewed frequently by Steve Barr for the Washington Post's "Federal Diary Online" and by Mike Causey on the Federal News Radio program, "Your Turn." Kathryn is the author of the classic resume-writing guide, The Federal Resume Guidebook, as well as other popular Federal career titles. She shares her expertise and insight with our firm's writers and clients on a daily basis. Kathryn Troutman is now available as an individual Federal Career Consultant and Executive Career Coach on an appointment basis.

Read Kathryn's entire bio

Visit our Media Center for Kathryn's radio appearances, speaking dates, and more.

Sarah Blazucki Certified Federal Resume Writer & Coach
sarah@resume-place.com

Sarah is an experienced Federal Resume and KSA Writing and Federal Job Project Analyst. She has gained experience in analyzing federal resumes and applications from the three years she served as the Resume Place's Client Coordinator in cooperation with the director and founder, Kathryn Troutman. Sarah is expert in analyzing federal job announcements, qualifications and giving recommendations on the best fit and match for an applicant's background to a particular job announcements. Sarah is an expert writer and polished editor for paper Federal resumes, Resumix, QuickHire, and private industry resumes. She works very well under deadline, is determined to collect all documents needed for the best presentation of the new federal resume and prepares drafts on-time and within client budget. Sarah advises clients in federal job search strategies, effectively searching www.usajobs.gov and understanding vacancy announcements.

Sarah is a Certified Teleleader and has taught the monthly Free Federal Job Teleclass for Resume Place for two years. Sarah prepares the Federal Job Analysis Training module for the Certified Federal Job Search Trainer program with relevant vacancy announcements, resumes and case studies for future Certified Trainers.

Sarah has a B.A. from Towson University in Mass Communications, with a concentration in Journalism. Sarah served as an Editor and Proofreader for The Student's Federal Career Guide, as well as for earlier projects in our book division, The Resume Place Press. She is a Contributing Editor for the upcoming book, Military to Federal Career Guide.

Jacqueline Chaverini Allen
Senior Executive Service Advisor
Certified Federal Resume Writer & Coach

Jackie is a writer with more than 25 years of experience. She has major Federal application writing and editing expertise, plus newsletter, magazine, and book publishing credits. Jackie was a Contributing Writer for our Federal Resume Guidebook, penning the chapter on Program and Management Analysts.

In her work on resumes and Federal application packages, Jackie specializes in writing and editing for science and technology experience, as well as IT. Her expertise also extends to program and management analyst positions of all types. This writer has a knack for writing about technical professions in an engaging and comprehensible way. Contributing to this is her skill in interviewing jobseekers and clarifying their accomplishments. Jackie is also an excellent coach for Senior Executive positions.

For several years, Jackie operated a successful Career Counseling business where her responsibilities included writing tailored resumes for individuals. She has served as a Senior Manager in marketing support services for major engineering and environmental firms. Before becoming a marketing/writing consultant, Jackie held full-time and contract management positions of major responsibility in established firms in the Washington Metro area. Additionally, Jackie taught Career Communications at the college level, including coursework on writing an effective resume.

Jackie earned a Bachelor of Education Degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her M.A. Degree, which she received from Antioch University in Yellow Springs, Ohio, is in Human Services Planning and Administration.

Patricia Alvarez
Federal Resume Writer and Editor

Pat has over 20 years of Federal Human Resources experience. Her career has included a broad array of Human Resources responsibilities, with a specialization in Federal recruiting and placement. Her recruiting experience included many years of career coaching for Federal applicants.

Pat is proficient at writing and critiquing resumes, KSAs, articles for publication, and management proposals and reports. She brings to our clients her expertise in the Federal application process-coaching applicants on their Federal job searches, interpreting the lingo in Federal vacancy announcements, how to respond to KSAs, and understanding the selection process.

During her career, Pat received numerous awards including the Distinguished Career Service Awards from both the Bonneville Power Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Pat and her husband enjoy traveling throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe, and live in the Pacific Northwest.

Some recent clients of Pat's wrote this about her work:

"Pat,

I have very good news. I was selected for the position (Supervisory Program Support Specialist) for which you helped write my resume. I will be forever grateful for your expertise and talent. I have been promoting The Resume Place to all of my co-workers and hope that they will invest the money to help themselves remain employed. Thank you again."

"Pat,

I GOT THE JOB

This position requires a very high security clearance which could take as long as 6 months. Pending the outcome of that process is when I will actually start the job.

Thanks for all your excellent work and patience with me."

Rita Chambers
Senior Executive Service Advisor
Certified Federal Resume Writer & Coach

A Writer/Editor for The Resume Place for over three years, Rita Chambers brings over 15 years of technical writing expertise from the Information Technology field to our projects. In addition, Rita has extensive knowledge of project management and defense contracting. She is currently an active IT Project Manager in government.

In her work for us, Rita combines her technical background with outstanding writing skills. She is a master of the KSA and Federal resume, and as a Contributing Writer, she addressed KSAs for our Federal Resume Guidebook. Rita is skilled at learning what you, as a client and jobseeker, are passionate about and translating those skills and goals into effective language for resumes, KSAs, and other application pieces. As a hiring manager in commercial industry and Federally-related institutions, Rita has often been on the other side of the hiring process. As a result, she has a solid understanding of what managers are looking for.

Rita has managed a leading edge Computing Center for one of the Department of Energy national physics labs, as well as directed a Network Operations Center for a leading national/international Internet Service Provider. She has a wide range of technical expertise from a career that has included programming for NASA, providing systems administration for a wide range of Unix, VMS, and NT/Windows systems, etc. In each of these positions, she produced significant technical documents and proposals.

Before moving into the technical career field, Rita taught public school, adult education classes, and courses at the college level. She has personally delivered courses on both technical and soft skills topics, including resume and interviewing skills.

Rita has a Master of Science in Computer Science from Iona College in New Rochelle, NY, and a Bachelor's Degree from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA, with a double major in Philosophy and Education.

One of Rita's clients had this to say recently:

I want to take this opportunity to provide some feedback regarding my experience with this process. I was very pleased with the work performed by Ms. Rita Chambers. She was very professional, knowledgeable, reliable and easy to work with. Her writing skills are excellent! This was a daunting task to say the least, however, the assistance provided by Ms. Chambers was critical to the successful completion of the package within the required timeframe. In summary, her help was invaluable! Please convey this feedback to the appropriate individuals in your organization. Thank you.
JD

Jessica Coffey
Senior Certified Federal Resume Writer & Coach
Certified Federal Resume Writer and Coach
Certified Professional Resume Writer

Jessica Coffey has over 12 years of experience in providing career management strategies to all levels of government and private sector employees. She serves as a lead Interview Coach and Trainer for The Resume Place. When Jessica came on board in 2000, she helped create a formal job interview coaching service here. In addition, she wrote the interview chapter for our book, Ten Steps to a Federal Job. Prior to working for The Resume Place, Jessica had created and managed three successful mock interview programs. As a Contract Career Counselor at the IRS, she developed an interview prep guide for transitioning employees and lead career management workshops, among other duties.

Jessica is the Managing Editor of The Resume Place's e-newsletter, Federal Career Corner. Our Newsletter provides Federal career news and information that reaches over 8,000 Federal job searchers, employees, and professionals with each edition.

Jessica's ability to quickly assess and determine key areas of improvement for resumes and KSAs lends itself well to her excellent critique and edit work at The Resume Place. Her expertise in Federal resume and KSA writing has helped numerous Federal jobseekers become ranked as best-qualified for their targeted positions.

Jessica is also a workshop leader for us, addressing issues related to the Federal job search.

She has been a Contributing Writer and Editor to three of our books, The Student's Federal Career Guide, Federal Resume Guidebook, 3rd Ed., and Ten Steps to a Federal Job.

Stephen Robert Gallison
Certified Federal Job Search Trainer
Certified Federal Resume Writer & Coach
Certified Professional Resume Writer

Steve Gallison was one of the first instructors to graduate from the Federal Job Search Training Certification program established by Kathryn Troutman. He is also a Certified Professional Resume Writer and a Certified Interviewing Specialist. Steve both writes and edits application packages for The Resume Place. To this work, he brings more than 30 years experience in supporting jobseekers and helping them connect to new employment opportunities.

Steve Gallison founded and directs a program which assists professional, executive, technical, and managerial workers in getting reconnected to jobs through an innovative training program recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor as a "Best Practices" model. Now in its thirteenth year of operation, his program has served the re-employment needs of more than 80,000 people.

Over the years, Steve has written several outplacement training curriculums and manuals. The service model he developed is used by a variety of Federal government agencies in assisting employees in their transition to new employment opportunities.

Steve is a sole surviving son of a U.S. Marine Corps family and served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1965 to 1969.

Karen Jones
Federal Resume Writer and Editor

While Karen Jones is a newer Writer/Editor for The Resume Place, she has an extensive writing background. In addition to her work on Federal application packages for us, she is currently also a Writing Coach for a web-based writing program. Karen is a former English teacher, and regarding her editing skills, notes that she was said to be born with a "red pen in her hand."

Karen had an earlier career in employee development, which led her to work for companies such as Pentagon Federal Credit Union and Booz, Allen & Hamilton. These positions encompassed an HR aspect where she wrote and edited employee newsletters, assisted managers in creating and revising job descriptions and performance reviews, and helped employees develop their resumes. She also developed and taught Interviewing Skills courses for both the employer and potential employee.

For the past 13 years, Karen has specialized in instructional systems design for government and commercial agencies. Her specialty is e-learning development (web-based and computer-based training).

Karen has a B.A. in English from Iowa State University and an M.A. in English as a Second Language (emphasis in curriculum development and research) from the University of Hawaii.

Michael Ottensmeyer has nearly 30 years professional writing experience within the Federal sector. He has held key positions in Federal HR. Because of his HR background, Michael has special insight into what it takes to get hiring officials interested in a job candidate. He makes sure that an application package is as complete and strong as possible. Michael writes and edits resumes and application packages for all Federal occupations and grades, but has a particular expertise in mid-career, executive and SES positions. In addition to the writing and editing he does for us, Michael acts as an SES Advisor for The Resume Place.

Michael was Director of Position Classification and Employee Development for the former Lindsey Air Force Station, Wiesbaden, Germany as well as Chief of Employment, Career Programs, and Position Classification for the U.S. Department of Defense Dependent Schools, Germany Region. His most recent position in government was as Senior Staff Classification and Human Resources Consultant for the Air Force Materiel Command Headquarters at Wright-Patterson, covering 13 separate Air Force Personnel Offices with a total of 65,000 civilian employees.

Michael's Bachelor's Degree is from Indiana State University, and he has an M.A. Degree in Public Administration and Human Resources Management from Central Michigan University.

A recent client of Mike's wrote this about his work:

“Mike; My interview went extremely well for the Chief Counsel position. The panel was extremely impressed with my written package, and if I am selected, the entire package will be sent to the Office of Personnel Management in Washington next week. I am completely confident that it will meet with the approval of the Senior Executive Review Board! Thanks again for your excellent writing!”

William Partridge
Senior Executive Service Advisor
Certified Federal Resume Writer & Coach

When William Partridge retired from government, he was with the Senior Executive Service. Today he brings his thorough understanding of the Federal government to his work for The Resume Place as an Executive Editor of SES application packages. William is an outstanding editor, and he enjoys working with clients who want to write the first draft of their application. He knows what to leave in and what to take out. In addition, he understands how to transform everyday language into executive language. William also can consider an executive's duties based on first-hand experience of working at that level. He can edit for any senior executive position, but has particular skill at IT and science & technology.

William's last Federal position was as the Deputy Inspector General of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Prior to joining FEMA, he was on the Surveys and Investigations Staff of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee. Prior to that, he was Assistant Inspector General for Inspections of the U.S. Department of Energy. In all of these positions, William guided and evaluated the work of highly specialized analysts representing the diverse fields of science, engineering, auditing, and law enforcement. His writing skills were polished as he helped these specialists prepare well-reasoned reports to management.

Prior to working in government, William worked for the Institute for Social Research and Development and North American Aviation (a Rockwell International component).

After majoring in engineering, Partridge switched to Liberal Arts and earned his B.A. at Pomona College. Later he picked up on his technical education to earn an M.B.A. in Operations Research at UCLA. To pursue his interest in government, he earned an M.P.A. from Syracuse University.

Cathy Purcell brings over 12 years of career counseling and human resources management experience to the Resume Place writing team. Prior to joining The Resume Place, Cathy had her own resume writing business, providing career coaching and professionally written resumes to managers and executives, as well as recent college graduates. She also spent almost 10 years as a career counselor for 2 colleges in upstate New York, as well as a county-run job placement assistance center.

Since Cathy has worked with a variety of clients at various stages of their career, she has extensive knowledge about a wide range of fields. She also has the ability to get clients to realize the significance of their contributions and to learn to be their own best cheerleader. She finds that most job seekers are overly humble about their accomplishments and need encouragement to talk about more than just their duties and responsibilities.

Cathy holds a Bachelor's of Art in Business Administration and Spanish from Gettysburg College, as well as a M.S. in Applied Psychology with a concentration in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Baltimore. She has also moved a lot in the last 10 years due to her husband's career, and has personally experienced the highs and lows of conducting a job search. Therefore, she finds helping current jobseekers very fulfilling!

A recent client of Cathy's wrote this about her work:

"I received it - I'm quite breathless for the moment. WOW! (It looks wonderful)!"

At The Resume Place, Mark Reichenbacher specializes in writing Resumix resumes and other types of electronic resumes. He is a wonder at analyzing complex vacancy announcements and coming up with the right skills and keywords to use in e-resumes. Mark excels at weaving the keywords into the duties, accomplishments, and other text in a resume so that the document will ultimately be successful in the automated processing environment. He has the experience needed to make your skills and talents stand out.

Mark has been a Contributing Writer to a number of our publications. He wrote the electronic resume chapters for both Ten Steps to a Federal Job and the Federal Resume Guidebook. Additionally, Mark created and edited all of the sample Resumix resumes that are contained in the Electronic Federal Resume Guidebook CD-ROM.

Mark has a distinguished career of over twenty-seven years of federal service. He has acquired a well-rounded portfolio of experience, having held generalist, specialist, supervisory, and managerial positions at the field and headquarters levels in labor-management relations and program management. He has served four years as a senior Program Analyst coordinating special projects dealing with workforce transition issues, and recently became Team Leader for Mediation in his agency.

Mark holds a Master of Science Degree in Labor Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree, with a double major in Psychology and Economics.

One of Mark's clients had this to say recently:

"I just wanted to let you know how thankful I am for having had Mr. Mark Reichenbacher of The Resume Place work on my government resume. Throughout the writing process I found him professional, an excellent wordsmith and helpful with all of my questions. I feel that I'm now light years ahead of where I was-the investment was well worth it. Thank you.
Sincerely, DP

An experienced Resume Place writer, Carla has created Federal application packages for Federal and private sector employees with a wide variety of occupational backgrounds and career interests. She specializes, however, in writing and designing stand-out resumes for entry-level, administrative, and technical positions. Carla is very good at recognizing the best of what a candidate has to offer and presenting it at the highest level.

Carla is a Contributing Writer for a number of our publications. She wrote the chapter on administrative positions for the Federal Resume Guidebook. Her administrative resumes are among the examples on the CD-ROM for that book. Her presentational format for administrative resumes is very popular, and it is used all over the country.

Carla has over 24 years professional writing experience in corporate communications, employee recruitment communications, public relations, and advertising.

For the past 15 years, Carla has worked as an advertising consultant providing communications and advertising services to businesses in the Baltimore area. She has also held the position of Director of Corporate Communications for a recruitment advertising agency where she researched, wrote, and supervised production of a human resources newsletter with a circulation of over 6,000.

Carla earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from Penn State University, and she has completed post-graduate work in business management at the University of Baltimore.

One of Carla's clients had this to say recently:

"Carla,
Thanks for your fantastic work in weaving my work experience, coursework, and goals together into a powerful and focused resume. Having an eclectic background and being in the middle of a career change makes my story difficult to tell, and I don't think this could have been done any better.
Best,
JS