Volume Number 2   -   Issue Number 3   -   February 3, 2004

		The FEDERAL CAREER CORNER(TM) is a bi-monthly, free e-newsletter sponsored by The Resume Place, Inc., Kathryn K. Troutman, President; Jessica Coffey, Managing Editor, editor@resume-place.com. The Federal Career Corner newsletter will be sent to you regularly on the first and third Tuesdays of each month -- for FREE! Please tell your friends and colleagues. You can sign up for this valuable, FREE newsletter at Federal Career Corner. REMEMBER – The Resume Place’s President, Kathryn Troutman is the Monster Federal Career Coach at Monster.com. Ask questions and read responses at http://forums.monster.com/forum.asp?forum=3336. __________________________________________________________________________ WHAT'S IN THIS NEWSLETTER? WHAT'S NEW FROM KATHRYN HAVE YOU HEARD?... ...AND DID YOU KNOW? FEATURE ARTICLE - Scavenger Hunt for Federal Jobs and Internship Programs WHERE ARE THE FEDERAL INTERNSHIPS? HOW TO WRITE IT RIGHT SES TIPS FROM SUSAN CUSTARD CAREER PRO INFO THE RESUME PLACE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES __________________________________________________________________________ WHAT'S NEW FROM KATHRYN The Ice Palace in St. Paul, Minn. was pretty chilly – 13 degrees! My daughters, Emily and Lauren, and I visited the spectacular St. Paul Winter Carnival. Emily and Lauren are students at University of Minnesota -- Emily is studying for her MA in Public Policy and Lauren is studying Business and Fashion Merchandising. Emily will be heading for a Federal internship in a year or so! Kathryn, Emily, and Lauren Troutman   Look at a Live Webcam photo of the Ice Palace here: http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/special_packages/winter_carnival/web_cam/   While I was at the University of Minnesota, I took a tour of the Humphrey Institute and met the Career Center Director. I offered to teach a Ten Steps to a Federal Job presentation for the graduate students later in February. Emily and I discussed our upcoming Ten Steps to a Federal Job or Internship for Recent Grads publication and came up with some great ideas for the case studies and a better CD-ROM! Lauren and I reviewed the www.resume-place.com website Shopping Cart and Assessment Guide, and she gave me some recommendations (to reduce the number of words on my site). One of the pleasures of being a career counselor is brainstorming with young people about their ideas for books, articles, and doing business better – especially my helpful young adult children! - Kathryn Troutman, “Monster Federal Career Coach” & President, The Resume Place __________________________________________________________________________ HAVE YOU HEARD?... There are always exciting things happening in the federal job arena. We will try to keep tabs on some of the big ones and share them with you – Americans are looking to spend more time with family and loved ones. The federal government wants its employees to do so too. A recent OPM report showed that a majority of federal agencies surveyed provided work and family programs to their staffs, including flexible work schedules and telecommuting. – Partnership for Public Service 2004 Federal Employee's Almanac Because of the significant changes affecting federal employees' pay, benefits, job security, and workplace policies, many agencies will be distributing the 2004 Federal Employees Almanac in bulk -- ensuring that each employee has a copy. The 2004 Almanac provides the latest information available on important issues that affect the careers and pocketbooks of federal employees. Plus, as changes continue to be made to workplace policies in the coming year, readers of the 2004 Almanac will be able to get free updates to the Almanac throughout 2004 at no additional charge via the Internet. To order, or for more information go to http://www.FederalDaily.com/2004fea or call 1-800-989-3363. In an effort to "reshape Defense's civilian workforce," the Defense department will soon be offering buyouts and early incentives to as many as 25,000 civilian employees. __________________________________________________________________________ ...AND DID YOU KNOW? Over 31 million users have visited USAJOBS since its roll-out in August. USAJOBS (http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/) now has 16,836 federal jobs in its database. When writing Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities statements (KSAs), it is to your advantage, and it is sometimes required, to use the CCAR model. CCAR stands for Context, Challenge, Action, Result. This model gives you an easier way to state your example -- and ALL KSAs should be full of specific examples to set your experiences apart from those of your competition. When describing your example, give some background information and describe the situation(CONTEXT) -- set the stage; then write about the CHALLENGE -- what needed to be done, what you had to overcome, or the impetus of your success; followed by what you did -- your ACTIONS; and conclude with the RESULTS -- your accomplishments described in concrete terms. Toss in keywords from the announcement and position description and you will have an excellent KSA example. The CCAR model is also helpful in preparing you to respond to interview questions. The Resume Place offers FREE TELECLASSES. Join Sarah Blazucki, Resume Place Client Coordinator and Assessment Expert for an hour of free discussion about federal job search basics. Ask questions and learn about how The Resume Place can help you write the best package and apply correctly for Federal jobs, http://www.resume-place.com/workshops/teleclasses.html. The next class is Thursday, February 19, 2004 at 12 noon, est. New Navy Spouse Employment Assistance Program Resource Here's a new, informative site for military spouses looking for employment assistance -- http://www.staynavy.navy.mil/family/content/seap/default.asp Corporate Gray Online provides free career transition services to the military community, including Corporate Gray Job Fairs. To find out where the next Corporate Gray Job Fair will be held, go to http://209.147.75.100/jobfairs.htm. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The World of Acronyms: Moving on to “C”-- CDC – Centers for Disease Control, http://www.cdc.gov CFR – Code of Federal Regulations, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html CIA - Central Intelligence Agency, http://www.cia.gov CIT - Center for Information Technology, http://www.dcrt.nih.gov/home.asp CPSC - Consumer Product Safety Commission, http://www.cpsc.gov __________________________________________________________________________ FEATURE ARTICLE Scavenger Hunt for Federal Jobs and Internship Programs - Kathryn K. Troutman, Monster’s Federal Career Coach Are you getting frustrated that you can’t find the federal job listings for recent grads or mid-career positions? Then it will help to know that there can be two kinds of vacancy announcements that you should be searching for: Jobs – which are usually permanent with benefits, but can also be temporary; or Internships - which are paid temporary positions (with benefits), usually two years in length, typically offered to recent college graduates. The reason you haven’t found the Internship listings on USAJOBS is because, as The Partnership for Public Service puts it this way, “Federal agencies aren't required to post their student opportunities in one central place, so finding specific internships can get a little tricky.” (Read their entire article here: http://publicservice.monster.com/articles/internships/). It ends up like being on a Scavenger Hunt to find the federal Career Internship program descriptions and vacancy announcements in government agencies. Remember when you used to play Scavenger Hunt at childhood parties? You were given clues, then you ran around looking for more clues until the winner found the prize? It’s the same when you’re looking for vacancy announcements and program descriptions for the choice Federal Internship opportunities. You can WIN a Federal Job if you find the right Vacancy Listing for a Job or Internship Opportunity. (The Office of Personnel Management is working on an initiative to have federal internship listings in one place, but it doesn’t exist yet.) FEDERAL INTERNSHIP SCAVENGER HUNT DIRECTIONS: Make a list of agencies that are of interest to you based on your degree, major, and interests. You can find all the individual agency web pages here: http://www.firstgov.gov/Agencies/Federal/All_Agencies/index.shtml Go to your chosen agency’s homepage Look for a link for employment, careers, students, or interns If none of the above exist, use the SEARCH field to search for “student internships” Read some of the links Look for descriptions of Internship Programs Look for “real” program announcements with dates, pay, and “how to apply” instructions Bookmark these pages and write down the dates and info – or print a few pages Write a federal-style resume that covers the skills in the announcement (You could read “How to Write a Federal Resume” http://publicservice.monster.com/articles/fedresume/) Focus your resume toward the job announcement with the right key words (Read “What are your Career Keywords?” http://www.federaldaily.com/jobs/keywords.htm) Here are two sample Federal Internship Scavenger Hunts for NASA and NSF: (Each one took about 10 minutes) National Air & Space Administration (NASA), http://www.nasa.gov – WOW! - a great Flash Page with a link on the homepage that says: “Students Join NASA’s Earth Crew”. The website is cool, but the Internship info for “regular students” is not available -- only Astronaut Educators. Next go to the top to the SEARCH and type in “Student Internships”. Great! 200 pages came up! Found it! STUDENT INTERNSHIP WEBPAGE: http://sip.gsfc.nasa.gov/. Still looking for the “real” internship/job announcement with dates, salary, and “how to apply," but at least a good description of the internship program is written here. National Science Foundation (NSF), http://www.nsf.gov. Go to “Careers Opportunity” link. Then go to the 2nd page: Programs for Recent College and Graduate School Graduates. Click on this page: http://www.nsf.gov/oirm/hrm/jobs/special.htm#scholar and read good descriptions of Outstanding Scholar and Presidential Management Internships. Typed in Student Internships – Bingo! Here’s a good page too: http://www.nsf.gov/oirm/hrm/jobs/student.htm -- NSF Student Appointments – even better! More info about the types of Internship Programs is offered here: Student Career Experience Program and Student Temporary Employment Program. BACK again… clicked on another page that was linked to DOE’s website. Found a good description of an internship for a science major: http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/scied/ERULF/about.html. This page includes dates, pay, appointment, etc. Success! More links to discovered Federal Internships: Dept. of Transportation - http://www.volpe.dot.gov/career/intrnshp.html Federal Highway Admin - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/vacancy/career1.htm USDA Food Safety & Inspection Service - http://www.fsis.usda.gov/vetstudents/ U.S. Dept. of Agriculture - http://www.usda.gov/da/employ/intern.htm U.S. Dept. of Agriculture - http://www.usda.gov/da/employ/InternetStudentProgramManagersList.html If you find a great Internship announcement through scavenger research, Congratulations! Write to us at Federal Career Corner with your strategy for other Federal Career Corner jobseekers to share! __________________________________________________________________________ QUOTEWORTHY "No one knows what he can do until he tries." - Publilius Syrus __________________________________________________________________________ WHERE ARE THE FEDERAL INTERNSHIPS? Helping you identify federal internship opportunities -- Emerging Leaders Internship Program - Working on my Recent Grad book, I've been looking for Federal Internship programs that recent grads can consider and I found HHS's (Department of Health and Human Services) excellent Internship website: http://www.hhs.gov/jobs/elp/about.html   This Internship program is excellent for recent grads who would qualify for GS-7 or -9 positions in any of the HHS agencies: "Participants will be hired by one of the Operating Divisions sponsoring this Program, i.e., National Institutes of Health (NIH), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Indian Health Service (IHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Administration on Aging (AoA), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) or The Office of the Secretary (OS)." One of the ways to get an interview and be considered is to attend a Career Fair. There is a list of career fairs here: http://www.hhs.gov/jobs/elp/calendar.html. There will be one in DC on Feb. 12th. The closing date on the Internship program is March 1st, and the class starts July 26, 2004. I've taught the Emerging Leader Interns at HHS in DC on how to update their federal resumes and write KSAs, so they can apply for new career positions following their Internships. They have had a great experience and are interested in continuing to pursue government careers! - Kathryn __________________________________________________________________________ HOW TO WRITE IT RIGHT Before and after writing samples to assist you in your resume and KSA writing: BEFORE: Responsible for interpreting personnel policies and procedures and developing recommendations. AFTER: Developed and recommended improved personnel policies and procedures to streamline automated resume submissions... Bottomline -- use action words and be specific about your accomplishments. __________________________________________________________________________ SITES TO SEE Here are some websites we think are worth checking out -- http://publicservice.monster.com/articles/fivedepartments/: "When looking for employment, it makes sense to concentrate your efforts in areas that have the greatest opportunities. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reports that five departments employ close to half of the 2.7 million federal civilian workers, with opportunities for everyone from janitors to judges." The Big Five Federal Departments, by Dennis V. Damp, Monster Contributing Writer http://www.opm.gov/pressrel/2004/EG-USAJOBS.asp: "The powerful OPM USAJOBS website has been tapped to assist with efforts to recruit Americans interested in serving their Nation in reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kay Coles James announced today that OPM has entered into a collaboration with the Department of Defense through their recruitment websites, USAJOBS and SOFIA (Support our Friends in Iraq and Afghanistan) respectively, to recruit more Americans to serve their country as public servants in Iraq and Afghanistan James said, 'For Americans who have heard the call of public service, this partnership provides opportunities to serve their nation overseas in support of the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan as they develop their democracies.'" http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/call/phone.htm: a link to Federal Agency Telephone Directories http://www.opm.gov/pressrel/2004/BL-ITExchange.asp: "The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued proposed rules … that would allow Federal information technology (IT) employees to participate in a program where they could temporarily work in IT positions in the private sector. 'This program has a simple premise: through partnership, the public and private sector can do a better job of tackling government's IT skills shortage than the government can do alone. The Tech Corps is also an innovative and inexpensive solution to one of the Federal government's most pressing problems - the shortage of trained IT workers,' said Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis." http://www.resume-place.com: a link to the leading experts in writing successful federal packages for both private industry to federal applicants and current feds seeking promotion. __________________________________________________________________________ SES TIPS FROM SUSAN CUSTARD ECQs – Getting Started As promised in our last SES column, we are going to take a look at addressing the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs). ECQs are the core of your SES application, along with an outstanding Federal resume. There are five ECQs, which are the same for each SES vacancy; although some agencies may request that you respond to additional technical qualifications regarding the position you are applying for. The ECQs are: Leading Change, Leading People, Results Driven, Business Acumen, and Building Coalitions/Communications. Each ECQ has a corresponding set of leadership competencies. The leadership competencies are the personal and professional attributes necessary for successful performance at the executive level. A well-developed ECQ statement will reflect most of the leadership competencies identified. Applicants developing ECQs should use the leadership competencies as a checklist to ensure that the example(s) being used demonstrate experience that brings forth the leadership competencies. Each leadership competency is defined by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). In today’s column, we will focus on Leading Change. This is the first ECQ, and some indicate, the most critical. The ECQ, Leading Change, has seven leadership competencies: Continual Learning - Grasps the essence of new information; masters new technical and business knowledge; recognizes own strengths and weaknesses; pursues self-development; seeks feedback from others and opportunities to master new knowledge. Creativity and Innovation - Develops new insights into situations and applies innovative solutions to make organizational improvements; creates a work environment that encourages creative thinking and innovation; designs and implements new or cutting-edge programs/processes. External Awareness - Identifies and keeps up-to-date on key national and international policies and economic, political, and social trends that affect the organization. Understands near-term and long-range plans and determines how best to be positioned to achieve a competitive business advantage in a global economy. Flexibility - Is open to change and new information; adapts behavior and work methods in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles. Adjusts rapidly to new situations warranting attention and resolution. Resilience - Deals effectively with pressure; maintains focus and intensity and remains optimistic and persistent, even under adversity. Recovers quickly from setbacks. Effectively balances personal life and work. Service Motivation - Creates and sustains an organizational culture which encourages others to provide the quality of service essential to high performance. Enables others to acquire the tools and support they need to perform well. Shows a commitment to public service. Influences others toward a spirit of service and meaningful contributions to mission accomplishment. Strategic Thinking - Formulates effective strategies consistent with the business and competitive strategy of the organization in a global economy. Examines policy issues and strategic planning with a long-term perspective. Determines objectives and sets priorities; anticipates potential threats or opportunities. Vision - Takes a long-term view and acts as a catalyst for organizational change; builds a shared vision with others. Influences others to translate vision into action. In reviewing the competencies for Leading Change, the definitions clearly reveal that this ECQ is about successfully leading organizational change. For example, Service Motivation (or customer service), indicates a significant paradigm change for some agencies. Applicants should indicate an example in which they have led or significantly contributed to a change in the organization through leadership resulting in improved customer service. Additionally, it’s important to tie ECQ responses to current initiatives, such as the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) – and customer service is a key initiative within the PMA. You can easily tie this together with strategic thinking and vision -- to change an organization’s approach to internal and external customers would be considered an example that demonstrated executive level experience. Then, you can tie it to continual learning, since you have learned much about change, and about ways and means to effect change to improve customer service. So – now that you have examples – start writing! As we’ve discussed before, all ECQs need to be written utilizing the CCAR model – Context, Challenge, Action, Result. OPM reviews all ECQs to determine if they meet this model. When developing ECQs, the quality of the example is critical – your response should have one or two quality examples that meet the CCAR model – which means describing steps made, and personal action taken by you for achievement; the ECQs should not be focused on many small examples. You can find examples of ECQ statements in a variety of places, including The Federal Resume Guidebook, Third Edition, available through The Resume Place at http://www.resume-place.com/shop/?page=shop/browse&category_id=2916cc92749ad507090c275754c8a98a. In our next column, we will focus on ECQs Leading People, and Results Driven – so stay tuned! __________________________________________________________________________ CAREER PRO INFO For federal career advisement and training success stories and strategies. The Sign of the Times -- Electronic Resumes More than 70 percent of all federal vacancy announcements request applicants to submit an electronic resume format through an online resume builder. Keep in mind these three simple rules that make electronic resumes different from paper-based ones: You must format the resume so the QuickHire, Resumix, USAJOBS, or other on-line resume collection system can easily read it. For Resumix systems, you must use keywords and phrases when you write your resume to maximize the number of items the software matches (hits) during a hiring search. For QuickHire, USAJOBS, and others, your resume must contain sufficient detail so that your answers to the questions on the vacancy announcement correlate with the content of the resume. QuickHire applicant questions may involve multiple-choice, yes-or-no, and essay answers to job-related questions. You must follow TO THE LETTER specific instructions in agencies' job kits or in the How To Apply sections of vacancy announcements. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Resume Place has a NEW newsletter, the Federal Career Pro News, designed specifically for Certified Federal Job Search Trainers (CFJST), Certified Federal Resume Writers and Coaches (CPRWCs), and career professionals who are helping jobseekers target, research, and land Federal jobs! The newsletter includes training strategies, Federal job information, book reviews, and other techniques to help make it easier to deliver quality federal job information and services to your clients. Would you like to receive this newsletter? Then take the next step and sign up to become a Certified Federal Job Search Trainer (CFJST) or a Certified Federal Resume Writer and Coach (CFRWC) today! Federal Job Search Trainer Certification Program (CFJST): http://www.resume-place.com/workshops/certification.html Register now -- the next dates for the Federal Job Search Trainer Workshop are: April 21, 22, 23; June 23, 24, 25 Federal Resume Writer & Coach Certification Program (CFRWC): Class 4 starts with the Career Masters Institute on March 4th, 2004 -- sign up now! http://www.resume-place.com/workshops/certclass4_sched.html __________________________________________________________________________ THE RESUME PLACE SUCCESS STORIES "I'm very pleased with the KSA's. The KSAs read like a real life adventure novel. My objective was to demonstrate my experience as an investigator and acting supervisor and it was achieved. It was written so well that I got the job. Thanks again." "Great information. Thank you and keep up the good work." __________________________________________________________________________ THE RESUME PLACE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES @ http://www.resume-place.com/shop/ Books (http://www.resume-place.com/shop/?page=shop/browse&category_id=2916cc92749ad507090c275754c8a98a) THREE BOOKS -- SPECIAL PRICE: Ten Steps to a Federal Job & CD-ROM, Federal Resume Guidebook & PC Disk, and Electronic Federal Resume Guidebook & CD-ROM, SPECIAL: $99.95 + POSTAGE - Save $20.90 TWO BOOK SPECIAL: Ten Steps to a Federal Job & CD-ROM + Ten Steps Jobseeker Guide. Order the award-winning text and companion workbook. Plan your federal campaign with exercises, employment salary charts, and agency name listings. Two Book Special: $50 + postage. Federal Resume Guidebook & PC Disk: In this second edition of the first book on Federal Resume Writing, you’ll get Federal resume and KSA samples along with step-by-step instruction to maximize your success with a federal job application. *(2nd Edition Special $25.00 + $5.00 s/h. Supplies are limited.) Assessment Guide The best way to get help with your Federal Resume, Resumix, QuickHire resume, KSAs or other application is to complete our Assessment Guide. The Guide is here: http://www.resume-place.com/assessment/ Federal Resume Edit and Design Have you written your Federal resume, but would like a professional editor and designer to improve your draft? Send us your draft and for just $250, we'll edit and design your federal or private industry resume. http://www.resume-place.com/shop/?page=shop/browse&category_id=49b4819720199bb90ab4820dab6b7eec __________________________________________________________________________ CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FEDERAL CAREER CORNER NEWSLETTER Please write to us with websites, success stories, job search tips, article ideas, and questions that we can use in the Federal Career Corner. Send your ideas to Jessica Coffey, Managing Editor, at editor@resume-place.com. __________________________________________________________________________ THE MAILING LIST Please refer our free bi-monthly Federal Career Corner newsletter to your colleagues and friends. Sign up now for the mailing list.
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