 |
| Volume Number 2 - Issue Number 5 - April 7, 2004 |
     |
|
The FEDERAL CAREER CORNER(TM) is a free monthly e-newsletter sponsored by The Resume Place, Inc., Kathryn K. Troutman, President; Jessica Coffey, Managing Editor, editor@resume-place.com.
Sharing our newsletter with friends, customers and co-workers? NEW! Due to popular demand, we are adding an easy-to-use email message with the website address for each newsletter so that you can more easily send a copy of our popular Federal Career Corner Newsletter to your customers, clients, and friends. Simply copy and paste the text between the stars below and send the email to your friends! They can read the entire newsletter on-line! Suggested Subject Line: From your name - Federal Career Corner, April 7, 2004 ************************************ FEDERAL CAREER CORNER™, Volume 2, No. 5, April 7, 2004 The latest Federal Job Search news from The Resume Place, Inc. and Kathryn Troutman, Publisher Featuring: Hot Jobs In a Cool Economy FEDERAL JOB NEWS, Q & A, INTERVIEW TRAINING, and much more! SES Tips, KSA and Fedres Writing Tips, Workshops… Read the entire online newsletter here: www.resume-place.com/newsletter/vol_2_issue_5.html#Intern Sign up for our free monthly newsletter here:lb.bcentral.com/ex/manage/subscriberprefs.aspx?customerid=18651 ************************************ DON'T FORGET - The Resume Place's President, Kathryn Troutman is the Monster Federal Career Coach at Monster.com. Ask questions, provide some answers (if you have tips), and read responses at http://forums.monster.com/forum.asp?forum=3336.  WHAT'S IN THIS NEWSLETTER? WHAT'S NEW FROM KATHRYN FEATURE ARTICLE – Hot Jobs In a Cool Economy HR SPEAK – What Does This Mean?! FEDERAL JOB NEWS Q & A WITH KATHRYN TROUTMAN FEDERAL RESUME AND KSA WRITING TIPS THE LIGHTER SIDE OF THE FEDERAL JOB SEARCH INTERVIEW SAVVY SES TIPS FROM SUSAN CUSTARD CAREER PRO INFO THE WORLD OF ACRONYMS UPCOMING WORKSHOPS, PRESENTATIONS, & EVENTS THE RESUME PLACE SUCCESS STORIES & JOBSEEKER QUOTES THE RESUME PLACE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES __________________________________________________________________________ WHAT'S NEW FROM KATHRYN 
Hello Federal Jobseekers and Career Professionals, March was a very busy month for me traveling and speaking at conferences and workshops. Everyone is anxious to learn what they can about landing a quality Federal job. Here's where I traveled and what I learned from jobseekers and counselors/trainers:
__________________________________________________________________________ HR SPEAK - What Does This Mean?! State Department Announcement For Foreign Service Officer Exam; Instructions For Writing 10 KSAs: Describing how you meet these qualifications, please adhere to the following guidelines: 1. Describe achievements or activities in short and concise statements. 2. Use language geared to professional and technical levels of understanding but avoid undefined acronyms. 3. The same achievements or activities may be used as evidence for more than one qualification. 4. Describe each achievement or activity from an engineering/maintenance standpoint and clarify the role, dates, and problem solved or objective met. INTERPRETED THIS MEANS: Write one or two examples for each KSA; be specific; give details of each project; do not use acronyms; and you can use one example for more than one of the 10 KSAs. __________________________________________________________________________ FEDERAL JOB NEWS
QUOTEWORTHY "Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best." - Tim Duncan, Basketball Player, San Antonio Spurs __________________________________________________________________________ Q & A WITH KATHRYN TROUTMAN Q: What does "Open Continuously" mean in a job announcement? A: Open Continuously means that the job is open for applicants all the time. This is basically a database announcement where you submit your resume and when HR recruiters are looking to hire someone for this type of position, they will search the database. They will search with keywords that should be in your resume and would reflect the specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities that you probably have in order to do the job. Serious federal job applicants need to submit their resumes to the open continuously announcements because they are very real and are searched in all the time. You will receive emails and interest if your resume is correct and is in this kind of database. Q: I have been told that my name has been referred to the agency doing the hiring for a position I applied for. Does this mean my package has passed the HR department and is now in the hands of the agency doing the hiring? A: Yes, this means you have been designated as Best Qualified. I don't know how many resumes they sent, but the supervisor will see your resume. The supervisor will then decide if he/she wants to talk to you about the job. The interview could be by phone initially, or, it's possible the supervisor may not decide to call you. We try very hard at The Resume Place to get our clients Best Qualified, AND try to add the accomplishments so that the supervisor will want to talk with the client. So, I hope that you will get a call. There is no guarantee of course, but it looks good! And it's good news because you know that your resume is getting you Best Qualified and so other announcements should be successful also. Q: How does "point preference" affect the ranking process for federal positions? A: Point Preference refers to veterans' points. When being ranked for a position, veterans' points can displace non-veterans from a higher rank. The veterans can add 5 or 10 points to their applications because of their service, and these extra points can put them higher than 100%. Typically only three people are selected to interview -- it's called The Rule of Three. If the agency uses the Rule of Three, then only three can go forward to the hiring manager – those with the highest ranking. Some agencies do not use The Rule of Three, and if they do not, they may review as many as 10 to 15 applicants. __________________________________________________________________________ FEDERAL RESUME AND KSA WRITING TIPS Before and after writing samples to assist you in your resume and KSA writing: Before: Rated high by supervisors. After: Consistently receive high supervisor ratings for excellent on-the-job performance; "since ____ has reported to my office, his performance has been excellent...he is indeed a valued-added employee." Bottom-line: Back up your statements. It is okay (even good) to use quotes, just don't overdo it. Anyone can say the right thing – it is your job to demonstrate your qualifications. __________________________________________________________________________ THE LIGHTER SIDE OF THE FEDERAL JOB SEARCH We do not recommend that you use these in your cover letters or resumes!: "Please call me after 5:30 because I am self-employed and my employer does not know I am looking for another job." "Instrumental in ruining an entire operation for a Midwest chain operation." "COMPUTER SKILLS: Solitaire, Minesweeper, On/Off Repair Method" The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. - e.e. cummings __________________________________________________________________________ INTERVIEW SAVVY What to say and how to say it... An upcoming interview can create a great deal of stress and anxiety for many people. The best way to overcome these feelings is to practice, practice, practice. The more comfortable you are with responding to questions and selling your knowledge, skills, and abilities, the more relaxed and confident you will feel, and the better you will perform during the interview. One popular question that is often asked is "Tell me about yourself." This is one of those all-encompassing questions where the interviewer is attempting to get you to list a summary of your professional experience. Note the word PROFESSIONAL. This is a time to sell yourself in terms of the position you are interviewing for. Talk about work and volunteer experiences you have had that support your ability to do this job well. This is not the time to talk about your hobbies, your family life, or other topics that are not specific to your skills and the position at-hand. This question is typically a first question and therefore the opportunity for you to get the interviewer(s) interested in learning more about you. It is like a 2-minute commercial where you are selling your skills and demonstrating why you are the person for the job; luring them in to learn more. Your best bet is to take them chronologically through your past experiences, highlighting the accomplishments that relate to the position you are interviewing for (accomplishments that you will most likely go into detail on during the rest of the interview). This is also a time when you can use keywords that you have learned are important for this position (from the announcement, KSAs, Position Description, etc.). Keep in mind, though, that this is a not a guaranteed question. Some employers feel it is too vague, but when it is asked, it can help set the tone for the rest of the interview. So take a deep breath, relax, and just talk about yourself and what you've done in your past and present jobs and volunteer opportunites that show you are highly qualified for this position. You obviously have a number of the necessary skills to have gotten this far in the process -- now is your chance to sell them and shine! __________________________________________________________________________ SES TIPS FROM SUSAN CUSTARD ECQs – Results Driven In this column, we are going to continue with addressing the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs). As a quick reminder, the 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; some agencies may request that you also respond to 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-written 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). Our focus in this column is on ECQ #3 – Results Driven. As we have discussed in our previous columns, each ECQ has corresponding leadership competencies – those behaviors and skills that identify successful performance at the executive level. The leadership competencies for Results Driven are: Accountability - Assures that effective controls are developed and maintained to ensure the integrity of the organization. Holds self and others accountable for rules and responsibilities. Can be relied upon to ensure that projects within areas of specific responsibility are completed in a timely manner and within budget. Monitors and evaluates plans; focuses on results and measuring attainment of outcomes. Customer Service - Balancing interests of a variety of clients; readily readjusts priorities to respond to pressing and changing client demands. Anticipates and meets the need of clients; achieves quality end-products; is committed to continuous improvement of services. Decisiveness - Exercises good judgment by making sound and well-informed decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; makes effective and timely decisions, even when data is limited or solutions produce unpleasant consequences; is proactive and achievement oriented. Entrepreneurship - Identifies opportunities to develop and market new products and services within or outside of the organization. Is willing to take risks; initiates actions that involve a deliberate risk to achieve a recognized benefit or advantage. Problem Solving - Identifies and analyzes problems; distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant information to make logical decisions; provides solutions to individual and organizational problems. Technical Credibility - Understands and appropriately applies procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise. Is able to make sound hiring and capital resource decisions and to address training and development needs. Understands linkages between administrative competencies and mission needs. As you are working on developing a response to Results Driven, you should take a moment to reflect on the leadership competencies above, and determine an example that you will use to describe your competence in this ECQ. As you read the leadership competencies, there is a key area to take note of – each of the leadership competencies is highlighting the personal actions taken by the applicant – not the actions taken by staff, or through others. The ECQs should focus on the personal incidents that demonstrate what you did to lead people. For example, in responding to Results Driven, you should describe a management or leadership situation where you demonstrated your personal accountability and commitment to achieving results. In reviewing your work or volunteer experience, you should choose an example where you have been challenged to improve customer service (a key area in the President's Management Agenda), explaining how you have used your problem solving abilities to develop a solution, and decisions that you made throughout the process (including those that were unpopular!). You should address your technical credibility by demonstrating your ability to achieve results in a large organization or corporation by getting things done through administrative and other processes-these may often represent significant challenges in achieving results! 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 taken, and personal actions 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 www.resume-place.com/shop/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=4&category_id=3dca2a3d3f09419baf8a8a35013014a5. We’ll also be discussing the CCAR model in detail later in the year in this column. In our next column, we will focus on ECQ #4, Business Acumen– so stay tuned!__________________________________________________________________________ CAREER PRO INFO Helpful information for federal career advisors and trainers.
THE WORLD OF ACRONYMS EIA - Energy Information Administration, www.eia.doe.gov Ex-Im Bank - Export-Import Bank of the United States, www.exim.gov Fannie Mae (FNMA) - Federal National Mortgage Association, www.fanniemae.com/index.jhtml Farmer Mac (FAMA) - Federal Agricultural Mortgage Association, www.farmermac.com/plane/frames.htm FCA - Farm Credit Administration, www.fca.gov __________________________________________________________________________ UPCOMING WORKSHOPS, PRESENTATIONS, & EVENTS
The Electronic Federal Resume Guidebook & CD ROM  Creating an e-resume doesn't have to be a daunting experience. Learn how by reading this easy-to-follow guidebook, which looks especially at the Resumix resume format. Troutman's suggestions will be helpful for anyone writing an e-resume-no matter what e-system you're dealing with. CD-ROM included. $44.95 USD. Order your copy today! 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 Interview Training Get ready for your next interview with general interview prep materials, position-specific questions to practice with, a telephone mock interview, plus a critique and Q+A session. Work with an expert Interview Coach to learn strategies that will help you Win the Job! www.resume-place.com/shop/?page=shop/browse&category_id=8ff6b75552eeed41fffc4ab8099a1f6f __________________________________________________________________________ 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 Newsletter. 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.  |
|