October 1, 2009, ABC News Now’s Tory Johnson interviewed Kathryn Troutman for the Job Club yesterday. Kathryn discussed 4 critical steps to applying for a federal job. Page samples were from the Jobseeker Guide, 3rd Edition. The Ten Steps come from Ten Steps to a Federal Job, How to land a Job in the Obama Administration, 2nd Ed.

IMPORTANT TIPS FROM 4 OF THE TEN STEPS TO A FEDERAL JOB:
Step 5: Keywords can be found in the DUTIES section of the USAJOBS Vacancy Announcement.
Step 6: The best USAJOBS federal resume is The Outline Format which features keywords in ALL CAPS and small paragraphs.
Step 7: What are KSAs? KSAs are stories that demonstrate from your Accomplishment Record that you DO have a certain Knowledge, Skill or Ability.
Step 8: Applying for a federal job requires “reading the instructions”. The How To Apply page can be different, depending on the agency. Kathryn has produced a handy Resume Builder Chart with about 40 ways to apply to a federal job.

Last questions:

Tory: What’s a quick strategy to write accomplishments for KSAs?
Kathryn: Write a list of 5 of your best accomplishments form your last few positions, then use these for your KSAs.

Tory: How long will it be before you hear from a federal hiring official?
Kathryn: Each agency is different, but they are moving faster!

Tory said that there seemed to be Hope and Optimism for Federal jobs.