Federal Resumes: Creating an Effective Resume for Government Employment

With jobs in the private sector considerably less plentiful than in healthier economic times, job seekers are searching alternative avenues of employment.  A major avenue for such job seekers is the federal government with opportunities accessed via submission of resumes for government positions, also termed resumes for federal employment.  Although offering a broad range of career paths and job functions, the federal government (as well as many state, county, and municipal governments) has established application processes for federal resumes that are starkly dissimilar to private industry.  When submitting your qualifications to potential employers in the business sector, your opportunities are often maximized due to the flexibility inherent in private industry.  For example, if you apply for a specific job and the hiring manager for that opportunity believes you to be better suited to another open position, he or she may arrange to forward your resume to an appropriate colleague.

When presenting resumes for government employment, however, you have no such “play,” since the requirements and duties for government jobs are very carefully circumscribed – allowing no deviation on resumes for federal positions.  Thus, your resume must either be targeted to the specific position, or you must otherwise ensure that the specific positions for which you submit your resume for federal employment match your qualifications and skills sets exactly.

With respect to the requirements for submission of government resumes and other qualifying information, federal hiring authorities often stipulate that you submit written responses outlining Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (otherwise known as KSA’s) along with your resume for government employment.  Written in response to specific questions, such as “How did you use written and verbal communication skills to meet your objectives in your prior employment?”, KSA’s are actually essays, varying in length from a single, meaty paragraph to one-half page or more.  When required to provide KSA’s accompanying your resume for federal career opportunities, know that you will be asked to submit answers to as few as four or five questions, or perhaps more dependent upon the position.  Your responses to these questions supplementary to your federal resume are critical in securing an interview.  If the preparation of KSA’s appears daunting to your mission of writing a resume for a federal position, please visit our “Government Resumes” page on this Website, as we are well versed in preparing KSA’s as well as writing resumes for government employment.

When applying for a federal position with your completed government resume and KSA’s, you will utilize the USAJobs.gov Website,  the Federal Government’s official jobs Site.  Once you have accessed this Website, you may search available opportunities and select those to which you wish to apply – submitting your federal resume and KSA’s as per the instructions provided.  As the process of submitting resumes for government careers will include a number of steps, perhaps more than you are accustomed in your private sector career submissions, be sure to allow ample time to complete the online process.

Once USAJobs.gov has accepted your resume for federal employment and/or KSA’s, the governmental agency to which you have applied will review your submitted materials and assess your qualifications.  Candidates who meet the minimum criteria will be ranked in order of score established for their submitted materials.  Some candidates, veterans for example will receive a preference value added to their scores.  Those who meet the basic requirements of the position to which they have submitted will then be referred to an individual with the authority to hire.  Should you fail to meet the requirements for the job that you have selected, the branch of government to which you have applied will notify you of this.

Expect to wait weeks for a response.  Every candidate considered for a federal position must undergo a background investigation, and this will take time.  Once you have received an offer of employment, expect an even longer delay if the position is linked to national security, for a job of that nature will demand a more in-depth background check.

To learn more about the process of preparing and submitting government resumes, you may wish to view other available resources.  The Veterans Career Network section of Military.com is an excellent resource for both veterans and non-veterans.  You might also look at our “Resources” page for other job-hunting tools not limited to government resumes.