"Writing an effective résumé"

Before you go any further, I would like to just state for the record that there are better resources out there dealing with federal résumés than this one you are currently reading. So, I hope that you are not just relying on this blog article to prepare your federal résumé.  If you are, allow me to recommend other résumé resources that are just as good, or dare say…even better!: 

• Lily Whiteman’s book, “How to land a top-paying federal job” – this book gives you some awesome tools and guidance on how to write an effective résumé.
• Partnership for Public Service’s book, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Government Jobs” – another great resource that gives clear tips and techniques on how to write federal résumé, to include much more.

There are a few other federal job search resources out there, but I found the above two to be quite comprehensive and clear, and easily understandable as well.

A résumé is a tool

When it comes to résumés, you may hear varying definitions for them. For instance, one person may say that a résumé is to get you a job.  Another may describe a résumé that depicts all your past history. As for me, I believe a good résumé is tailored to a specific career field, or specifically toward a job, with the primary focus to market your strongest transferrable skills. In short, your résumé is a communications tool that is used in your job search strategy. That’s it. A résumé is not the end of itself. Unfortunately, too many job seekers place way too much stock in their résumés, while neglecting the other important aspects of their job search strategy (e.g., networking, cold calling, finding job leads, etc). So remember: your résumé is a marketing tool. And the main purpose of your résumé is not to get you a job, but to get you the interview.

Three types of résumés

CHRONOLOGICAL (Troutman, 2007)

Advantages – contains a logical flow of text; easy to read; highlights a steady work record and showcases growth in responsibilities.  It is easy to prepare and familiar to most hiring officials.

Disadvantages – emphasizes gaps in employment; not suitable for job seekers with little or no previous work experience. It emphasizes tasks, not necessarily skills or accomplishments.

Best used by – individuals with a steady work record; who have grown in their responsibilities and are pursuing work in the same or similar area.

FUNCTIONAL (Troutman, 2007)

Advantages – emphasizes skills rather than employment; organizes a variety of experience (paid, unpaid work). Skills-based and can be key word searched.

Disadvantages – viewed with suspicion by employers due to the lack of specific information about work history.

Best used by – individuals with little or no previous work experience; with employment gaps and frequent job changers. Also used by individuals who have developed skills from other than documented employment.

COMBINATION (Troutman, 2007)

Advantages – highlights relevant skills, accomplishments, and work history; keyword searched; organizes a variety of work and other experiences.

Disadvantages – can be confusing if not well organized; requires more effort to prepare.

Best used by – career changers or people in transition; individuals entering the job market after an absence; contract workers.

Characteristics of a federal résumé

Unlike private-sector résumés that are 1 to 2 pages long, federal résumés are 2 to 5 pages long and longer for Senior Executive Service applicants (at least six pages). The reason why the federal résumé is longer than the private sector one is because you have to prove that you’re qualified for a job on paper. This entails providing detailed information describing your knowledge, skills, and abilities. You cannot just imply that you supervise. You have to provide details such as: “lead a team of 10 staff members; monitor their work; assign workload, etc.”

Also, I would recommend using the ‘Chronological’ résumé format when applying for a federal job. You would begin with your current or your most recent job and work backwards, but it’s advisable not to go back more than ten years. However, sometimes I get push back from some people in my workshop when I say, “do not go past 10 years”.  They would comment, “Alex, what if you’ve done some great stuff more than 20 years ago?”  My response: Although they’re many job seekers who have worked in their career for more than 10 years…15…20…and more than 25, I would not include jobs that were performed more than 10 years…15 tops! However, for those of you who have done significant accomplishments dating back more than 15 years, I would annotate them as core competencies in the summary of qualifications at the beginning of the résumé, and then expand on it during the interview. In short, bring the good and relevant stuff up to the top; don’t bury it down in the résumé abyss.

Before I go any further, some of you may be wondering, “What are the differences between a federal government résumé and a private sector one?”  Before I highlight some of the major differences between a federal government résumé and a private sector résumé, keep in mind that OPM’s Hiring Reform directed federal agencies to accept any type of formatted résumé from any source based on your choosing. But I have learned one thing working for the federal government: trying to get the government to change is like attempting to move the Titanic with your little pinky.  Get the picture.  With that said, allow me to offer some friendly suggestions.

When in Rome, speak like a Roman – make sure you incorporate as much of the job’s industry terms as possible.  The federal government has their own key words for each job. Make sure that you learn your respective job related terms and incorporate them into your résumé.

It’s all about the budget – a private sector résumé is more profit focused compared to a federal résumé that is budget focused. So, if you have worked with money, be sure to use key terms that are associated with budgets, accounting, and business management, to name a few.

Federal résumé formats

There are two formats for a federal government résumé. One is formatted, which I prefer the most because it allows you to be creative by incorporating text font, bullets, etc.  In short, it is more pleasing to the human eye. The second format is an electronic résumé (also referred as a scannable résumé).  It is still the same résumé as your formatted one, but it’s converted to plain text so that it is easy for you to copy and paste into a website or simply e-mail. Just remember: an electronic résumé is written in only 11 or 12 point; with Times New Roman or Courier font. Also, there should be no bold, italics, tabs, nor bullets used in an electronic résumé. And all text is flushed to the left. Basically, this type of résumé is very plain to the human eye. However, it is perfect for optical character readers (OCR).

The spicy part of the résumé

I would argue that if your résumé doesn’t catch the reader’s attention by five seconds, they may go on to the next one. So, the best way to catch their eyes is to spice up your résumé with a well-crafted ‘Summary of Qualifications’, or a similar heading like ‘Career Highlights’ or ‘Professional Achievements’. You can also use the job title that you’re targeting for. Apart from the title, this is the area where it really defines who you are. In sum, if you catch them here, they will most likely continue to read your entire résumé. Matter of fact, Nicholas Lore, the author of “The Pathfinder” writes that the Summary takes the “reader’s attention on the most important qualities, achievements and abilities you have to offer.  Those qualities should be the most compelling demonstrations of why they should hire you instead of the other candidates.  It gives you a brief opportunity to telegraph a few of your most sterling qualities.  It is your one and only chance to attract and hold their attention, to get across what is most important, and to entice the employer to keep reading” (Lore, 1998).

What do you include in the Summary?

Before you start crafting out a Summary, go back to the vacancy announcement and review the position duties section again and ask yourself, “What type of job candidate are they looking for?” or “If I was the hiring manager,  what would they like to see in me?” Also, look for the qualities that the selection official will care about most. Then, after you have identified the core competencies of the position, then assemble your best experiences and skills that highlight those qualities that they’re looking for.

Wow them with accomplishments!

Lore suggests that after you write your most special highlights in the Summary, you then “tell the rest of the best of your story. Let them know what results you produced, what happened as a result of your efforts, what you are especially gifted or experienced at doing. Flesh out the most important highlights in your summary” (Lore, 1998). For that reason, when it comes to your accomplishments, I liken them to a ‘trip wire’ in your résumé. And I agree with Lore, your accomplishments give evidence to your Summary. They stand apart from your regular job duties. So don’t get them confused with your regular duties outlined in your résumé.

In addition, significant accomplishments are any results-related activity that goes beyond your general job description. They can be quantified with dollar figures, percentages, and time periods.  Other examples are: upward progression in your chosen career, worked-related awards, academic scholarships, and industry-specific certifications or licensure (e.g., CPA, APR, etc.). 

What is NOT an Accomplishment?

I’ve seen some résumés that included significant accomplishments that only relate to regular job duties. They basically think their standard job responsibilities can be considered as significant accomplishments. In my opinion, this is a grave mistake that consequently equates to as a résumé killer. Significant accomplishments are not completing work you are expected to do (i.e. daily tasks), and being prompt and congenial. Moreover, if any activity that cannot be quantified by dollar figures, percentages, awards, etc., then it’s not a significant accomplishment.

Mining those marketing gems

But you may have trouble mining out your significant accomplishments from the past. If you’re having trouble, just think “what have I done to improve the efficiency of a program or business process?” In today’s work environment, we are expected to do more in less time, with fewer resources, and with less help. This challenges us to become more creative and innovative; thinking outside the box about a solution that not only helps you, but also benefits the organization.

My final thoughts

• Spell “résumé” correctly – make sure that you use the diacritical mark, the acute accent on both of the letters “é”, because that little guy can be the deciding factor for the selection official. So, make sure that the word resume is spelled correctly as résumé.

• Use Wikipedia to identify key industry terms – this web site is a very good source to learn about key words of various job descriptions.  There are a lot of people who use Wikipedia to mine (yes, I love using this word) out some layman terms that a government document does not provide.

• Never begin each bullet with “*...ing” – do not begin your sentences in your experience section with verbs ending with “…ing” (i.e., planning, writing, analyzing, etc.)  Hit them hard with either the present tense or past (plans or planned, respectively).

• Power verbs and key phrases that contain key words from the federal job announcement – make sure that you incorporate key terms from the vacancy’s ‘job duties’ section into your résumé. You need to make sure that the reviewer can easily identify that your résumé is targeted to the position’s core requirements.

• What sets you apart is a tailored résumé to the job – it is imperative that you tailor your résumé to the federal job that you’re targeting. If you are applying for one job series (i.e., 1035: public affairs specialist), then you will need to write one résumé.  If, however, you’re targeting two job series (i.e., 1035: public affairs specialist; 1082: writer), then you will need to write two résumés.  And each résumés should address each job series’ core competencies.

• Purpose of the résumé is to get you the interview, not the job – your résumé is a just a marketing tool that is intended to get you the interview.  Don’t fall in the mindset that your résumé is going to get you the job. It is you that will get the job, and the résumé is just a tool to help you achieve your final outcome.

• Indicate in your résumé what you can do for the employer, not give an account of your anthology – many job seekers fall into the habit of putting everything on their résumé that has no relevancy toward the targeted job. When writing your résumé, make sure that you are writing for the hiring official, not for you.  Yes, I know you have done some great stuff in the past. But only include relevant information that equates to the core competencies that the hiring official is looking for.

• Describe your achievements and skills in a way that indicates they are readily applicable to other types of jobs and other fields – a good friend of mine recommends the 80% rule. What this means is that if you can safely say that you can just about 80% or more of the position’s requirements, then apply for it.  Hiring officials are looking for job candidates who have the right skills, experiences and knowledge to the job.

• There is no “I” in “Team” – do not overstate your achievements by claiming to have accomplished certain things single-handedly when it will be clear that your achievement had to be part of a team effort.

 

"Mastering the infamous government essay"

There are times that I still get the question, “Alex, did the federal government get rid of KSAs?”  The short answer is “no.” KSAs are still around.  The long answer is this: following the Administration's released memorandum about the federal hiring reform (May 11, 2010), many folks asked questions like, “Have you heard that KSA essays are going away!” or “Did you read in the paper that KSA essays are history!”  The news about the hiring reform is a welcomed change; albeit over due.  However, as a federal government employee and career bureaucrat, I applaud the Office of Personnel Management Director, Mr. John Berry, who has guided and led the OPM ‘Titanic’ most aptly and efficiently.  Nevertheless, even though many media outlets reported the “elimination of knowledge, skills and abilities statements”, don’t throw away your writing tablets just yet.  According to a Presidential Memorandum (The White House, 2010), while essay-styled questions (infamously known as KSAs) will not be required with the initial application, agencies may require them during the assessment phase as the job candidates are narrowed down to a few.  To cut a long story short, under the auspices of the new hiring reform, agencies will not be able to require job applicants to submit lengthy, narrative KSA essays with the initial application materials, but they may be required later in the application process.

So, there you have it – KSAs are here to stay.

Now, onward young Jedi…onward!

KSAs defined

The short form KSA stands for knowledge, skills, and abilities. 

Knowledge is basically an organized body of information that an individual needs to know to perform a task (e.g., public affairs knowledge includes knowledge of communications planning, privacy act, associated press style guides, etc.).

Skills are the proficiency to carry out specific tasks required for the job (e.g., skill in operating computer programs like PowerPoint).

Abilities are the underlying traits to perform an activity or task (e.g., oral comprehension – the ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences).

What do KSAs mean to you?

First, KSAs are directly related to the job – you need to remember that KSAs in the federal job announcement always tie back into the position’s duties; likewise, KSAs are specific core competencies that are required by the hiring official.

Second, KSAs are a set of questions to determine suitability – as you read through each KSA, ask yourself if you can readily perform and produce in each core competency.  If you know for sure that you can match your past experiences and skills to at least 80% of the position’s requirements, then I would suggest apply for that position.

Third, KSAs clearly state the requirements to perform successfully in the position – the position’s job duties along with KSAs should give you clear understanding if you’re able to carry out the job functions at the basic qualification level.

KSA’s give an applicant a chance to describe their value and worth – one of the best advantages of having to do KSAs is that it affords you the opportunity to highlight your stellar qualifications even before you meet the hiring official. Also, each KSA serves as excellent talking points for the interview.

How do employers use KSAs?

Prior to the President instructing OPM and all the executive departments and federal agencies to “overhaul the way they recruit and hire...” (The White House, 2010) that included the elimination of essays as “an initial application requirement”, hiring officials greatly relied on KSAs to rate and rank applicants, including using KSAs to weed out unmotivated applicants.  Also, some hiring officials made KSAs very restrictive and hard to understand to reduce applications.

Where are KSAs located in the job vacancy announcement?

Normally, KSAs are located under the “Qualifications and Evaluations” section of the job vacancy announcement.  Keep in mind, however, KSAs may be titled as:

• Quality Ranking Factors
• Narrative Factors
• Technical Qualifications
• Self-Assessment Questionnaire
• Statements of Qualifications
• Selective Placement Factors
• Evaluation Factors
• Rating Factors
• Job Elements

Next: PART 4: Federal Career Development