Government Jobs for All

Email from fellow Blogger on military blog

2004-12-01T18:23:00.000-08:00

I’m not a veteran—I thought about enlisting, but due to an illness during my senior year of high school, decided to go the civilian route instead. I currently work for a government (mainly defense) contractor but am thinking about seeking employment with the federalgovernment. I’m not sure if you’re willing to help a civilian, but I thought I’d go ahead and ask your advice. Honestly, I’m a bit intimidated by the job applicationprocess, which is to say a) I do not understand it,and b) I don’t trust that anyone will actually read my resume. I’m also looking for a job close to where Ilive (Fairfax VA) and I’m not sure there are any government jobs out here. If there are any words of wisdom you can impart to me,I’d appreciate it.

Thank you,
(tylergirl)http://tylergirl96.blogspot.com/

My response

First, remember that anything of any value will not come cheaply. Government applications are tough, but the rewards of compensation, benefits and the soundest job security make it all worth it. Additionally, I love this country and what better way to serve it than in the military or public service.

It is 2004 and federal agencies, stemming from the President's Management Agenda, have begun to attempt to mirror private hiring practices. I have seen and worked with such initiatives first-hand and they will be beneficial for all - Agencies, taxpayers and most importantly, applicant's. These include online application processes with little or minimal long answer questions.

As far as the current and antiquated application process is concerned, no agency can require your information to be in a particular format. With that said, I suggest developing a resume that you can utilize for different jobs and simply change the variables:

1. Include your name and the announcement number at the top of each page

2. Ensure you list months and dates of employment, eg. 6/1996 - 7/2003

3. List how many hours a week you worked, eg. 40 hours or 20 hours, etc.

4. List your supervisors and their phone numbers (you can put to not contact current supervisor)

5. Save all of your work

6. Register your resume in USAJOBS website at: www.usajobs.opm.gov

7. Register on agency websites you see jobs for (Once you've registered with an agency once, you typically will not need to again. You should be able to submit your saved resumes)

8. Keep a log of websites-User names and passwords

9. Read the resources on this site, relative to your career pursuits and/or current skills and tailor your resume based on it. Obviously using truthful statements)

Within KSA narratives, simply write the what's, why's and how's of your education and/or experience relative to the question and save all submissions because you will most likely be able to reuse some information for future applications.

Finally, once you have one good saved government resume, fax coversheet, KSA statements, etc. it will be very easy to tailor them to new applications. It is only the first one's that take the time. In Fact, shortly I will post some template one can utilize.

I will soon provide more information and feel free to ask more specific questions, as you desire

Response to Resume Question

2004-09-09T03:26:00.000-07:00

At 6:51 PM, Anonymous said...
What can be done to make resumes larger and/or more attractive to prospective employers and recruiters?

Great question. It is important to not be misled, my intention is not that the resume necessarily be larger, but to not attempt to keep it within a certain size, ie. one page, as is often the idea. The idea is to ensure that you have completely captured everything about you. When you apply for a government or private position, you do not necessarily know the full spectrum of items the employer is looking for. For government jobs you will know the basic qualifications and the factors used to determine who are the best qualified candidates. You will not know what type of preferences that the employer or manager might have, that aren't documented, but might play a key role in their determination. The same premise can apply to private positions, but is even more prevalent because you will most likely not know the factors used to determine the best qualified candidates.

Finally, I think it is extremely important to note that resumes should read well. You should utilize at least an 11 pitch font. Additionally, if possible, it is a good idea to use bulleted statements rather than one paragraph for each position. I would rather read a ten-page resume that is broken up and attractive than a two-page resume with 8 pitch font bunched together. Make it an easy read and include as much information as possible to allow them to know all of your qualifications. Experience gets jobs.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

2004-09-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

The Office of Personnel Management, or OPM, as we feds like to call it, is the beating heart of federal HR issues. There is a great deal of information contained on their site, that most people outside of the HR arena are not aware of. These resources of choice are public information, but somewhat hidden. Below, I am including links to some of these pages and a brief description of what is contained on them.

This first link is to the governments white-collar pay charts:
http://www.opm.gov/oca/04tables/indexGS.asp

This link is the resource that Human Resources Specialists use to determine if an applicant is qualified for particular white-collar positions with the federal government:
http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/INDEX.asp

This link is the resource that Human Resources Specialists use to determine if an applicant is qualified for particular blue-collar positions with the federal government:
http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/x-118c/INDEX.htm

This link is to the main resources that are used to establish white-collar government positions:
http://www.opm.gov/fedclass/html/gsseries.asp

This link is to the main resources that are used to establish blue-collar government positions:
http://www.opm.gov/fedclass/html/fwseries.htm

These links can provide you with the inside information that will help anyone gain federal employment and is open for public viewing. There is a great deal of information, but is definitely worth browsing.

Government Searches by Google

2004-09-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

Not sure where to find the government information you are looking for? Use the following link to the Google Government Search page. This search will only locate pages which are found on .gov and .mil sites. Just type the information you are looking for as you would with the primary google search.

http://www.google.com/unclesam

Welcome

2004-09-05T01:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome. Please feel free to ask any questions regarding federal employment and any other issues that you desire. Additionally, any experiences you would like to share may help some of the other readers. I will be posting articles to help you understand the federal application process to help you land that government job of your choice or get that promotion you so desire. Post a comment and let's begin.