How To Build A Government Resume

General Things To Keep In Mind:

‘Build, Build, Build’ projects resume construction

This resumes job is to connect the requirements of the job posting to your experience using the straightest possible line. I printed out the job posting and highlighted every key phrase of the requirements, qualifications, and what kind of work this job would do. I then made that into a checklist to make sure each one of those things could clearly be mapped to my resume.

Throw out your formatting. I used CAPS for headers, italics for mission statements, and bullet points. Expect that the bulk of your formatting will be stripped out. No columns, no fanciness. Just write. Hard.

Speaking of writing: get your words going, and then get more words. I had to submit two writing samples, and that was where I could show off my content strategy particulars. Remember the job of the resume content: clear, straight lines between the requirements and your experience.

Explicit disclaimer: This resume format is what I chose to use in applying to 18F in the US Federal Governments General Services Administration. It is not the only acceptable format, but is what worked well for me. I currently work as a content designer at 18F, but put this together on my own time, using no government resources to do so. Using this formatting is not a guarantee of consideration. You still gotta do the work.

Want to chat more about this? Im on Twitter:

My comments below will all be in code demo backticks.

Important Facts About The Federal Hiring Process

The Federal Government does have a standard job application. Your resume is your application.
Hiring agencies use the job announcement to describe the job and list the required qualifications and responsibilities.
After applying, the hiring agency uses the information in your resume to verify if you have the required qualifications stated in the job announcement.

Once the hiring agency has determined who is qualified, they may use other assessments such as interviews or testing to determine the best qualified applications.

Why Is Federal Hiring Automated

As a skilled individual with leadership experience, you know how important personality, attitude, and work ethic are to a successful career. While federal agencies also understand this, there are over 2 million full-time federal employees.

The U.S. government is actually the largest employer in the country. That means the sheer number of entries in the USAJobs application system makes it nearly impossible for all federal resumes to undergo a manual review.

This is why the federal employment process has been partially automated, streamlining the process to select only the USAJobs resumes that most closely match the qualifications requirements for a given position.

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Work Experience In Your Government Affairs Resume

The section work experience is an essential part of your government affairs resume. Its the one thing the recruiter really cares about and pays the most attention to.This section, however, is not just a list of your previous government affairs responsibilities. It’s meant to present you as a wholesome candidate by showcasing your relevant accomplishments and should be tailored specifically to the particular government affairs position you’re applying to.The work experience section should be the detailed summary of your latest 3 or 4 positions.

Representative Government Affairs resume experience can include:

Excellent management and communication skills, including strong writing skills
Strong Internet research skills and MS software skills

Team building skills, including ability to work effectively with colleagues that are not in direct reporting relationship
Team building skills, including ability to work effectively with colleagues that are not direct reports
Excellent verbal communications skills public speaking and/or external communication experience highly desirable

PC and Window skills including Word and Excel Experience in developing and designing PowerPoint presentations required

Tips For Submitting Resumes To Agencies

Some agencies accept uploaded resumes and resumes created using the USAJOBS resume builder, while some may only accept one or the other. Even though you may have both types of resumes in the Document section of your profile, the agency determines which ones to accept when you are applying online. The Apply button displayed on the job announcement page activates the process for a job seeker to complete an application.

USAJOBS automatically provides a list of available resumes and other documents to attach to your application, and will only display resumes and documents the hiring agency is willing to accept. For example, if the hiring agency only accepts resumes created using the USAJOBS resume builder, then your uploaded resumes will not be available to add to your application. Please pay special attention to the How to Apply section of the job announcement to find out which resume format and documents are accepted and how to submit them to the hiring agency.

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How To Build A Federal Resume

A federal resume template is different from an ordinary resume template because it requires a particular format and structure thats necessary for government jobs. In this article, we discuss what a federal resume is, the differences between a federal and regular resume and how to build a federal resume.

Use Similar Terms And Address Every Required Qualification

Your experience needs to address every required qualification in the job announcement. Hiring agencies will look for specific terms in your resume to make sure you have the experience theyre seeking.

For example, if the qualifications section says you need experience with MS Project you need to use the words MS Project in your resume.

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Writing Your Federal Resume: How To Write A Government Resume

When applying for a position with the government, you may need to expand and elaborate on details that make you stand out as a qualified candidate for the position you applied for. You may also be required to include other specialized information that assists hiring personnel in verifying your details.

In this article, we explain what a government resume is and how to write one tailored to a specific position. We have also included a template and example to help you write your own.

Have Your Resume Reviewed

Developing your Federal Resume, Ramona Ramsey

Your resume is such a large part of finding success, so why do the minimum when it comes to making sure its stellar? Not only does a review service ensure that it will be free of grammatical and structural errors, but it also helps to give it the extra edge that could make all the difference. You want your resume to be clear, concise, and well designed. At Resume.io we offer different resume review services that are sure to give your resume the edge and promise you have been trying to achieve.

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Include Your Citizenship Status

Whether you are a citizen of that nation or another, include your citizenship status to help with the vetting and identification process. For positions in the U.S., you are not required to be a U.S. citizen to apply for many federal positions. Other positions or those in other countries might require certain citizenship statuses. The required status is often listed in the job description, so be sure to check whether you qualify.

What Makes A Modern Resume Template

A modern resume template is defined by exciting colors and a strong emphasis on the top of the resume. These templates offer ample space for a personalized profile summaryand clever resume formatting to include all your most relevant skills. Strong lines lead the reader down and across the template so that no section is missed. These best templatesalso contain enough white space to keep the resume from feeling cluttered.

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What Is The Difference Between A Federal Resume And A Regular Resume

The main difference between a federal resume and a regular resume is the amount of detail required. This allows a fair and uniform rating for applicants. Such detailed information and formatting are not seen in private sector resumes. As such, they will not be accepted for federal positions.

An ideal federal resume should feature the last ten years of employment history, which puts them around three to five pages in length. Federal resumes sometimes require a knowledge, skills and abilities statement as a separate document, but this information can appear within the resume itself.

Cv Templates For Every Career

As a candidate, you are a unique individual with the skills and experience to get the job done. So why shouldnt your resume be just as interesting as you are? When it comes to convincing an employer to hire you, your resume is the best way to tell your story and make a strong first impression. Thats why weve curated a collection of dozens of expertly-designed CV templates to fit a variety of fields and career levels. To make choosing a template even easier, weve divided our collection into five types: professional, modern, creative, simple and basic. These groupings offer a great starting point to explore the CV templates best suited for your field. Then, if nothing catches your eye, try another collection to find the right style and add your personal flair.

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Creating Your Own Federal Resume

Are you applying to a government job that requires you to upload your federal resume to USAJOBS or a specific agency website? To make a resume with proper federal resume formatting, include these sections:

Heres how to determine what you should list for each of those items:

Desired job details

Per the US Department of Labor, you need to list the title, grade, and announcement number of the job youre applying for on your federal resume. Find the job details on the USAJOBS job posting, and list them like this:

Desired Job: Human Resources Specialist, GS 12, CARX-21-11007872-SHe-OCA

Citizenship status

Many positions in the federal government have specific requirements regarding citizenship, so include your citizenship and visa status to speed up the vetting process. List your citizenship status as either yes or no, or write your work visa status.

Veterans preference

The federal government gives hiring preferences to veterans under the The Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. So if you served in the US military, include your veterans preference on your resume.

You should either list your veterans preference status as no , or your point preference eligibility .

If you dont already know your veterans preference eligibility, find it at FedsHireVets.gov.

Disability

If you have a Schedule A disability, you may be eligible for special hiring preferences. Heres how to list your disability on your resume:

Disability: Schedule A

General schedule grade

Why You Should Tailor Your Usajobs Resume For Each Position

Have you ever noticed the way your word choice varies, depending on whether youre talking to your current boss, your significant other, your friends, or your family? This reflects a natural human desire to connect by using the most effective language in a given situation. You should think of your federal resume the same way. It should aim to use the most targeted language possible to convey a seamless fit with the hiring organization. One of the ways you can achieve this with a USAJobs resume is to update it to meet the specific experience requirements and keywords of each job posting.

Successful applicants also incorporate elements from their federal resume into the answers on the accompanying occupational questionnaire for the vacancy. By creating a consistent connection between the resume and the accompanying questionnaire, you will be able to communicate with HR more effectively and will be more likely to earn an interview.

All USAJobs vacancy announcements should be read and interpreted prior to applying. This is essential to ensure your USAJobs resume addresses all the specialized experience and assessment questions.

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Responsibilities For Government Affairs Intern Resume

Demonstrated ability to thrive in a high-performance culture and team setting
Flexibility with an ability to adapt to changing priorities and legislative agendas
Lobbying experience at the state government level

Experience working as the legislative director or health policy advisor for a federal or state legislator or Governor’s Office
Strong understanding of the asset management business from a commercial and operational perspective
Demonstrated commitment to continuing education in the social media field

Experience working with chronic disease states, preferably in diabetes
Strong understanding of how to design and execute strategies that build and influence power, create alliances, and apply political pressure
Experience working in/with the legislative and/or executive branches of government

Building Your Resume To Respond To Government Matrices

Back To Business: Regular International Flights To Resume In April? | Business Today

You must have a detailed PROJECT description for every position you list in the resume. The project description should include:

The project type along with any main systems or main technologies used.
Describe what the goals/objectives are of that project. If applicable, discuss any project successes/failures

What was the team size?
What was the project budget?
Any other relevant information that can help to explain and understand the project.

When you list your work experience, be sure to include the following information for each position:

Job Title
Employer’s name and city

Duties and accomplishments
Supervisor’s name and phone number
Start and end dates

It is often a requirement of an RFP response that you send supporting documentation, including proof of education, certifications or security clearance. It is always a good idea to keep a scanned copy of these documents ready to send if necessary.

Organize your resume information. You may want to consider sub-headings for different flavors of your resume. This will allow you to add bullets to your resume easily for targeted matrix responses or remove bullet points or sub-headings from your resume if the experience is not relevant to that particular job posting.

Update job titles frequently. You may need to change your job titles to better fit the job description, such as changing “Project Producer” to “Project Manager” or “Data Scientist” in a private-sector job to “Data Architect.”

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What Is A Federal Resume

A federal resume is a detailed account of previous work experience and is required if you’re applying to a federal government job. It appears similar to a private sector resume with sections for work experience and education. However, a federal resume template differs in its structure, length and content. It must also include all information required for the job you’re applying for.

Building A Federal Resume

Candidate InformationA federal resume will ask your citizenship status and most, but not all, positions require you to be a U.S. citizen. Youre also asked if youve worked for the federal government before and if you qualify for veterans preferencethat is, youve served on active duty in the Armed Forces.

Work experienceYour resume should list all the relevant jobs youve held.

Required: Employer, location, title, start and end date, average hours worked per week, responsibilities and accomplishments for each job you list.

Optional:A supervisor as a reference and salary, although not listing salary doesnt exclude resumes from consideration.

EducationInclude information on the schools you attended and the relevant coursework you completed. Only list degrees from accredited schools, or programs that meet the Office of Personnel Managements standards. Provide as much information as possible to support your case that youre the best person for the job.

Required:Schools attended and degrees obtained.

Optional:Grade-point averages, relevant coursework, academic papers or projects, key presentations, honors received, other important accomplishments.

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How To Build A Resume

To build a resume in USAJOBS:

Sign into USAJOBS.

Go to your Documents.

Make sure youre in the Resumes section and select the Upload or build resume button.

Click Build resume.

Name your new resume and click Next.

Click Add Work Experience, enter the required information and click Save Work Experience. To add additional work experience repeat this step or click Next to continue with your education information.

Click Add Education, enter the required information and click Save Education. Repeat this step to add additional education or click Next to continue with your references. You may also click Finish if you dont want to add more information.

Click Add Reference, enter the required information and click Save Reference. Repeat this step to add an additional reference or click Next to continue to the next step.

You can enter additional information on your resume such as job related training, language skills, organizations/affiliations, professional publications, and other information. Click the corresponding button under each section to add your information, enter your information and click Add or Save for each section once completed.

Click Finish to save your resume. Your new resume will appear in your Documents list.

Click View on the resume icon to preview your resume. To edit your resume click Edit on the resume icon and it will bring you to the first page of your resume in the resume builder tool.

Experience For Government Affairs Intern Resume

2021 Federal Resume Template & Format [20+ Examples]

Overall trade policy and long-range strategic planning
Play a key decision making role on a cross-functional team related to Gap Inc.s trade efforts

Manage Yelps corporate political giving on the state level and also work to grow Yelps federal political action committee
Functional SME for system testing of new processes, software upgrades/configurations and industry and customer requirements
Partner with senior leadership to develop strategy and be a leader in executing on GE Aviations growth strategy in China

Conduct research for the purpose of circulating Advance Briefings on a number of Toyotas policy concentrations
Provide government affairs support to Operating Companies as needed

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Top 10 Tips For Picking A Resume Template

Understand the standards of your industry

Familiarize yourself with the tone of your company

Reflect on which sections are most important for your career

Think about where youll need to add the most writing

Evaluate the presentation and attractiveness of the template

Pay attention to whether icons and color are appropriate for your industry

Check if youll have space for a photo or logo if its needed

Assess the most eye-catching section and make sure it matches your needs

Choose the resume that captures your personal style and feels right for you!

If there was one resume template that worked for everyone well, our website would be much, much smaller. But the truth is, a variety of templates are important to help capture the uniqueness of each candidate. And as beautiful as each resume template might be, a hiring manager doesnt want to see the same one 100 times in a row. At the end of the day, the choice comes down to you. Its important to evaluate the level of professionalism in your industry and at the company youre applying to and decide if a modern, stylish resume or a more traditional one would be in line with those standards.

Beyond that, its about highlighting the experiences and abilities that make you unique. In some industries, a pop of color or a friendly photo can do the trick. In others, youll have to rely on your expert writing to sell yourself as a top candidate

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