5 Signs You Need Help With Your Federal Resume

Oct 25

Few things are more frustrating for a government job seeker than finishing a lengthy Application Questionnaire on USAJobs.gov, using their resume builder to provide 10+ years of your experience in detail, and having the application marked “Not Qualified” a week later.

Especially when you know you’re qualified.

Your USAJobs application is a 100-point test that is graded both by software and an HR Specialist that works at the agency you’re applying to. The software will grade your Application Questionnaire. These questions are often called “knock-out questions” because the software will automatically disqualify you if any of your answers aren’t marked as required for the role. In other words, when asked to rank your experience in particular areas, you must give yourself the highest ranking you honestly can to receive the highest grade you can on the 100-point test.

Your resume, whether created using the resume builder or created yourself in Microsoft Word, is read and graded by a human reader—an HR Specialist at the agency you’re applying to. If you’re ranking yourself at the highest level in the Application Questionnaire and your application is still not being "Referred” to a hiring authority to be considered for an interview, your resume is likely what’s holding you back.

Take a peek at your resume and see if you’re making any of these 5 federal resume mistakes.

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1 | You’re Using The Same Resume For Every Job Application

Not only do private sector or non-government job applications require less information than a public sector or government job application, but your resume is reviewed differently. Companies in the private sector typically use Applicant Tracking systems (commonly seen online as ATS) to collect, read, store, and often rank your application against other applicants. Public sector agencies don’t use this software to screen resumes.

Instead of keyword-optimizing your resume for software, you must keyword-optimize your resume for a human reader.

A non-government recruiter or hiring decision-maker will also want to find the details they’re looking for as quickly as possible which is why these resumes need to be a snapshot of your qualifications on 1 to 2-pages. A government agency HR Specialist needs to assess your level of experience and expect a 4 to 5-page resume from a qualified applicant. If you’re using the same resume for both government and non-government job applications in your search.

An effective federal resume has a different design, layout, and length than non-government resumes.

2 | You Aren’t Adjusting Your Resume For Each Opportunity

Let’s say that your federal resume has the right design and layout. You still can’t use the resume for every government job application. Even if you’re applying for similar roles at multiple agencies, the HR Specialists who review your resume may be looking for different details on your resume depending on the Specialized Experience, Knowledge, Skills, Abilities (or KSAs), and Competencies required for that opportunity.

The federal job announcement may look similar, even nearly identical, since the Office of Personnel Management dictates the responsibilities of each federal job. However, each agency can require differing levels of experience or additional requirements.

Remember, your federal resume is part of the 100-point test and how well you target it for the specific job announcement will determine your grade. If you are using the same federal resume for every government job opportunity, you may get a 70% or higher but that doesn’t mean you’re being ranked Best Qualified—and only the Best Qualified candidates (90% or higher) will be referred to the hiring authority to be considered for an interview.

3 | Your Federal Resume Is Less Than 3 Pages Long

Although we touched on this already, it’s important to break down what an effective 4 to 5-page federal resume looks like (with 5 pages as the sweet spot). This may seem unattainable, but there are 2 elements that federal resumes need that make this easier. Federal resumes need compliance details that aren’t required and are typically considered excessive on non-government or private sector resumes.

HR Specialists also need to determine what your level of experience is with the required Specialized Experience and KSAs, so providing lots of detail and context is a must. Context may be the skills you utilized, the timeframe, and any other constraints you navigated to complete a project or task. Context may also be why your efforts were necessary or what challenges you faced while completing a project or task

The exception to the 4 to 5-page federal resume expectation is if you’re a college student or recent graduate. When you have less than three years of any relevant experience, you’re not expected to have a 5-page federal resume. A 3-page federal resume is more realistic if you elaborate on relevant coursework, projects, internships, volunteer experience, and transferable experience from your work history though.

4 | Your Resume Is One Long List Of Bullets

It doesn’t matter if you’re applying for a public or private sector job. Your resume should never be one long list of bullets. This approach makes a human reader spend more time searching for your qualifications, skills, and achievements than he or she will have to spend. For your federal resume, using only bullet lists can also prevent you from adding the appropriate level of detail and context to position you as the best fit for the job.

Don’t be afraid to use short paragraphs (4-6 lines each) to provide the context necessary to demonstrate that you have the required Specialized Experience and KSAs. Describe how you demonstrated these requirements, what resulted, and why it was necessary with context instead of using short, one-line statements to highlight results.

Save your bullet lists for the key achievements you want to highlight on your federal resume. These can and should also be short paragraphs to provide adequate detail about each achievement. Using the STAR interview answer method (Situation, Task, Action, and Results) can help when crafting achievement bullets for your federal resume.

5 | Your Specialized Experience & KSAs Are Difficult To Find

HR Specialists are grading your resume based on the list of Specialized Experience, KSAs, and Competencies listed in the job announcement. If you or a friend can’t quickly skim your federal resume and find these details, your federal resume will be a chore for those HR Specialists to read. But how can you use paragraphs, use lots of detail, and still keep your federal resume easy to skim?

Organizing your Specialized Experience and KSAs in short paragraphs that start with a relevant keyword or phrase will help HR Specialists determine that not only are you qualified but Best Qualified. You can format these keywords with bold font or all caps to help them stand out.

Conclusion

Once you understand how government hiring processes work and what it takes to write an interview-winning federal resume, it’s much easier to achieve the best qualified and “Referred” statuses on your USAJobs applications. Federal resumes need to have a design and layout that HR Specialists can skim and find your Specialized Experience and KSAs quickly as well as the detail and context needed to adequately demonstrate your level of experience.

Author Profile: Steph Cartwright, CPRW

Steph Cartwright is a Certified Resume Writer, LinkedIn Strategist, and Founder of Off The Clock Resumes. She helps job seekers get unstuck and get a foot in the door at the companies they’d love to work for with their resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and job search plans.

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