Are you hoping to land a job with the federal government? Who can blame you? The pay, benefits, and retirement plan are often far better than those associated with a comparable civilian position. You know you have the education and the experience to succeed in a federal position, but there’s one thing standing in your way: your USAJobs application.
First-time applicants might be overwhelmed by the process, but it can be broken down into steps to make it more manageable. After creating an account on USAJobs, you’ll create a profile. This allows you to apply for any job on USAJobs, save jobs and job searches, and upload documents such as a DD-214 or transcripts. It will also let you upload your USAJobs resume.
USAJobs allows you to search by entering keywords or location and provides filters to narrow your search results by salary, work schedule, and agency, among other things. You can save your search parameters, which automates the hunt and allows you to receive emails with jobs that match what you’re looking for.
When you find a job that interests you, read the entire announcement. Check the “This Job Is Open to” section to make sure you’re eligible and review the “Clarification from the Agency” and “Who May Apply” sections if the announcement has them to look for further details. Finally, look at the qualifications to make sure you meet the job’s requirements.
Most federal jobs are either General Schedule (typically what would be considered white-collar in the private sector) and Wage Grade (blue-collar positions). Within the General Schedule are 23 different classifications and more than 400 distinct occupations, including personnel management, medical and public health, information technology, and just about everything in between. The Wage Grade system has 36 occupational families focused on trades such as electrical, plumbing and pipefitting, food service, and more. Our Master Career Advisors can help you identify the federal jobs that best fit your background, skills, and experience. Call 800-417-9201 or fill out our Quick Quote to start receiving help today!
Each job announcement in USAJobs has an “Apply” button. Click that and you’ll begin a five-step application process that includes attaching a resume and any other required documents. USAJobs saves as you go, so you never lose your changes.
After that, USAJobs will redirect you to the hiring agency’s application system, where you may need to complete additional steps, depending on the job and the agency. These can include providing more personal information or unique documentation such as professional licenses, answering specific questions about your eligibility, and completing an occupational questionnaire that serves to complement your resume in characterizing your work experience. The manner in which you respond to the questionnaire is sometimes just as important as the content in your resume.
If you don’t accurately fulfill the requirements, or if you don’t understand how your civilian or military experience relates to the position and you check the wrong box, you can be denied the job before you even finish the application! Working with a team that understands the intricacies of the application process can help you avoid making a mistake.
It’s both an art and a science to be able to integrate the perfect blend of content, keywords, core competencies, and specialized experience into a USAJobs resume that can earn you the ranking of “Highest Qualified.” And getting ranked as one of the “Highest Qualified” means getting interviews!
The trick is emphasizing your level of experience and the skills you possess in your USAJobs profile, your resume, and the occupational questionnaire by building an accomplishment- and results-oriented USAJobs resume that is rich in the elements requested on each specific USAJobs announcement.
Creating USAJobs Resumes that land in the “Highest Qualified” category is our specialty. For almost four decades, our Master Federal Resume Writers have kept up-to-date with all of the latest trends in federal jobs and hiring practices. They are trusted experts in navigating, understanding, and writing job-winning federal resumes for a range of positions, from entry-level to the Senior Executive Service.
All of the writers at CareerProPlus are multi-certified in military, federal, and corporate resume writing. This means that we’ll be able to take your existing resume and help adapt it to best meet the requirements of a USAJobs application. Work one-on-one with our Resume Writers, who are masters at this process and experienced in developing resumes that are keyword and content enriched to earn job interviews. We have perfected our process and have helped more than 70,000 clients. Will you be next? Contact our Master Federal Resume Writers to let us help you with your USAJobs resume!
After you submit your application, you can check the “Application” section of your home page; if the application went through, the status will say “Received.” When the announcement closes, the hiring agency begins reviewing applications. Your USAJobs application will be scrubbed to evaluate how your skills match the job description. The hiring agency will compare your questionnaire answers to your resume and work history. If you answered that you have a specific skill or are familiar with a specific program without backing it up in your work history, you could be disqualified.
However, you do possess the skills and you do know the programs! You just need to make sure all your i’s are dotted and your t’s are crossed during the application process. CareerProPlus has been helping people just like you navigate the murky waters of federal resumes for nearly four decades.
When you use our professional federal resume writing services, we’ll worry about the character counts, the content, the keywords, and matching your experience to specific federal jobs. We’ll hit the mark with our nearly four decades’ worth of best practices and develop the most competitive federal application possible, delivering to you the best return on investment.
Don’t do it alone and risk wasting any more of your precious time job hunting! Our professional Master Federal Resume Writers are trained and ready to help you use the magical combination of keywords and content to grab the attention of your future boss. Contact us today to get started!
