Yesterday I had the opportunity to serve on a selection board reviewing resumes for 7 vacancies in my agency and I got to thinking about the process involved in applying for a Fed job. I've identified a generic four step process covering everything from applying to selection and thought I'd couple that together with my recent selection board experience and kind of lay out how it all works. While every federal government agency will have their own particular process, I think each will contain elements of what you read below.
1. Submitting Your Resume for a Specific Vacancy. This is the most critical step in the entire process. If you don't pay close attention to detail here you will ensure your resume is NOT in the final pile given to the selecting official for decision. First you need to make sure you are qualified for the job. Read the entire vacancy announcement closely and make sure it fits with your experience, training and education. Note any other special requirements like a security clearance, polygraph examination, or drug tests. Also note the closing date of the announcement because no resumes will be accepted for that position after that date. Here are the most important things you need to do...read the qualifications carefully and write your resume showing how you qualify for the position. Most people aren't going to perfectly meet each qualification, but (as best you can) you need to address each. As I reviewed resumes yesterday, for many of them I wondered if these people actually read the vacancy announcement. By looking at job history, I could tell generally many of the people probably could qualify for the position, but they didn't write their resumes in a way to distinguish themselves from others. Out of the 40 I reviewed, only about 10 people tailored their resumes to the specific positions. Think of it...30 people who wanted (needed) a job disqualified themselves from the the very start.
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