Writing a federal resume? Then, these tips are sure to help you

Federal resumes and private sector resumes have their differences. While both documents carry a detailed account of your career, a Federal resume tends to be more informative than a private sector resume. While private sector resumes are tailored marketing documents, a federal resume is a solid account of one’s career.

Usually, when applying for Federal jobs, your resume is your job application. In addition to your information, you may have to include an assessment questionnaire in there as well. Federal resumes are generally multiple pages long and sport detailed descriptions of your work experiences, skills, and qualifications. This document is used by Federal employers to determine if you meet the requirements of the position. Here’s how you should structure your federal resume:

• Use reverse chronological order when listing your experiences and qualifications
• Customize the content of your resume
• Be concise with your descriptions
• Keep your paragraphs short
• Use bullet points to highlight information
• Rid your resume of spelling and grammar errors

Here’s what you need to mention under each section of your Federal resume:

Contact information

Mention your name, address, telephone number, and email address. Ensure that you provide two phone numbers to reach you if you are unavailable during day hours on one number. If you are having trouble, this article explains how to add your contact information to a resume.

Citizenship

If your citizenship happens to be something other than the US, you should mention that on your federal resume.

Skills

The skills section should mention all the relevant skills you have for the position. Sometimes, you may be asked to incorporate your KSAs into your Federal resume. At other times, you will have to submit a separate KSA document with your federal job application.

Work experience

When creating the work experience section of your Federal resume, you should mention both your paid and unpaid work experience related to the job title. When listing unpaid work experience, give priority to volunteer work done via National Service programs such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. Also, you can mention the volunteer work you have done with other employers.

You should describe your work experience in detail when writing your federal resume. Ensure that you mention the job title and the employer’s name for each job you list. You will need to be specific with the other details you mention about your experience. When listing dates of employment for each position, follow the month/date/year format. You should also list the number of hours per week for each position you mention on your resume. If you have had a federal position previously, mention the series and grade.

Education

Some Federal positions will state education requirements. On some occasions, you will be applying for certain positions on the basis of education. In such cases, it is important to create a good education section for a federal resume. For each of the educational qualifications you list on your resume, mention the type of degree and your major. If the position advertised requires credit hours, mention the relevant courses as well.

What not to add to your federal resume

Candidates are discouraged from mentioning certain things on their federal resumes. If you have the following items on your federal resume, it is time to remove them:

• A photograph of yourself
• A video of yourself
• Sensitive personal information – age, date of birth, marital status, religion, social security number, political inclinations, etc.
• Links to web pages