You’ve decided it’s time for a career change, or a promotion, and you keep putting off taking the time to get serious about it. It just doesn’t seem like working on your federal resume gets the priority. So, you cobble together your federal resume, typically at the last minute.
You decide to hop on USAJOBS after putting the kids to bed or finishing up a project you couldn’t get to earlier. There it is! A great job…that closes at 11:59 p.m.—TONIGHT!
You quickly open several versions of your resume and start copying and pasting into USAJOBS. It’s the fastest way to apply in the moment. You insert keywords here and there and muddle together a “professional” summary of what you’ve done. Now you’re exhausted so it will just have to do for “this one.”
You look for your latest job description, but “they” don’t really need to know about the current job you’re in. It hasn’t been that long. So for the sake of time, you don’t add it. Or any of the new training you just finished.
You say to yourself, “I just don’t have time to look up that information. And I certainly don’t know who to list for references right now.” So you leave them off.
Oh… and you can’t find your transcripts on the computer you’re on at the moment so you don’t upload them—even though it’s required on that particular job announcement—they don’t REALLY care, do they?
Hopefully, “they” will read between the lines and figure out how—from your federal resume—you are qualified and what you can do for them…and hopefully, they’ll pay you what you want.
You frantically upload your Frankensteined resume to USAJOBS. Then click submit just seconds before the application window closes.
It’s a squeaker…but you submitted your federal resume just in time.
Exhale. It feels good to finally have applied to something, especially a federal job!
Then, you just sit back and wait…and pray for a phone call or an email that you and Frankenstein landed the interview of a lifetime! But it never happens…so maybe you banter about it on social media and say that no one ever gets back to you.
Sound familiar?
Let me ask you a question…
Is that REALLY how you want to be represented?
Do you really want to put your name on that federal resume submission?
Does your federal resume resemble a frightful Frankenstein monster from one of those black and white horror movies?
Is it cobbled together from past job descriptions, old advice, perhaps outdated information from a book of theory, or excerpts from here and there?
Maybe you found some “federal resume samples” online and copied what you thought sounded good at the time because it just did.
Did you text your co-worker, a friend, or a family member to ask them to review your resume?
And you liked some of the comments and second-guessed others, but now you’re second-guessing yourself and just put them all into your resume… in their voice… not yours. So now it reads like multiple voices, not one–and certainly not yours.
Perhaps you didn’t think you needed to work on the design, format, strategy, and most important—READABILITY!
You can just fill in the fields on USAJOBS and call this a federal resume good.
How many times has this happened?
How far has it gotten you?
Should you be a GS-13, 14, or 15 by now, but you’ve been stuck at a GS-9 or 11?
Did you think you be in management by now, but you’ve been passed over more than you care to count… but you’ve at least developed a strong relationship with USAJOBS, Google, and your keyboard? 😉
What if…
…your resume WASN’T cobbled together and scary to read?
What if…
…you didn’t pluck random ideas and plop them in your resume?
What if…
…your resume was landing you multiple interviews in agencies (or companies) that you would love to work for so your passion, experience, and education could really make a difference in the world?
What if…
…your resume was so compelling that it laid the foundation for not only being invited to interview, but had the hiring managers chomping at the bit to make you an offer?
What if…
…you could get 90% of your resume completed so when you see that compelling job announcement that makes you want to pull an all-nighter… you don’t have to… because all you have to do is that last 10%.
No frustration. No blood, sweat, or tears.
There’s no screaming at the computer.
And no 11:59 p.m. manic stress.
Instead, what if you could do what you love?
…and LOVE what you do?
And, what if…
…you had just pure satisfaction knowing that your resume conveys your value at the highest level—BEST QUALIFIED. And, what if your resume could speak to each of the Six Audiences™, to keep your resume moving through the process, which sets the foundation for the interview, AND job offer?
The fact that it’s not Frankensteined together from multiple sources that make you look inadequate, uneducated, rushed, unprepared, frustrated, and certainly not someone who can add value to the team, should give you exciting energy!
What if…
…you didn’t make the Frankenstein mistake of limiting your federal resume to 2 pages?
What if…
…the description of your current job on your federal resume didn’t consist of a laundry list of bulletized excerpts from your position description?
…you saved copies of your annual performance reviews and other career documents that serve as terrific resources for third-party validation of your expertise?
…you learned an easy, proven method to pre-qualify yourself? This way you know for 100% sure that you aren’t wasting time applying to a job where you don’t a chance of being selected to interview. (Wasted time = wasted money aka hamster wheel.)
Now that’s a SMART job seeker who listens to a trusted advisor!
You are pre-qualifying yourself for the federal job, easily strategizing your every move! BOOM! Interview AND job offer! Woo hoo! And you say to yourself, “I did it! I made the effort and it all paid off!”
What if…
…your single-most important career document—your federal resume—was a cohesive, branded marketing document that was ready for prime time so you can land interviews and job offers?
Now that’s what I’m talking about!
How would that feel for you?
Ready to transform your federal resume from Frankenstein or Prime Time?
Here are a few suggestions selected from decades of experience transforming Frankensteined resumes and LinkedIn profiles into branded, interview-landing masterpieces that are ready for prime time. A federal resume application that you’d be proud to put your name on!
- Customize page 1 of your federal resume to align with the job announcement. Include your professional summary, key qualifications, specialized experience, and immediate value offered. This will make a huge impact on each of the Six Audiences™ and keep your resume moving through the process…faster!
- For each job you have held, make sure you have your supervisor’s name, telephone number, and whether he/she can be contacted. Be sure to list the number of hours worked per week and your ending salary.
- Create 3-5 accomplishments closely related to the job announcement. And front-load them with metrics or results for each job that demonstrates your knowledge, skills, and abilities that are relevant to the job.
- Make sure your federal resume is in reverse chronological order and that your dates are accurate. You’ll want to include the starting month and year to ending month year—not just the years.
MAGNETIC TIP: Keep electronic files of your career documents, including position descriptions, performance reviews, self-assessments, and words of praise from supervisors or customers. Pin a document in Microsoft Word to keep some of this information at your fingertips. Create a ‘Kudos’ folder to store files so they are ready when you need them.
NOW, what if…
…you knew someone who could genuinely help you land high-quality interviews and job offers faster than ever before?
Well, now you do!
Hi! I’m Camille Roberts. I’ve been writing strategic, interview-landing federal resumes for 25+ years along with LinkedIn profiles and other career marketing. And, I have thousands of amazing clients like you making a significant, positive impact in Federal government and corporations all over the world.
I would love to be your trusted advisor and help create your federal resume!
I just hate the result when people Frankenstein their resume (at the last minute) especially when they are so qualified, the job is the right fit, and it’s an opportunity of a lifetime…or an opportunity that leads to that dream job.
And the reason I hate it is because when the Frankensteined resume fails, you know what happens?
You think YOU failed.
You think: “I must not be meant to do this. I’m not good enough and will never land a job… or promotion. There’s nothing more I can do. I can’t win. I’m tired of rejection.”
You know all the other things you think when you feel rejected.
But I’m here to tell you… You are meant to do what you want to do and you are good enough. You will land the job, the promotion, and will feel and be ecstatic when it happens… and it can happen for you!
Let’s get your marketing materials ready for PRIME TIME …and put that scary Frankensteined resume to bed once and for all so you can get hired, get promoted, make more money, have better benefits, stability, a better work environment, a better lifestyle, and make a bigger impact in the world.
Tell me about your situation HERE, then let’s chat!
Above all, I can’t wait to help you land your dream job SO MUCH faster!
For more than 25 years, I've been trusted by all levels of professionals to senior executives in the Federal Government to collaborate with them and strategize, coach, and write not only their single most important document—the resume—but all of their career marketing that propels them upward in the ranks of the Federal Government and private sector. And, I would love to meet you and help you with yours! Thank you for stopping by!
You can find out what's killing your chances of landing federal jobs here: Take the 1-minute quiz and get valuable insight to your situation.
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