Give Your Career a Head Start with Federal Resume Writers
Looking to continue your career with the US government? Then, get ready to do things differently during the job search than you are used to. The federal application process is more complicated and takes longer. Resumes for federal jobs are different either – they are longer, written in different format and contain lots of additional details which are unnecessary for a private sector resume.
How can federal resume writing services help you?
If you are too busy to study the peculiarities of creating a federal resume and are curious how to make CV with minimum effort, we’re here to help. Our team of writers contains federal resume experts who can enlighten you about all aspects of the federal job application process and transform your private sector resume into a federal one. With deep understanding of the writing rules and successful practices of resume writing, we can create an eye-catchy resume that will help you reach your career goals faster.
Failure to meet all application guidelines may disqualify you from the competition for the role. Don’t put your career at stake – contact us today to discuss your needs.
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What are the differences between the private sector and a federal resume?
The rules for writing a federal resume are strict, and there are lots of requirements that your resume should comply with. Briefly speaking, these are the key factors that distinguish the federal resume from a traditional one:
- The length – a federal resume should contain the information you won’t find in a typical private sector resume. Therefore, it is acceptable, and even recommended, that you make it over 3 pages so you had enough space to include all the information requested.
In comparison, the standard length for a non-federal resume is 1-2 pages, and here’s how to find the best length for you: https://resumeperk.com/blog/perfect-length-of-your-resume. - Job resources – there are lots of online resources where you can apply for a private sector jobs: Indeed.com, Glassdoor.com, LinkedIn, and corporate websites to name a few. Federal jobs, on the contrary, are concentrated at USAjobs.gov where you can upload your resume, apply for jobs and many more.
- The approach to writing – as mentioned above, a federal resume should comply to a number of rules closely. Therefore, your creativity when creating a resume is limited. While in a private sector resume you can vary the content, choosing which sections to include and in which order and even upload a creative resume, these methods won’t work if you apply for government jobs, federal resume writing service says.
Writing a federal resume: General information
- Create a resume based on the job posting
Before you get down to writing, carefully review the job postings and find those you’re qualified for. Just like with any other type of resume, federal resume needs to be closely tailored for the job opening. You need to list all the skills necessary to the position and focus on the experience which is relevant for the prospective position.
As you tailor your resume for a job opening closely, you resolve the keywording task as well. By using the same language for the skills and the experiences that the job ad uses, you increase the chance of coming across as the perfect match, professional writer resume says. - Include quantifiable results
One of the easiest ways to set you apart from the competition is to include relevant accomplishments and add figures whenever possible. If you saved the money for the company, trained people, reduced downtime, increased efficiency or made any other significant contribution of any kind and can prove it with evidence, it will help the hiring manager to rank you favorably against other applicants.
In any career field, the hiring managers are looking for people who are result-driven, persistent and willing to make a contribution. As you provide figures, you highlight all of those three qualities. - Choose the appropriate format
There are three main types of resumes, and you should pick one based on your career history. Chronological resume lists your experience in a reverse chronological order and gives a detailed description of each role. It will work for you if your career history progressed smoothly and you are looking to continue the same line of work. Functional resume, in its turn, is focused on presenting your skills grouped under different categories. It is recommended to use if you don’t have a steady work experience or are changing fields. Combination resume combines the features of these two types by listing your skills at the top and giving detailed job descriptions. This format is the most popular among the job-seekers these days.
If choosing the format and the overall perspective of writing a federal resume on your own looks sophisticated, consider contacting cheap resume writing services for help. - A military resume should be transformed prior ty applying for federal jobs
If you are making a transition from military, your resume needs to be civilianized. Replace the military terms and language with the civilian terms to make sure that the hiring managers will clearly understand your background. Remove the military experience which is irrelevant for the job you’re going to apply and use the keywords to make sure your resume will score higher. Acronyms and abbreviations also don’t belong to a non-military resume. If this is going to be the first job after the military service, check out the modern rules to writing a resume: https://resumeperk.com/blog/must-dos-and-donts-for-modern-resume-you-should-know. - Accentuate your experiences with action verbs
It’s a common practice that the statements in your job duties and accomplishments section should start with strong action verbs (such as Directed, Improved, Developed, etc.). Starting each resume sentence in this ways serves several purposes. First of all, it highlights the action that you took to accomplish a particular result, therefore showing your contribution into business. Secondly, they communicate your skills and expertise more effectively rather than the plain list of skills. And finally, correctly picked action verbs present your accomplishments in the most favorable light. Moreover, since using strong action verbs is a common practice in resume writing today, ignoring this rule may indicate that you haven’t done your homework. - Take care of the appearance
The formatting of a federal resume should be simpler than in other industries; however, the visual appearance matters as well.- Use 1" margins throughout the document and align the text to the left. Margins which are too little make an impression that your resume is crowded and messy.
- Choose one of the most common font types such as Arial, Calibri, Verdana or Times New Roman – they are easy to read and compatible with any program. Be sure to use the same font consistently in the document. The optimal font size is 10-12 pts.
- Use the color carefully – using too much color on a resume makes an opposite effect. The best tactic is to use only one color besides black and use it carefully (for instance, to highlight the section headers or the key skills).
- Keep your private information out
Although a federal resume is more detailed than a private sector one, it also doesn’t tolerate the private information. Such details as your age, gender, race, marital status, and religious views should be left out.
Writing the Personal Information section
Your personal information is placed at the top of your resume, so our federal resume writer recommends that you start writing your application with this section. Include your full name, mailing address with zip code, phone number, email and the last 4 digits of your social security number. You should also mention your country of citizenship if it’s not the US, as well as your eligibility for veteran’s preference.
Along with your personal detail, specify the job announcement number, job title and job grade – these are the must for a federal resume. As soon as you’ve written down these essentials, it’s time to get down to the two most important sections of your resume – Experience and Education.
Writing the Work Experience section
Like in a traditional resume, the Experience section goes at the top of your federal resume (or after the career summary if you decide to include it). Since the federal resume has no limitations in length, be sure to include all the positions you held in a reverse chronological order. Specify your job duties, career accomplishments, highlighting the most relevant ones for the role.
- For each job, include the full employer’s name and address, position name and start-end dates. In a federal resume, it’s required that you also include the average hours worked per week and salary earned.
- For each of your previous jobs, mention the supervisor’s name, their phone number and address, and whether your supervisor can be contacted for reference.
- Outline any job-related trainings and courses, certifications and licenses earned, and any professional awards/accomplishments. This additional information will give you extra points over other candidates.
Writing the Education section
You can use the Education section from your traditional resume and only add a few extra details into it. Here’s what this section for a federal resume should contain:
- College/university name and physical address, your major, degree or the number of credits completed (if you haven’t completed a degree). Include your GPA and academic accomplishments if you’re a recent graduate.
- Name, city and state of your high school, and the year when you received the diploma.
Writing other resume sections
Depending on your experience and background, you can also add extra resume sections to group your qualifications, skills and unpaid experiences under them. Here are the examples of such sections:
- Volunteering/community involvement – if you’ve volunteered (especially if you have National Service volunteering experience) or were involved in extra-curricular activities, make sure your resume reflects that. If you’ve gained some of the job-crucial qualifications through community work, keep in mind that it also counts as your paid experience.
- Professional affiliations – if you’re a member of any professional organizations, let the hiring managers know.
- Honors/awards – have you been multiple times recognized in your field or have you had multiple accomplishments throughout your career? Then, it makes sense to create a specific section for all those awards and recognitions.
- Skills/key competencies – if your job is skill-based, consider creating a Skills section to list all your relevant competencies.
Now that you know the basics of creating a successful federal resume, you can try and transform your private sector resume into a federal one. Be sure to go to USAjobs.gov for more information about federal job application process, guidelines and tips.
When you make it to the interview stage, you’ll also need the guidance on making a good impression during the interview. Check out the questions that experts recommend that you ask at the end of every job interview – they’ll definitely help you stay top off mind for a hiring manager.
Need a professionally written federal resume?
Making a transition in your career is always a challenge, and the transition from private sector to a federal employer is not an exception. The entire job-hunting process is different, therefore, your resume needs to be written differently to succeed. You need to be more formal, more detail-oriented and follow a lot more guidelines when creating your application.
Why not entrust your resume writing to the experts? Our writers specializing in crafting federal resumes will quickly transform your old resume into a federal one or create a set of new application documents from scratch. The process will take you less than 5 days and we guarantee high quality: the writer will work on your resume until you’re 100% satisfied and your requirements are met. Interested? Check out our resume packages and prices.
Have you ever written a federal resume on your own? Did it land you a job?
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