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Tips for Writing a Federal Resume

woman writing a resume

Creating a federal resume that brings your qualifications to life and shows that you are a perfect fit for the job can be a challenge. Be sure to demonstrate how your skills, experience, training and education match the employer’s needs. Avoid misspelled words and bad grammar. Following are a few ways to make this easier.

Consider what positions you are interested in and review what qualifications or experience they require by reviewing different types of jobs and job opportunity announcements on USAJOBS . Gather information and begin to build out a description of your knowledge, skills and experience to add to your resume. How you present your skills and experience in your resume will help determine whether or not you are invited to interview for a job.

Attend job assistance training prior to departing the service. Contact your Transition Assistance Center as soon as possible and sign up for a Transition Assistance Program Workshop. If you are not near a Military Transition Center, you may use the services at Transition Assistance Offices operated by the other military services. Use your transition counselors. They have the tools and knowledge you need. If available, get their help in creating your first resume or filling out a draft application. Ask them to critique your work and then make the changes they suggest.

One size never fits all. As you apply for jobs, tailor your resume to the position’s requirements. Study the job opportunity announcement and emphasize the parts of your work history that match the qualification requirements listed there. It is important to portray your knowledge and skills as a match to the requirements of the position and demonstrate the ability to do the job. This is easy to do when you include your results, achievements and accomplishments. Minimize the use of technical jargon or specialized terminology (e.g., military abbreviations) in your resume.

Resumes are generally presented in one of three formats: chronological, functional or a combination of both. Which format you choose will depend, in part, on the type of work you have performed and whether or not you are going to continue in the same field.

  • Chronological resumes list work experience according to date, with the current job appearing first. Chronological resumes work well if your career has been progressive and you plan to continue in the same line of work.
  • Functional resumes are organized by the skills you have used on the job. Functional resumes work well if you are contemplating a new career, do not have a lengthy work history, or have held a number of different positions because they sell your abilities based on the skills you have acquired throughout your career. Be sure to include relevant volunteer experience.
  • Combination resumes both describe your work experience and highlight your skills. Combination resumes usually provide the most comprehensive overview of your career.

Unlike resumes used in the private sector, federal resumes require additional information. For each past job, give the standard information found in most resumes. Your federal resume should include the following:

  • Job announcement number, job title , and job grade of the job for which you are applying
  • Your full name, mailing address , day and evening phone numbers and home e-mail .
  • Country of citizenship , if different from U.S.
  • Veterans – Ensure that you attach or upload supporting documentation (e.g., DD214 or Statement of Service if still on Active Duty; SF-15, Application for 10-point preference; and Disability Rating Letter of 30% or more from the VA, if applicable).
  • Peace Corps / AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteers – If you are a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, you will need to provide your Description of Service (DOS) to claim non-competitive eligibility for federal jobs. AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers
  • Persons with Disabilities (Schedule A) – To verify eligibility for employment under the Schedule A hiring authority, you must provide proof of disability issued by a licensed medical professions, a licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist, or any federal agency, state agency, or an agency of the District of Columbia, or U.S. territory that issues or provides disability benefits. Contact the Department’s Selective Placement Coordinators for help with hiring and accommodation requests.
  • Veterans – Keep in mind that your military training may count towards qualifications. Use your Verification of Military Experience and Training (VMET) document (DD Form 2586) to document your training and education.
  • Begin with your current position and list all other positions held in chronological order.
  • State the job title, starting and ending dates (including month and year), prior employer's name and address (or write "self-employed," if that applies), and major duties and accomplishments. Include any positions temporarily held.
  • Show the average number of hours worked per week or simply state "full-time"; salary or wage earned; supervisor's name, address and telephone number; and whether you’re most recent supervisor may be contacted.
  • Veterans - Avoid using military job titles or occupational codes. Instead, look at what you did using your Verification of Military Experience and Training (VMET) as a starting point. Employers prefer proven performers, so make sure you know what employers are looking for in comparison to your military work experience.
  • Indicate if your current supervisor can be contacted
  • Job-related training courses (title and year).
  • self-management skills refer to the way you manage yourself on the job (e.g., dependable, resourceful, etc.);
  • functional skills are the skills you use on the job or have used in previous jobs (e.g., operate equipment, supervise, analyze, etc.); and
  • technical skills relate to specific skills required to perform a described task (e.g., computer programming, accounting, sales, etc.)
  • Current job-related certificates and licenses - Make sure you understand the licensure and certification requirements for your job objective.
  • Job-related honors, awards, special accomplishments , leadership activities, memberships, or publications.

Once you have spell checked your resume, take a good look at its overall appearance. Is it appealing and easy to read? Is there enough white space? Are the margins appropriate? Have the headings, font and formatting style been used effectively? Keep in mind that your resume is an employer's first impression of you. Make sure it makes the best one possible.

  • Review the job announcements carefully for key words
  • Use verbs and adjectives (e.g., managed, implemented, created) that match key words identified in the job announcement.
  • Eliminate military lingo (use words such as personnel instead of squad or platoon).
  • Include your accomplishments; do not be shy, be truthful.
  • Focus on the mission of the agency and translate your experiences.
  • Your positive attitude and genuine enthusiasm goes a long way.

U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Writing a federal government resume

This page provides an overview with examples of how to write a federal government resume, which have content and formatting that differ from most private sector resumes.

How to write a federal resume

Written by , external, Amanda Costello , 18F content designer and gummi bear enthusiast, July 2019. (Revised March 2024)

Writing a US federal resume is hard. When I started writing mine, all I wanted was a solid example. What needs to be included, in what order, and what would it look like with real information. This is that example. ( Law and Order chimes )

It can be helpful to think about a federal resume like an academic CV, an overview of your whole career. Also, these are long documents . This is not the place for a 1-2 page resume. When I applied, my resume was 7 pages long; after 5 years at 18F, it’s close to 15 pages.

Below are excerpts from my federal resume, along with details and notes about how it’s written and formatted. I want more awesome folks from all backgrounds and experiences as colleagues. I don’t want the resume formatting or particulars to be a mystery; it’s already a very challenging piece of writing.

General things to keep in mind:

  • Pay particular attention to the Specialized Experience section of a federal job posting. These items must be clearly represented on your resume to show you’ve done the work to be qualified.
  • New in 2024! Another tactic that’s been successful for me has been making the job posting’s Specialized Experience the headers for duties and responsibilities. Obviously you can’t do this until you’re looking at a specific job, but it can be a good way to organize your work for readability.
  • Throw out your formatting. I used CAPS for headers, italics for mission statements, and bullet points. Expect that the bulk of your formatting will be stripped out. No columns, no fanciness. Just write. Hard.
  • Speaking of writing: get your words going, and then get more words. I had to submit two writing samples, and that was where I could show off my content strategy particulars. Remember the job of the resume content: clear, straight lines between the requirements and your experience.

Explicit disclaimer: This resume format is what I chose to use in applying to 18F in the US Federal Government’s General Services Administration. It is not the only acceptable format, but is what worked well for me. I currently work as a content designer at 18F, but put this together on my own time, using no government resources to do so. Using this formatting is not a guarantee of consideration. You still gotta do the work.

Want to chat more about this? Shoot me an email at [email protected]

My comments below will all be in text boxes

Resume formatting

AMANDA COSTELLO 123 Lutefisk Street You Betcha, MN 55555

Mobile: 555-555-5555 Email: [email protected]

Availability: April 1, 2024

Job Type: Permanent, Telework Work Schedule: Full-Time

Desired locations:

United States - MN Remote

WORK EXPERIENCE

Workplace name, Unit name if relevant - City, State, Country

Your job title - MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY - Hours per week: xx

Mission statement(s) of the workplace, or summary of the company’s work on a larger scale.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

A paragraph-long description of what the work was overall. Describe your work using a wide scope, leaving the specific details for later.

SPECIFIC TOPIC (e.g. CONTENT STRATEGY)

  • Examples are in a bulleted list, each point describing a project or part of a project, or a piece of work that fits the heading, plus matches up with the qualifications/reqs.
  • I chose to start each bullet with a past tense verb (Collaborated, Wrote, Managed, Edited), because that’s how I usually write resumes.
  • Some of these bullets reference specific things I wrote, and those were included as writing samples with my application.

TECHNICAL SKILLS:

Software you know, tools you use, best practices and methods. This can’t just be a list, but has to have context in your work overview of how and why they were used. Also, please throw Microsoft Word on there because I was once rejected from a job in 2007 because I put “Microsoft Office” and the listing said “Microsoft Word.” Word matching! Seriously!

SELECTED WORK:

  • Another bulleted list, this time of URLs related to work I did.
  • They had quick little blurbs underneath about what they were, and what I did.
  • Photos won’t come through on this resume, so no screenshots or anything.

Work experience example from my 2018 resume

University of Minnesota, College of Education and Human Development - Minneapolis, MN

Lead Content Strategist - 07/2012 to Present - Hours per week: 40

The mission of the College of Education and Human Development is to contribute to a just and sustainable future through engagement with the local and global communities to enhance human learning and development at all stages of the life span. The college is part of the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, a land-grant high-level research institution, dedicated to generating and preserving knowledge through research, sharing that knowledge through teaching and learning, and apply that knowledge through outreach and public service.

Developed and led college-wide content strategy combining current and prospective student needs with college goals for recruitment and retention. Worked as a member of a cross-functional team including designers, developers, business analysts, marketers, and well as content strategists across 7 academic departments to promote and deliver effective processes and consistent content strategy.

CONTENT STRATEGY:

  • Collaborated with college academic departments, research centers, student support offices, and senior leadership to develop a “bottom up” content strategy, prioritizing student needs based on their relationships with academic programs. Assessed content through the lens of recruitment and retention.
  • Wrote “Stakeholder’s Guide To Launch,” a two-page reference for the launch of a new college website. By anticipating the top questions stakeholders might field, this guide gave talking points surrounding new features, along with contacts for further questions.
  • Served as strategist, editor, and project manager for regular essay series on college diversity and inclusion work, written by academic leadership. This generated authentic, meaningful content and helped stakeholders better understand the time commitment involved in content production.
  • Established user-centered college voice and tone guidelines, using “A, but not B” format. This was informed by close work with students in formal and informal usability testing, and brand sort activities with college leadership and key stakeholders.

USER EXPERIENCE (UX) WRITING:

  • Combined findings from user research, new graduate student interviews, faculty and researcher focus groups, higher ed industry trends, and analytics to consolidate more than 600 areas of academic research expertise into 111 categories. Categories were deployed across the college for consistent organization and increased findability of research work.
  • Developed strategy and standards to categorize and sort 127 academic programs and 111 areas of research expertise. This was incorporated into two web-based tools developed in-house and allowed students to explore college offerings and expertise independent of department. Wrote and edited descriptions for each area, capped at 25 words to promote ease of reading and top-level understanding.
  • Planned, edited, and delivered a “Web Writing Best Practices” guide for college content strategists. Formatted as a “one-pager” for printing and pinning up as a reference, this collected links to and recommendations from external tools and guides (Hemingway, 18F, King County Editorial Guide), internal editorial recommendations from the university and college, and voice and tone particulars. Strategists often felt intimidated and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of recommendations connected to good web content; this guide promoted four starting points to improve content: addressing the user (you/your/yours and we/our/ours), employing structured content, concise writing, and using plain language.

USABILITY TESTING AND USER RESEARCH:

  • Led and managed annual process of web usability testing, including project kick-offs, stakeholder workshops, scenario development, task analysis, lab and field-based testing, issues analysis, research and recommendation presentations to project team members, key stakeholders and college senior leadership.
  • Helped subject-matter expert teams and stakeholders understand their users through research and usability testing methods, defining problems and crafting effective solutions based on both quantitative and qualitative data.

COLLABORATION ON CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS:

  • Contributed to responsive redesign of college website by conducting a content audit, editing student-facing content for an overall 75% file reduction, and migrating updated content to custom-built CMS. Collaborated with design and development teams to create comprehensive style guides, pattern library interface copy.
  • Convened monthly “coworking days” among all college web professionals, bringing us together as a team of peers for a day of training, collaborative problem solving, idea sharing, and camaraderie. Set programming, mentored colleagues on presentations, and collected feedback to regularly adjust how our central content strategy was best supporting the specific work of the departments.

ADVOCACY AND OUTREACH:

  • Advocated for content strategy best practices to over 30 University departments by regularly meeting with peers and presenting to leadership stakeholder groups. Promoted clear, consistent, user-centered writing from all contributors, even those who don’t identify as “web people,” and facilitated collaboration across organizational silos to increase efficiency and support.
  • Consulted with faculty and staff in academic departments outside the college that frequently contributed to content strategy. Regular guest lecturer and student mentor in the Writing Studies program.
  • Contributed as one of four subject matter experts to the University of Minnesota’s Content Strategy Self-Help Guide, recommending resources and structuring process for the centrally-maintained system to help contributors at all levels improve content writing and strategic thinking for the web.
  • Frequently presented at local Twin Cities-based tech meetups, translating content strategy best practices to adjacent fields such as front- and back-end development, UX research, accessibility, interactive design, and marketing.

Provided strategic content design with skills in copywriting, style guides, plain language, comprehension/reading levels. Conducted usability evaluations using card sorting (OptimumSort), tree testing (Treejack), direct observation user research methods. Worked on a cross-functional team that used Asana, Trello, Slack, Hemingway, pattern libraries, Google Drive, MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, Power Point), and semantic HTML.

  • CEHD Academic Programs, www.cehd.umn.edu/programs Developed content and structure for directory/sorting tool
  • CEHD Research & Expertise, www.cehd.umn.edu/topics/ Created new content structure around college research, including categories and descriptions
  • UMN Content Strategy Self-Help Guide, , external, z.umn.edu/csmap Subject matter expert for update to university-wide guide

VOLUNTEER WORK

MinneWebCon Annual Conference - Minneapolis, MN - www.minnewebcon.org

Conference Director - 10/2011 - 06/2015

MinneWebCon is a two-day web conference in Minneapolis that encourages inclusive grassroots knowledge-sharing. In addition to keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and half-day workshops, our annual conference is a space for speakers and attendees to collaborate, talk, learn, ask, test, and grow.

  • Directed volunteer-run tech conference for 200+ annual attendees, bringing local and national speakers to the Twin Cities web community.
  • Oversaw event logistics, speaker recruitment and support, partnerships and sponsorships, promotion, and attendee experience with conference committee support and input.
  • Introduced speaker mentoring program, pairing conference speakers with an experienced mentor to review slides, practice presentations, and provide support.
  • Expanded conference to two-day event in 2012, adding half-day workshops to meet attendee demand for deeper learning.

SELECTED SPEAKING AND PRESENTATIONS

My resume listed about 15 sessions that I thought were relevant to this job. I also had sections on selected publications and selected podcast guest appearances, because those are cool too! The format I use is:

"Title of the Presentation," what kind of session - MM/YYYY Conference Name - City, State, Country

  • “How Silos Learn: Working in the Idea Factory,” closing keynote address - 08/2018 (scheduled) PSEWEB Conference - London, ON, Canada
  • “Better Stakeholder Wrangling,” half-day workshop - 10/2018 (scheduled) edUi Conference - Charlottesville, VA
  • “Better Stakeholder Wrangling,” half-day workshop - 05/2018 Confab: The Content Strategy Conference - Minneapolis, MN
  • “Explain Anything to Your Boss & Grandboss,” closing keynote address - 05/2018 Manage Digital Conference - Minneapolis, MN
  • “How Silos Learn,” opening keynote address - 10/2017 Digital Project Management Summit - Las Vegas, NV

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN United States Bachelor's Degree MM/YYYY Major: English Minor: Japanese

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Language: Japanese Spoken Level: Novice Written Level: Novice Reading Level: Novice

Name: Jeff Awesomeboss Employer: University of Minnesota Title: The Best Boss Email: [email protected]

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Handbook.tts.gsa.gov

An official website of the U.S. General Services Administration

U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock Locked padlock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

What should I include in my resume?

Whether you're a current federal employee or new to the federal government, your resume is the primary way for you to communicate your education, skills and experience. The federal government does not have a standard job application. Your resume is your application.

A resume for a federal job is different than one for the private sector.

  • You must address each of the requirements and qualifications listed in the announcement—write clearly and without jargon. The hiring agency will not make assumptions about what's in your resume.
  • It requires more detailed descriptions of your work experiences, including experience level and complexity of work and may exceed the private sectors commonly recommended one to two pages.
  • You must include the start and end dates (month/year) and number of hours worked per week for each work experience.
  • You should tailor your resume for each federal job you apply for instead of using the same resume.

Before you write your resume

Read the entire job announcement. Focus on the following sections to understand whether you qualify for the position. This critical information is found under:

  • Requirements , which lists the Qualifications , and Specialized Experience and Education
  • How to Apply which will include a link to a preview of an assessment questionnaire, if that is required
  • How You Will be Evaluated

Make sure you have the required experience and education before you apply. Hiring agencies use the job announcement to describe the job and the required qualifications, including:

  • Level and amount of experience

What to include in your resume

Federal jobs often require that you have experience in a particular type of work for a certain amount of time. Your resume must show how your skills and experiences meet the qualifications and requirements listed in the job announcement to be considered for the job.

Include important contact information at the top

Include current contact information. Most job applications require this information:

  • Your address
  • Your email address
  • Your phone number

Read the job opportunity carefully to make sure you have included all required contact information.

Include dates, hours, level of experience and examples for each work experience

For each work experience, make sure you include:

  • Start and end dates (including the month and year).
  • The number of hours you worked per week.
  • The level of experience—describe the level of responsibility you had, for instance, whether you served as a project manager or a team member helps to illustrate your level of experience.
  • The amount of experience—use numbers to illustrate the number of people you managed, or the number of years you worked or managed.
  • Examples of relevant experience and accomplishments. Write your experience by matching your work experiences and accomplishments with language in the job announcement. Your experience needs to address every required qualification and prove that you can perform the tasks at the level required as stated in the job announcement.

Optional details to include:

Your salary – some agencies require you to list the salary for each work experience.

Example of work experience

Program Analyst GS-343-11 January 2009—Present 40 Hours/Week $63,000/Year

  • Describe your experience.
  • List an accomplishment. For example: "Accomplished as measured by [Y], by doing [Z]."
  • Provide greater detail for experience that is relevant to the job for which you are applying.
  • Show all experiences and accomplishments under the job in which you earned it. This helps agencies determine the amount of experience you have with that skill...

Use numbers to highlight your accomplishments

Use numbers, percentages or dollars to highlight your accomplishments—you can find this information in things like your performance reviews, previous job descriptions, awards and letters of recommendation.

When explaining your accomplishments:

  • Include examples of how you saved money, earned money or managed money.
  • Include examples of how you saved or managed time.
  • "Improved efficiency of document processing by 25 percent over the previous year".
  • "Wrote 25 news releases in a three-week period under daily deadlines".
  • "Managed a student organization budget of more than $7,000".
  • "Wrote prospect letter that has brought in more than $25,000 in donations to date".

These statements show in concrete terms what you accomplished.

Include volunteer work and roles in community organizations

Don't limit yourself to only including paid work experience. Include relevant volunteer work or community organizations roles that demonstrate your ability to do the job.

Use similar terms and address every required qualification

Your experience needs to address every required qualification in the job announcement. Hiring agencies will look for specific terms in your resume to make sure you have the experience they're seeking.

For example, if the qualifications section says you need experience with “MS Project” you need to use the words “MS Project” in your resume.

Organize and format your resume to make it easy to understand

You need to organize your resume to help agencies evaluate your experience.

  • Use reverse chronological order to list your experience—start with your most recent experience first and work your way back.
  • Use either bullet or paragraph format to describe your experiences and accomplishments.
  • Use plain language—avoid using acronyms and terms that are not easily understood.

Customize your resume for each job application

You should tailor your resume to the job announcement rather than sending out the same resume for every job. Customizing your resume helps you match your competencies, knowledge, skills, abilities and experience to the requirements for each job. Emphasize your strengths and include everything you've done that relates to the job you're seeking. Leave out experience that isn't relevant.

Review your resume before you apply

Hiring agencies often receive dozens or even hundreds of resumes for certain positions. Hiring managers quickly skim through submissions and eliminate candidates who clearly are not qualified. Look at your resume and ask:

  • Can a hiring manager see my main credentials within 10 to 15 seconds?
  • Does critical information jump off the page?
  • Do I effectively sell myself on the top quarter of the first page?
  • Are there any spelling or grammatical errors?

Finally, have someone else, with a good eye for detail, review your resume.

Important facts about the federal hiring process

  • Hiring agencies use the job announcement to describe the job and list the required qualifications and responsibilities.
  • After applying, the hiring agency uses the information in your resume to confirm if you have the required qualifications stated in the job announcement.
  • Once the hiring agency has determined who is qualified, they may use other assessments such as interviews or testing to determine the best qualified applications.

Learn more about the federal hiring process .

You can upload your resume into the documents section of your profile, or you can use our resume builder to create a resume.

Additional resources

  • What should I leave out of my resume?
  • How to build a resume
  • How to create a resume

Still need help?

how do you write a federal resume

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Quick Guide to Preparing a Resume For Federal Government Positions

USAJOBS logo

Due to the volume of applications received for any given vacancy announcement within the website, your resume will most likely be processed through an electronic filtering mechanism before being reviewed by a Human Resources Specialist for a qualification determination. Your resume will also be screened according to certain preferences (e.g., Indian Preference, veterans, disability, etc.) and rated based on the extent and quality of your experience, education and training described on the vacancy announcement. It is essential that you tailor the experience listed on your federal resume to the specific position to which you are applying.

Once your application is rated, a quality review will be conducted by Office of Human Capital Management staff and/or a Subject Matter Expert (SME). Resumes are forwarded to the Hiring Manager for interview consideration. Once a hiring decision has been made, applicants will be notified.

Resume Writing

Before you begin, it may be helpful to compile all the information you want to include in your resume. The writing process will be much easier and faster.

It is important to thoroughly review the vacancy announcement for the position you are applying. You should tailor your resume to ensure you include the experience and skills that are required for the position.

What Should be Included in a Federal Resume?

A federal resume calls for some information that is not generally required on a standard resume for private industry positions, and not including the required information may immediately disqualify you from consideration. It is extremely important that you carefully read application instructions and include all required information. Below is an example of a resume for Federal employment:

First and Last Name Address City, State and Zip code Email address Phone Numbers

Special Hiring Authority: (Indian Preference, Veteran’s Preference or Person with Disability - Schedule A ) Federal Experience: ( Yes or No and Indicate Military, Federal or State Gov ) Security Clearance: ( Indicate what level and if it's still active ) OBJECTIVE: To obtain a full-time position in public service with ( Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs as a (Indicate the position including announcement Number if there is one )  

SKILLS SUMMARY: ( Has 3 elements: An introductory paragraph, list of skills directly related to the position, and your skills you have acquired throughout your career, that you want to highlight ) (1st Element: The introductory paragraph - Must be specific and highly detailed for each job series and position you're applying to. You need to outline all the specific skills you have that are directly related to the position you are seeking including Key Words identified in the positions description.) Focused and highly motivated management professional, with 12 + years of extensive experience in Strategic Workforce Planning , EEO , OHR and Diversity Mgt . Utilizing my background in Disability, Accommodations, Business Operations, Project Management, and Statistical Analysis to develop comprehensive programs based on the employment needs and mission of the agency. Deploying metric -based solutions and maximizing our ROI . I'm an innovative and energetic team player, relationship builder, and highly effective communicator. (2nd Element: List of skills directly related to the position and the Key Words you identified - Back up your skill summary with specific examples from you career or education. Identify specific accomplishments, length of time, highlight numerical results and awards derived from those duties and skills. This is the most critical area of the resume. You are relating an activity in your career to that of the position you are applying and showcasing your accomplishments.)

• Develop and create a Strategic Workforce Planning program to ensure were accurately utilizing all available resources. Good Example

• Expert in Equal Employment, Labor and Employee Relations assisting managers and staff in identifying and solving EEO Policy questions on Accommodations, for the past 9 yrs. Better Example

• As Diversity manager I trained a staff of 100+ internal and external personnel on diversity rules and regulations. My efforts resulted in a 70% reduction in violations and improved the overall atmosphere at ABC Co. Best Example (3rd Element: Acquired skills - These are skills you want every employer to know you possess and feel they are what defines you as a model employee. Remember you MUST quantify and qualify every statement you make.)

• Analyze, develop, test and incorporated IT business solutions to enhance business process control and tracking. Good Example

• Supervised, motivated, mentored and lead by example, using experience backed judgment, strong work ethic, and irreproachable integrity, derived from my 12yrs as a Department Manager at ABC Co. Better Example

• Developed and implemented a supply inventory program, which tracked our use of production and office materials. This provided us detailed reports of our available inventory at all times. Allowing us to make more informed purchasing decisions. Resulting in ABC Co. to save 500,000 per year. Best Example

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY Name of Employer Position & Title GS level or Salary and Years of Service From: Mo/Year to Mo/Year; (Indicate if the work was Full Time, Part Time, or Seasonal; provide number of hours for PT or Seasonal work) Write a brief description of your experience/duties, and identify your major roles and responsibilities. Describe in detail each position you held for at least the last 10 years and quantify and qualify each statement). IP: Describe each duty as if you are describing it to someone for the first time. Agencies are not allowed to assume you can or can't do anything. Ex: Cashier: A cashier can perform numerous duties, if you only list cashier we can only interpret that as someone we collected and distributed money). As Diversity Manager I analyze develop and manage programs and projects related to the successful deployment of our department's initiatives. My duties included ensuring we provided an inclusive work environment, free from discrimination and ensuring we met all federal and state regulations. This was accomplished by collecting, analyzing human capital data and statistics from various sources to get an accurate analysis of the programs and work environment we provided our employees.   • Performed labor market Statistical analysis and employment projections locally and nationally to determine our recruitment strategy to ensure we were recruiting from a diverse population. Good Example • Coordinated with the Office of Human Capital and EEO managers to develop programs to improve our diversity in the workplace. Performed detailed analysis of the current workforce, and developed a strategy to ensure we targeted a broader workforce. This had an immediate impact on community relations and a 20% increase in local sales. Better Example

• Diversity manager for the past 7 yrs I was responsible for a staff of 20 employees. I coordinated with our Office of Human Capital to develop and measure recruiting timelines and efficiency, to determine cost per employee hired and accurate return on investment. Identified various key elements related to recruiting and performed a statistical analysis on reducing cost per hire. This lead to a yearly savings of 15% on recruiting expenses. Best Example

ACCOMPLISHMENTS (Identify any areas of your career you feel an employer will get a better understanding of who you are and your additional activities, to included honors received by organizations, exceeding specific goals on projects, etc.)

• 2011 Supervised and managed the Specialty Hiring Programs, including NonCompetitive Direct Hiring Authorities, Military Spouse Employment and Individuals with Disabilities Programs, at the Department of Defense. • 2008 Liaised with union and management on contract negotiations and labor dispute settlements with global manufacturer. Prevented the loss of 200+ jobs and saving the company 1.3 million dollars.

• 2006 The Minority Entrepreneur Network - Assisted 5 minority startup companies in researching, forecasting, and drafting their business plans and applications for small business loans.

• 2005 Restructured vendor contracts for a gross savings resulting in $375K per quarter.

COMPUTER SOFTWARE (List all software and applications you are experienced in and level. Identify formal training and where you received that training)

ADDITIONAL TRAINING (List any formal or informal training including accreditations and number of hours in the specific field)

• I have attended various seminars on EEO compliance and diversity Good Example

• Extensive EEO Compliance Training: Laws & Discrimination, Diversity in the Workplace, Workplace Relationships, EEO Complaints and Resolutions: (80+ hrs of training) Better Example

• Extensive Project Management Training specializing in large scale projects and developing the project plans and schedule. All training was done at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) 2002 thru 2011 (120 hrs) Best Example

HONORS AND AWARDS

(Any formal awards you would like to share)

VOLUNTEER WORK & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

(Depending on the type of work volunteering can count the same as formal on the job experience if related to the position) (2010 - current) I hold Diversity workshops at the ABC community center in Washington DC, 6 times each month. I provide employers with information on developing an inclusive and diverse workforce. Note: volunteer work must include the total # of hours PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AAPD - American Association of Peoples with Disabilities HAVA - Honored American Veterans Afield NRA - National Rehabilitation Association PMI - Project Management Institute Wounded Warriors Project - Warriors to Work REFERENCES (List at least 3 references including their contact information)

U.S. Department of the Interior

indianaffairs.gov

An official website of the U.S. Department of the Interior

GoGovernment, Partnership for Public Service logo

Writing a Federal Resume

Is your resume one page? That’s fine for a private sector job. Your government resume, however, will need to have more detail, and it’s likely to grow to about two to five pages.

Key Components of a Federal Resume

The best way to create a federal resume is to use the resume builder on the federal government’s jobs website, USAJOBS. The resume builder will guide you through the whole process. And you don’t have to stick with one. You can create a resume tailored to fit different positions you apply for. You can also create a searchable, master resume, so HR specialists can contact you if there’s an opportunity that fits your skills and experience.

Building a Federal Resume

Candidate Information A federal resume will ask your citizenship status and most, but not all, positions require you to be a U.S. citizen. You’re also asked if you’ve worked for the federal government before and if you qualify for veterans preference —that is, you’ve served on active duty in the Armed Forces.

Work experience Your resume should list all the relevant jobs you’ve held.

Required : Employer, location, title, start and end date, average hours worked per week, responsibilities and accomplishments for each job you list.

Optional : A supervisor(s) as a reference and salary, although not listing salary doesn’t exclude resumes from consideration.

Education Include information on the schools you attended and the relevant coursework you completed. Only list degrees from accredited schools, or programs that meet the Office of Personnel Management’s standards . Provide as much information as possible to support your case that you’re the best person for the job.

Required : Schools attended and degrees obtained.

Optional : Grade-point averages, relevant coursework, academic papers or projects, key presentations, honors received, other important accomplishments.

Optional Information

For the best shot at a position, provide as much pertinent information as possible in optional sections, including:

Job–related training 

This could include classes, seminars, coursework, certifications or training that relates to the skills and experience the position requires.

References 

Consider listing professional or personal references who can vouch for your character, work ethic and dependability—such as colleagues, classmates and mentors.

Language skills 

Include the languages you have experience in, and your level of proficiency.

Affiliations 

Use this to list professional associations, societies, clubs or other organizations you belong to and to highlight leadership roles and volunteer experiences you’ve had that relate to the position description.

Professional publications

If you’ve been published, include the outlets you’ve contributed to, the publication names and the date your submissions were published.

Additional information 

You can add other relevant information, including awards, leadership activities, public speaking engagements or volunteer experience. You can also add your availability, the type of work environment you seek and your desired location. Even if your interests and desires don’t match the position’s needs, your resume will stay in the running.

How to Write a Federal Resume in 2024 [3 Free Templates]

Background Image

Creating a federal resume is a lot trickier than a conventional one.

For starters, you need to make it way more comprehensive (3-4 pages instead of the usual 1-2).

You also have to add very specific details, such as your GS rating, clearance, and more.

Want to learn how to create/build a federal resume the easy way?

  • What’s a Federal Resume & How Does It Differ From a Conventional One
  • How to Write a Federal Resume in 6 Easy Steps
  • How to Look for Federal Jobs

So, let’s get started.

What’s a Federal Resume?

A federal resume, as the name implies, is the type of resume you need to make in order to apply for US federal positions.

It is similar to the conventional resume in the way you describe your experiences. You include all the must-have sections in your resume, and describe your skills and past experiences.

There are, however, some differences from a conventional resume that make creating a federal one a bit trickier.

Federal Resume VS Conventional Resume - Key Differences

The differences between the two types of resumes are as follows:

federal resume differences

Sounds a bit complicated, right?

Worry not - once you’ve gotten the hang of it, writing a federal resume becomes a child’s play.

And you’re about to learn just how you can do that!

How to Write a Federal Resume [6 Easy Steps]

Step #1. start with a trusted format.

There are 3 typical resumes formats you can pick from:

  • Reverse-chronological: this one’s the standard and it lists your experiences from most recent to the oldest one.
  • Functional . This one doesn’t include work experiences and focuses solely on your skills.
  • Combination , a mix of the other 2 formats.

Since you’re making a federal resume, though, you need to go with a reverse-chronological format .

It’s the most common format in the US and is recognized by every single federal recruiter.

  • How Long Should a Federal Resume Be?

While a traditional resume is 1-2 pages max , the federal resume provides you with a LOT more freedom.

As we highlighted above, a federal resume includes a lot more detail than the conventional one. So, if you aim for 1-2 pages, you’ll just come off as lazy (and most likely unable to list all the information you need to land the job).

  • Which Format Should You Use ForYour Federal Resume?

Unless the job ad specifically asks for a specific format, we recommend you stick to PDF.

A PDF resume maintains its original formatting and will look just like you intended regardless of which computer you open it with.

The same, however, can’t be said for a Word resume format. 

  • Should I Use a Federal Resume Template?

Yep - if you use a resume template, your resume is going to be a lot more noticeable and at the same time, easier to create.

You can pick one of our hand-crafted CV templates and get started with yours in minutes!

federal resume template

Step #2. Include a Detailed Contact Information Section

Once you’ve picked your federal resume format, you should create a contact information section at the top of your resume.

That's where you include the typical information you’d put on a standard resume:

  • Phone Number
  • Email Address

For a federal resume, also include the following essentials:

  • Citizenship.
  • Mailing Address.
  • Highest GS Score. You can find yours here .
  • Veterans’ Preference (0, 5, or 10). Find yours here .
  • Disability. Learn more about this here .
  • Clearance (if any)
  • Desired Location (if relevant)

202-555-0101

[email protected]

Citizenship: United States

Desired Job Type: Security Specialist

Highest Federal Pay Grade: GS-10

Desired Location: US, Massachusetts

Step #3. Create an Attention-Grabbing Resume Summary

Federal or not, a resume summary is essential.

Picture this: you’re a hiring manager and you’ve got 1,000 resumes to go through for a single position.

Are you going to 1) go through them in detail , one by one, and read them cover to cover?

Or 2) glance through them , find the ones that are relevant and give them in-depth attention.

You’d probably pick #2 (and so do hiring managers).

This is exactly where the resume summary comes in.

A resume summary is a short, 2-4 sentence paragraph that goes right on top of your resume (under contact information). As the name implies, it’s used to quickly summarize your work experience and give the hiring manager a snapshot of your application.

If you get the resume summary right, then you can rest assured that the hiring manager is going to read your resume start-to-end.

Federal Resume Summary Example

A well-written federal resume summary contains the following information:

  • Your title & objective (i.e. the job you’re applying for)
  • 2-3 of your most noteworthy achievements or key responsibilities
  • 2-3 of your top skills
  • Your areas of expertise

Here is a real-life federal resume summary example:

  • Maintenance and Management professional with 10+ years of experience seeking the role of a Production Planning Manager. Past experience includes equipment maintenance and repair, policy enforcement, transportation coordination, and more. Seeking a GS-10 to a GS-11 position.

Step #4. List Your Past Work Experiences in Detail

Your work experience section is going to make or break your federal resume.

At the end of the day, this is what hiring managers really care about, while the rest of your resume is supposed to “support” this section.

Creating a convincing work experience section for a federal resume is a 2-parter:

First, you need to make sure that you include all the relevant work experience information.

Then, you need to present your path responsibilities and achievements in the most convincing way possible.

Let us teach you how to do both: 

What to Include in a Federal Resume Work Experience Section

For each entry in your work experience section, start off with the employment information. This includes:

  • Employer name
  • City & State
  • Hours Worked Per Week
  • GS Rating (If Relevant)
  • Supervisor’s Name
  • Supervisor’s Contact Information
  • Whether It’s OK to Contact Supervisor

Supervisory Security Specialist

National Nuclear Security Administration

04/2015 - Present

Washington, DC

Pay Grade: GS12

Average Hours Per Week: 40

Supervisor: Michelle Doe (202-555-0180)

Yes, you may contact the supervisor.

Then, in plain text or in bullet points, describe all your responsibilities and achievements right underneath each work experience.

If you had several roles for the same employer, bold out each role and put the corresponding responsibilities and achievements underneath.

Here, It’s important to note that you want to be as detailed as possible, compared to when compiling a conventional resume.

For the latter, you’d list out 4-6 bullets of your top achievements and responsibilities and call it a day. With a federal resume, you need to include more information.

  • Oversaw the Office of Defense Nuclear Security (DMS). Handled HR processes including classification, recruitment, training, workforce management, and more. Responsible for developing NNSA policies and guidance, as well providing guidance to NSSA headquarters, NNSA field organizations, and NSSA contract organizations.
  • Exceeded sales KPIs by 20% for 3 months in a row
  • Responsible for outbound cold calling, doing up to 100+ calls per day.

How to Write a Convincing Work Experience Section

Now, let’s talk about part 2:

How do you effectively communicate your past achievements and responsibilities?

The key here is to be as achievement-focused as possible.

Most job seekers, when writing about their past work experiences, tend to talk about their former responsibilities.

While this is OK (and will land you a job here and there), it doesn’t help you stand out much.

The hiring manager can probably figure out what your past responsibilities were - they’re hiring for your role, after all.

What they’re really interested to learn about you is how you excel compared to the rest of the job-seekers.

So, instead of saying:

  • Managed 3 projects from start to finish over the last year.
  • Helped implement a cutting-edge project management solution organization-wide, improving employee output by 20% for the year.

job search masterclass

Step #5. Add Your Educational History

Next up in the federal resume is your educational history.

This one’s pretty straightforward - all you need to do is mention the following:

  • College name
  • Type of degree
  • # of years attended (or semesters completed)

If specifically requested, you might also need to include the same information for your high school or GED.

Here’s what your education section would look like on your federal resume:

Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service

Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, United States

08/2014 - 05/2018

  • Major: International Relations
  • Minor: International Business
  • Graduated Magna cum laude

Step #6. Top It Off With Optional Sections

If you have space left on your resume, you can add some of the following common resume sections to help you stand out:

  • Awards & Accolades

Certifications

  • Professional Associations
  • Relevant Training
  • Volunteer Experience
  • Won first place in the Google Code Jam competition.
  • Certification of Professional Achievement in Data Science (2019)
  • English - Native
  • French - Intermediate

Technical Skills

Federal Job Search Resources

There are a ton of useful internet resources to help you get a job in the federal government. Here are some of our top favorites:

  • USA Jobs is the official government portal for federal jobs and careers.
  • Learn how, exactly, the US government hires candidates .
  • Discover the most in-demand government jobs here .
  • If you’re a non-citizen, learn everything there’s to know about government jobs .
  • If you’re looking for a job in a specific government agency, you can browse through the options here .
  • If you’re a student looking for a government job, go here for entry-level positions .
  • If you’ve served in the military, check out FedsHireVets.gov - it contains all the information you need about getting a federal job as a veteran.

And finally, in addition to USA Jobs, you can find federal work on the following websites:

  • Careers in Government
  • GovtJobs.com
  • CareerOneStop
  • GovernmentJobs.com

Other Federal Resume & Job Search Tips

At this point, your federal resume should be ready.

But before you go and start your job search, here are some of our top tips to help you succeed in landing your next job!

#1. Tailor Your Federal Resume to the Job

If you’re applying to several different types of jobs, make sure to tailor your resume to each of them.

A very common mistake job seekers make is that they create a single resume for dozens of positions.

This is effective at times, but it very rarely works for the type of job you’d LOVE to have.

So how do you tailor the resume? it’s pretty straightforward. Look up a job you’d like to apply for, and read the responsibilities and skills required in great detail.

federal job example

Then, cross-reference it with your resume.

In many cases, you’ll see that you DO have a lot of the required experiences , you just didn’t mention them because you didn’t have space, or because you thought other types of experiences were more important.

Now all you have to do is add the relevant information to your resume, and you’re good to go!

#2. Mind the Additional Documents

Federal positions will commonly ask you for additional documents other than your resume.

If you miss one, chances are, you’re going to get disqualified (even if you have the most eye-catching federal resume in the world).

So, carefully read about the job you’re applying for and ensure that you have all the right documents.

Some documents required for federal jobs include:

  • Cover letter
  • Academic transcripts

#3. Are You Still Struggling? Hire a Federal Resume Expert!

If you’re still struggling with building an effective federal resume, you can always hire an expert to give you a helping hand.

Check out some of the best career coaches in 2024 here.

Federal Resume FAQ

Do you still have some lingering questions on how to build an effective federal resume? We’ll answer them here!

1. What should I include in my federal resume?

In your federal resume, include the following sections:

  • Contact information
  • Resume summary
  • Work experience
  • Optional sections like skills, languages, etc.

2. What format should my federal resume follow?

Definitely reverse-chronological.

The other 2 resume formats (functional and combination) are nowhere near as popular and are more likely to ruin your chances to land the job if the hiring manager isn’t familiar with them.

3. Should I include my picture on my federal resume?

No , you should not include a picture in your federal resume .

You should also avoid adding any sensitive personal information (age, date of birth, marital status, religious affiliation, social security number, etc.), as well as links to any websites.

4. How long should my federal resume be?

Your federal resume should be around 4 to 6 pages long, as opposed to the conventional resume which is 1-2 pages.

The reason for this is that federal resumes require a lot more background information about you than the traditional ones.

Key Takeaways

Phew, that was a lot to take in!

Now, let’s recap all the key points we’ve covered about creating a federal resume:

  • A federal resume should be 4 to 6 pages long.
  • It should be very detailed and include all sorts of essential information, such as GS codes, citizenship, hours worked per week, and more.
  • In a federal resume, include the following sections: contact information, resume summary, work experience, education.
  • If you have additional space left, you can also add things like volunteering experience, certifications, skills, etc.

Related Resume Examples

  • Military Resume
  • Paralegal Resume
  • Career Change Resume

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  • Federal Resumes Guide for USAJobs

Table of Contents

Introduction

USAJOBS.gov

Writing Strategies

Federal Resume Sample

Introduction to federal resumes.

Searching for a federal job can be a daunting task. The stringent guidelines for both the application process and the formatting of required materials, including the federal resume, can seem overwhelming to first-time applicants and seasoned professionals.

In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the key steps in the application process, including successfully navigating USAJOBS (the official job-search website of the US government), targeting vacancy postings, and crafting an effective resume that highlights your career accomplishments while aligning with federal resume-writing best practices.

How a Federal Resume Differs From a Private Industry Resume

The main differences between a federal resume and a private sector resume are the length of the resume and the detail involved. While a typical resume should be no more than two pages in length, a federal resume can extend to five pages or more. In addition, federal resumes require more details in regards to references, availability, and expanded job descriptions and accomplishments. Also, readers of your federal resume will be expecting certain stylistic attributes and exact phrasing that mirrors the language of vacancy postings on USAJOBS.gov.

Grade Levels: General Schedule (GS) & Senior Executive Service (SES)

In the federal job arena, there is a highly specific and expected career progression and salary roadmap referred to as the GS pay scale, ranging from GS-1 through GS-15. Applicants are required to meet clearly defined expectations for jobs at each level, and each progressive step includes a raise in salary:

  • GS-1 through GS-7: Entry-level positions – If you have recently entered the workforce and have at least a high school diploma and a few months of work experience, you qualify for positions up to GS-2. If you have more than a few months of general experience, you qualify for GS-3 and GS-4 levels. Following this (GS-5 and above), positions require at least 1 year of specialized experience to be considered. Graduates within a specific career field are eligible for GS-5 jobs and qualify for GS-7 if they attained certain grades, test scores, or other criteria while in college.
  • GS-8 through GS-12: Mid-level positions –  Jobs within this range typically require master’s degrees or a doctorate for GS-11 grades and beyond. In lieu of a degree, acceptable candidates can qualify with at least 12 months of experience at an equivalent grade level.
  • GS-13 through GS-15: Senior managers, high-level technical specialists, physicians –  Positions in this range are typically reserved for top professionals holding advanced degrees. Candidates must be able to demonstrate relevant job experience. At levels 14 and 15, the candidate is eligible to apply for a Senior Executive Service (SES) job.

SES & Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs)

SES roles represent executive-level positions across management and policy. These roles are classified above GS-15 in most Executive Branch agencies of the US government. These also represent the highest-level positions below presidential appointments. To qualify for an SES position, one must demonstrate alignment with five ECQs and their key components:

Federal Resumes - ECQ Table

As you’ll see, the questionnaire asks about certain abilities that the ideal candidate would possess that might not be spelled out in the job posting itself, so it’s important to identify these and leverage them in your federal resume.

In addition to specific phrasing of expected abilities and accomplishments, you will want to identify the KSAs that are specific to the position. USAJOBS makes this process easy by highlighting them at the bottom of a vacancy posting with the “How You Will Be Evaluated” section. Remember, these are expected to be written verbatim in a federal resume.

USAjobs - how you will be evaluated

After you have made a list of both the KSAs and phrases you need to incorporate into your federal resume, it’s time to start writing.

Strategies for Writing a Successful Federal Resume

Define Your Core Skills

With your list of KSAs and duty phrases in hand, ask yourself what five high-level responsibilities describe your current role in order to define the key knowledge, skills, and abilities you apply every day and how they align with the information you obtained from the vacancy posting. Once you have compiled this list, brainstorm about specific examples of achievements in these areas and how they support the position you’re applying to as well as its KSAs.

If you are making a transition from military service into civilian service, you will need to translate your experience and accomplishments to align with the language of the vacancy postings. Using the posting language and KSAs as a guide, consider how your accomplishments within the military reflect the skills and abilities required for the position. A good starting point for this information is your performance evaluations.

Formatting & Layout

As with a private industry resume, a federal resume is most impactful when it is organized and highly readable. A main point of difference between the two is that while a private resume can take many forms including functional or creative, the federal resume must be in the traditional reverse-chronological order covering the last 10 years.  Private sector resumes use succinct career highlights and bullets with few details, whereas federal resumes use full phrases, sentences, and paragraphs to cover the informative descriptions and extensive details that support the job qualifications. While a private sector resume is typically limited to 2 pages, a federal resume can average anywhere from 3 pages to 7 or more.

Stylistic Rules

As with private-sector resumes, some general stylistic rules apply to optimize the document:

  • Most jobs will have four to six paragraphs, and each should represent a KSA, if possible. “Communication skills” is the most common KSA.
  • Each resume should contain one paragraph on “Interpreting Regulations.”
  • Repetition aligning with job posting-specific phrasing is encouraged. If you did the work and have the skills, it’s acceptable to repeat these attributes throughout the resume. Avoid exact repetition, and paraphrase when possible.
  • Minimize using personal pronouns, and keep articles such as “an” or “the” to a minimum to optimize space.
  • KEYWORDS/CORE COMPETENCIES should be used to describe each duties paragraph and are in all caps. Nouns are preferred, but verbs can also be used if that is the language reflecting the vacancy posting.
  • Accomplishments should follow the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for a general federal resume or the CCAR (Challenge, Context, Action, Result) format for ECQs within the SES resume.
  • Some job announcements will require the full date (mm/dd/yyyy) and salary, supervisor name and phone, and whether or not to contact. It’s important to note that federal resumes will not be considered if required information is missing.
  • Certificates usually go under Job-Related Training, but longer programs such as the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) certification will go under education.
  • Military, Soldier, Veteran, Marine, etc. are capitalized throughout the resume, which is reflective of Military AP Style.
  • All acronyms, except those that are obvious, should be spelled out. This is especially important to elucidate department or industry-specific jargon. Remember that it’s often HR that is reviewing your resume first, not a specialist within your field.
  • Font size and spacing should remain the same, except for paragraph spacing.
  • Jobs more than 10 years in the past will still be listed but will be presented in the Additional Information section, with the number of years listed instead of dates.

Contact Information & Career Summary

The federal resume presentation begins with your contact information. These details should match your profile on USAJOBS. Following this is the Career Summary which should be crafted to align your experience with the vacancy posting of interest. Also list your citizenship status, current employment status (federal or private sector), the highest GS level you have obtained (if applicable), and any security clearances you have.

If you don’t have the security clearance required by the position, make it known that you are aware of the requirement and are willing to obtain the necessary clearance. You can also use this space to describe any high-level awards you have received or technical skills that are relevant to your desired position. Again, while the private sector resume is intentionally two pages on average, federal resumes are more expansive and inclusive of details.

Federal Resume - summary and clearance

Following your summary and contact information is a section of bulleted areas of expertise. Again, focus on the keywords that align your strengths and abilities with the requirements outlined in the vacancy posting.

Federal Resume - technical skills

Work Experience

Next, outline your work experience for each agency in chronological order. The federal resume requires exact dates (month/year) of employment as well as hours worked per week and exact details of each position (Series, GS level, etc.). As stated previously, the federal resume is a chronological document that describes your work history in terms of an outline. This means that you should outline your progression of roles within that agency and follow the timeline with a skills-based resume-writing format. You will do this for each applicable agency.

Federal Resume - work experience

Next, use the list of duties and KSAs that you compiled from the vacancy posting as a template to describe how your career duties and accomplishments demonstrate your success in those areas. In this applicant’s case, the following phrases (among others) were listed on the vacancy posting:

  • Logistics and transportation
  • Provide oversight and guidance
  • Leverage knowledge of organizational development and culture
  • Team leader
  • Organize and direct teams
  • Interpret policy and regulations
  • Effective written and oral communication
  • Build professional working relationships

Looking at the example below, you can see how the resume entry has been customized to reflect these lists:

Federal Resume - KSA and duties

As with a private sector resume, you’ll notice the use of bulleted accomplishments to describe specific accomplishments related to the listed and described skills. These should describe both what you accomplished as well as how you did it.

You will go through this process with every agency within your career history, ensuring that you continue to frame your accomplishments and work history around the list of phrases and KSAs that you obtained from your review of the vacancy posting.

It is also customary to list your supervisors as references under each position in your job history. You should also specify whether the HR specialist reviewing your resume can contact them.

Additional Information

After outlining and describing your career history in a way that aligns with your desired position, you will list additional information that is important and relevant, including education, certifications, job-related training, professional affiliations, and publications. This is also where older employment information is listed without specific dates.

Federal Resume - education and training

Some higher-level applicants (in particular in the GS-14 and GS-15 range) have exhaustive lists of publications that would significantly lengthen the document. In this case, it is perfectly acceptable to present a selected list of representative publications.

More on SES Jobs

The SES level was established in 1978 as part of the Civil Service Reform Act to provide executive management of 75 federal agencies that are managed by the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM). As previously discussed, SES jobs represent the highest-level federal positions second to presidential appointments.

Although the same general rules of writing a strong federal resume apply, SES jobs have more expansive requirements for application. Depending on the vacancy posting, there are three kinds of SES applications:

  • Traditional Method: 10-page ECQs in the proper format, technical qualifications (TQs) separate, and federal resume.
  • Resume Only: 5-page traditional federal resume incorporating the five ECQs and, if relevant, TQs.
  • Accomplishment Record: Resume and narratives responding to specific guidance for each submission.

ECQS and TQs, like KSAs, must be listed verbatim in your documents. The same procedures apply to an SES resume as with a general federal resume, but the scope is larger and the requirements more specific. If the vacancy post you’re interested in requires the traditional method, you’ll need to craft both a traditional resume as well as a 10-page document outlining how your experience aligns with the five ECQs (and TQs if a technically oriented position).

Resume Builder Compatibility

Because some vacancy postings require resume submission via the Resume Builder, it’s important to format your document so that it can be easily converted to Resume Builder style. If you have followed the general federal resume-writing practices outlined in this guide, then the process of converting to a Resume Builder-friendly format is fairly straightforward. When drafting a federal resume, it’s recommended to have two versions ready to go: your traditional federal resume and a simpler document that is ready for the resume builder.

Resume Builder is a simple text-only interface, so it’s necessary to avoid any graphics or fanciful formatting that won’t translate well to the system. Text styling such as italics, bolding, underlining, or bullets also do not register with Resume Builder, so these will need to be adjusted when converting your document. Additionally, you will need to remove detailed information about each position that will need to be entered manually, such as employment dates, hours worked, and pay grade.

Federal Resumes - Resume Builder Style Tips

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Building a Federal Resume: Tips and FAQs

Whether you’re a current federal employee or new to the Federal Government, your resume is the primary way for you to communicate your education, skills and experience. Learn more below on how to tailor your resume and the do’s and don’ts.

Read the entire job announcement. Focus on the following sections to understand whether or not you qualify for the position. This critical information is found under:

  • Duties and Qualifications
  • How to Apply (including a preview of the assessment questionnaire)
  • How You Will be Evaluated

Make sure you have the required experience and/or education before you apply. Hiring agencies use the job announcement to describe the job and the required qualifications, including:

  • Level and amount of experience

What to include in your resume:

Federal jobs often require that you have experience in a particular type of work for a certain period of time. You must show how your skills and experiences meet the qualifications and requirements listed in the job announcement to be considered for the job.

Include dates, hours, level of experience and examples for each work experience.

For each work experience you list, make sure you include:

  • Start and end dates (including the month and year).
  • The number of hours you worked per week.
  • The level and amount of experience–for instance, whether you served as a project manager or a team member helps to illustrate your level of experience.
  • Examples of relevant experiences and accomplishments that prove you can perform the tasks at the level required for the job as stated in the job announcement. Your experience needs to address every required qualification.

Management Analyst GS-343-11 January 2009 - Present 40 Hours/Week $65,000/Year

  • Experience/Accomplishment

Resume Writing Tips:

  • Customize your resume to each job
  • State the facts. Avoid belief or judgement statements
  • Provide sufficient detail, but use concise language
  • Avoid information that does not add substance
  • Use headings to guide the reader

Resume Writing Do’s and Don’ts

 Resume Writing Do's  Resume Writing Don'ts
 Be thorough, detailed, and clearly depict experience, qualifications, and accomplishments Don’t only state duties; showcase your accomplishments
 Use action verbs Don’t attach position descriptions to document your experience
 Use relevant words, descriptions and phrases from job announcements, duties, and job classifications Don’t assume HR Specialists know who you are and/or what you have done at previous positions
 Modify the resume to match position requirements Don’t use civilian industry jargon, acronyms, or company specific terminology. Military jargon may be okay if relevant to the job 
 Highlight key points or headings using capital letters, asterisks, and/or dashes Don’t use acronyms unless they are spelled out initially

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q:   Can I use volunteer experience in my resume? A:  Don’t limit yourself to only including paid work experience. Include relevant volunteer work or community organizations roles that demonstrate your ability to do the job.

Q: Do I need the specific date of when I started a position and when I finished? A: Start and end dates should include the month and year.

Q: Is there a standard Federal Government job application? A:  Your resume is your application.

Q: Should I use the resume builder on usajobs.gov or upload my resume? A: Both options are available to use on www.usajobs.gov . It is up to the applicant as to which one he/she prefers.

Q: What is the difference between eligibility and qualifications? A: Eligibility, in the federal hiring process, refers to being part of a particular group of people that an agency wants to hire – whether it’s a current federal employee, a veteran, or a recent graduate. Your eligibility has nothing to do with your work experience, skills, and other qualifications. Qualifications include your work experience (years, type of work), skills, education level and your overall knowledge of a particular field of study.

Q: Do I need a degree to work at FDA? A: No, if you have been in the job market for a while and have accumulated an extensive work history, you may be well qualified for many positions even without a college degree. Except for certain professional and scientific positions, a college education may not be necessary.

Q: What is specialized experience? A: “Specialized experience” is a type of work experience that is directly related to the position which you are applying. This means, for example, to qualify for a GS-12 grade (or equivalent) level, you must have had a minimum of 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to a GS-11 grade (or equivalent) level.

Additional Resources:

  • OPM’s Classification & Qualifications
  • What should I include in my federal resume?
  • How to create a resume on usajobs.gov
  • What should I leave out of my federal resume?
  • How do I set up notifications for future job announcements?
  • How to Write a Federal Resume: Tips and Instructions
  • Federal Resume Guide
  • Resume Writing Help

Last Updated on 01/17/2024

It is crucial to follow the rules of the game to find the offer in the federal job market. To understand how to make a federal resume successful and eye-catching, start by going into further depth about what qualifies you for the target role. Your market research matters a lot — it will provide you with significant hints on what keywords and details the recruiter wants to see in such documents.

Whether you are making your first steps as a federal worker or want to upgrade your approach, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, let’s discuss helpful insights about how to organize the information you have to tailor your resume for government jobs to the insider market requirements. Mind the gap!

Need help in writing a resume? Take a look at the best federal resume writing services and military to civilian resume writing services reviews to consider.

Table of Contents

  • 1.1 What Does a Federal Resume Look Like?
  • 2 Private vs. Federal Job Resumes: What’s the Difference?
  • 3.1 1. How Format a Federal Resume
  • 3.2 2. Candidate Data
  • 3.3 3. Skills Summary
  • 3.4 4. Work Experience
  • 3.5 5. Education
  • 3.6 6. Additional Training
  • 3.7 7. Professionals Associations
  • 3.8 8. References
  • 3.9 9. Language Skills
  • 3.10 10. Volunteer Work and Community Roles
  • 3.11 11. Professional Publications
  • 3.12 View a Federal Resume Sample
  • 4 Government Skills for Resume
  • 5 Keywords for Government Resume
  • 6 How Long Should a Federal Resume Be?
  • 7 How to Write a Federal Resume for USAJOBS: Dos and Don’ts to Know
  • 8 Common Mistakes When Writing a Federal Resume
  • 9 Final Thoughts

What is a Federal Resume?

A federal resume is a kind of resume suitable for a federal job application. Whether you want to enter this labor market in the USA or seek another career opportunity as a current federal employee, customizing this resume for every role you consider is essential.

What Does a Federal Resume Look Like?

Compared to one-page resumes typical for private sector jobs, federal resumes commonly resemble a self-representation story. Given how much in-depth information such a file can provide, underlining and italics in formatting are welcome. It will remind you of an article or a unique type of academic article if you wish.

Please ensure your copy has clear and clean formatting. It is better to prefer a few typefaces for the entire document — one for headings and another for text parts. Say “no” to horizontal lines, images, infographics, and bold fonts. Such files have to be readable and scannable, which is why plain formatting styles are preferable.

Private vs. Federal Job Resumes: What’s the Difference?

Analogically to how private sector and federal sector jobs are distinctive phenomena in the US labor market, requirements for a resume for government employment and in the private workforce won’t be the same. Moreover, it is a huge mistake to underestimate the importance of such peculiarities — your application for a certain position can’t become a universal tool for other offers too. You will only lose scores in your candidate rating and miss out on dream professional opportunities.

Let’s take a closer look at what aspects distinguish a government style resume from its “opponent” in the market. Check the table below for an in-depth insight.

FormattingYou are allowed to be creative and choose more eye-catching ways to be noticed among the crowd. You don’t typically have to follow a strict formatting format and can customize the template the way you see it.In-depth details that are relevant to the target position are essential to highlight. Concise facts are always a win-win, but you can also use text paragraphs instead of bullet points only.
LengthLong resumes won’t help you win. One-page formats are the most classic solution, regardless of the private sector’s niche.Neither do you have to write memoirs, nor it will be enough to provide a one-page document.
The level of detailYou can describe your duties and non-job-related skills in detail.It is better to focus on skills and experiences that match the target job offer. You can back up your story with more facts — instead of good management skills, mention how many people you supervised.
KeywordsThey can be pretty general from position to position, including time management and teamwork proficiency.That’s when more specifics will pay off. For instance, AutoCAD skills and project management will be essential for a civil engineer position.

Whatever federal job you have in mind, the target company’s HR specialists have a certain list of criteria that applications must satisfy. By ignoring the distinctive features between federal and private resumes, you are automatically self-excluded from the lucrative job-hunting pool you want to join.

Unlike the case of resumes in the private sector, you won’t be able to take one file and send it to dozens of companies at once. Without a doubt, the governmental resume is the key tool for communicating your experience in the field, as well as your skills and education. Contrary to private resumes, a federal resume is better not to transform into an enlistment of academic certifications and accomplishments.

How to Write a Federal Resume

  • any military experience
  • relevant training and certifications
  • publications or presentations related to a federal job
  • list of languages
  • information about technical proficiency and association memberships
  • list of managers, mentors, colleagues or managers willing to act as references.

One of the most important components in a federal resume is the opening paragraph. This paragraph highlights the candidate’s qualifications, achievements and experiences in an attempt to sell the employer by presenting arguments on why hiring the candidate would be in the company’s best interest.

Finally, a federal resume might also include personal information that is often not included in a civilian resume, such as social security number and salary information.

1. How Format a Federal Resume

You are free to choose whether to represent the information in chronological or reverse chronological order, but the latter is more common. When it relates to structural peculiarity, don’t hesitate to compare different ready-made templates — it will be easier for you to locate one that matches your experiences and skills this way. The basic federal format resume boils down to the following.

The federal resume outline format is a prevalent style accepted by most government agencies . It features:

  • ALL CAPS HEADERS
  • Small paragraphs
  • Few bullet points

To make your accomplishments stand out, list them as one or two sentence paragraphs so that nothing gets overlooked.

Another federal government resume format looks more like a traditional resume. It will use:

  • Bold headings in a larger font
  • Larger blocks of narrative text to describe work history
  • More bullet lists

2. Candidate Data

Aside from personal information about your name and date of birth, please add your citizenship status. It would be great to mention your role in the Armed Forces, especially if you want to get the most out of veterans’ preference in the federal job market:

  • Citizenship — one of the first steps of how to create a federal resume is to specify whether you have it or are going to apply for a job under the Work Visa roof.
  • Federal experience — indicate any state government, federal, or military position.
  • Clearance — if the target position requires access to restricted databases, this status will come in handy. Even if it’s not active at the moment, it will be beneficial to mention the level you reached.
  • Special hiring authority — it defines special opportunities for people with disabilities to get better offers in the job market. There are several criteria to check and see whether you are a truly eligible candidate for the deal. If you see a special icon on the hiring platform, it means this paragraph will be a nice bonus. Make you get acquainted with the agency’s clarification about their eligibility ranges.
  • Objective — specify your interest in a full-time or part-time position and provide information about the federal and sub-agency behind the offer.

3. Skills Summary

This part isn’t as brief as in a standard job application:

  • The introduction — that’s where you enlist all the specific skills for a role you are applying to. Don’t forget to use and highlight keywords to make it more meaningful and attention-grabbing.
  • Body — in the second paragraph, complement your introduction with good examples of these skills have helped you perform your duties in practice.
  • Acquired sets of talents — here you can describe what other skills you find relevant and will let you establish a nice employee identity in the eyes of potential recruiters for the target role. It is a must to back up your story with excellent examples — be specific with dates and numbers.

4. Work Experience

This part of the government formatted resume provides details about your years of service, position, title, employer, and GS level. Some agencies may also ask you to mention your salary for those positions.

In the Work Experience section of a federal resume, it is important to include several components for each job descriptions or work experience listed:

  • The start and end dates, including the month and year.
  • The level of experience (e.g. manager, supervisor, etc.) and how long the experience was at each level.
  • The average weekly number of hours worked.
  • Relevant accomplishments and achievements.
  • Related experience and particular experience that addresses the required qualifications.
  • In many cases, salary information should be included.

An example of an entry in the Work Experience section of a federal resume is as follows:

Program Manager  June 2003 — December 2018 Hours per week : 40 Salary : $56,000 per year. • Experience #1 • Experience #2 • Accomplishment #1 • Accomplishment #2

Technology enthusiast certified in multiple programming languages with previous security clearance at the Department of Defense desires participation in the vital scientific mission of NASA by executing strategic contract initiatives.

The applicant’s military career information can also be included in this section of a federal resume.

5. Education

High-paying federal jobs vary in terms of education requirements. While some positions are pretty easy to get started, e.g. postal clerks and court reporters, others are more specific about your background as a prospective candidate for several positions in international relations, public administration, science, and other fields. Here you are supposed to write about your college, Bachelor’s, or Master’s degree. Specify the years of studies, state, city, and university you graduated from.

6. Additional Training

It is good to mention you have been a regular visitor of online courses, webinars, and offline seminars. To make your statement more confident and convincing, state the center whether these activities took place (like the institute), the number of hours in training, and your accomplishments during the studies.

7. Professionals Associations

Once again, another bullet list will be straightforward and concise enough for an applicant to include in the government resume . For instance, those could be:

8. References

Don’t write

  • “References available upon request”
  • A list of qualified supervisors, managers, or mentors that will provide information about the candidate’s qualifications, dependability, work ethic and skills.

9. Language Skills

Individuals with high levels of proficiency or fluency in languages, except English, should include this information in their federal resume. This includes the American Sign Language and any spoken language.

10. Volunteer Work and Community Roles

Employers and hiring agencies often prefer candidates with a variety of relevant experience. However, this experience does not only have to come in the way of paid employment. Relevant volunteer work and community service experience can provide valuable experience and demonstrate the skills, which are necessary to do a job . Community roles can also include being a member of the Board of Directors, leading community initiatives or participating in the local government.

11. Professional Publications

Finally, a federal resume should include the titles of any professional or academic publication that the applicant has written or contributed to, including the date of publication.

View a Federal Resume Sample

We have crafted several federal resume samples , approved by hiring managers and certified writers. Take a look and get inspired.

Government Skills for Resume

Provide as much detail as possible. Unlike a private sector resume, you aren’t restricted to a one-page format. If you have a lot of experience to describe, go for it. However, please don’t get it wrong — it doesn’t mean you have to write a poem instead of following the steps of how to build a federal resume . Keeping the data provided concise, coherent, easy to perceive, and in a readable format is crucial.

NB. Check the position’s requirements first and include your education and experience that match an ideal candidate’s qualifications.

Another crucial detail is that you can add any experience you find important to the list of skills. Your task isn’t to boast of your potential but to advertise your expertise in the target field to people who don’t know you and how cool of a specialist you might be.

A good government job resume should inform the recruiter about must-haves and unique skillsets you have. The right strategy will let you ensure your identity and qualifications in the eyes of the company’s HR specialist:

  • Accountant — problem-solving, critical thinking, accounts payable, cash flow monitoring, financial needs planning, fixed assets impairment assessment, and so on.
  • Medical officer — public health, disease examination and diagnostics, direct patient care, internal medicine, hypertension, etc.
  • Registered nurse — record keeping and paperwork, attention to patients’ worries and requests, empathy, clinical procedure knowledge, and counseling.

Keywords for Government Resume

This guide on how to write resume for federal government jobs would be incomplete without tips on including and arranging keywords. It is better to avoid overly stereotypical notions if they don’t match the qualifications this or that position requires. 

You have to ensure HR specialists will be able to perceive crucial facts from your resume quickly and without difficulty:

  • Don’t hesitate to capitalize them whenever needed.
  • Think about how you distribute keywords in the text. Try to use them as a focal point at the paragraph’s beginning.
  • It isn’t compulsory for every part of the resume to be filled in with the targeted keywords. Make their use purposeful and avoid overwhelming the copy with cliche constructions.

There is no universal list of keywords for government resumes . The best practice is to check what terms are relevant for human resources specialists, mechanical engineers, customs officers, etc. individually. Let’s illustrate a few federal jobs and matching keywords for a resume to include:

  • Accountant — detail-oriented, forecasting, budgeting, financial reporting, auditing, etc.
  • Medical officer — board certification, medical records, clinical research, and healthcare management.
  • Patent administrator — patent litigation, intellectual property, patentability, legal writing, and so on.

How Long Should a Federal Resume Be?

On average, three to six pages long will provide you with enough room to write about all the job-related information. How many pages should a federal resume be ? There are no strict requirements for the size of such documents. A lot may depend on your overall career and expertise in the target field.

At the same time, nobody asks you to create a dissertation — no need for ten pages and above. This way, you won’t showcase your expertise qualitatively. More likely, it will seem like you are far from a model employee because of your inability to submit well-structured and revised resumes to federal agencies.

How to Write a Federal Resume for USAJOBS: Dos and Don’ts to Know

It is better to avoid drastic experiments with your approach to resume writing for government jobs . To stay on the safe side, create the right resume format for USA jobs with the USAJobs’ Resume Builder . Here are some considerations to take into account to improve the quality of your government resume :

  • Don’t use a passive voice to talk about your past experiences. Once the draft is complete, edit and proofread it to avoid any grammar and other mistakes. With online tools like Grammarly , for example, it won’t be a daunting task for non-experts.
  • Your resume writing for government jobs has to be as detailed as possible. You don’t have to stick to the jobs and experiences you were financially rewarded for. The primary goal is to prove your qualifications, so any volunteer positions, college, or sports activities.
  • To make things simpler, you can categorize your skill sets and diversify your hard, soft, and language skills.
  • Boost your education summary with other qualifications, including leadership activities, honors, publications, training courses, and more.

Common Mistakes When Writing a Federal Resume

When writing a federal resume, it is important to avoid making the following common mistakes that can hurt the candidate’s chances of being hired:

No:  Using the same resume or opening summary for every job .

Yes:   The opening paragraph should sell the applicant and be filled with accomplishments, experiences, awards, certifications and skills the applicant possesses that are directly related to the specific qualifications listed in a job announcement.

No:  Including irrelevant or outdated work experience.

Yes:     Job experience should go back a maximum of 10 years, with a focus on more recent experience.

No:  Applying for job s but not meeting the qualifications.

Yes:   Emphasize your transferable skills.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, preparing a successful government resume depends on how thorough your preparations, data analysis, and market research are. Review job announcements in detail to ensure your application will cater to the target agency’s and position’s specifications. The level of information transparency and quality will also help you get ready for an in-depth questionnaire in a federal job interview. Although the scope of work is demanding in terms of time and other resources, your diligence will surely pay off.

Check Out the Related Articles: 

  • How to Choose the Best Resume Writing Service

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How to Write a Federal Resume and Apply for a Federal Job

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The US federal government employs over 2 million people, not even counting military service branches. Federal jobs are highly contested thanks to great benefits, role longevity, and social importance. While USAJobs , the prime job board for federal jobs, is a great place to find opportunities, applying for federal jobs and writing a federal resume can be confusing, overwhelming, and counter-intuitive to those job seekers who have only applied in the private sector.

We spoke with federal resume experts for their insights to help first-time federal applicants learn to understand a job vacancy announcement, how to write a federal resume , how to apply through USAJobs, and what to expect from the lengthy federal job application process:

  • Lex Levin of Lex Levin LLC
  • Nancy Segal of Solutions for the Workplace
  • Karol Taylor, co-author of Find Your Federal Job Fit
  • What the government wants
  • Federal job descriptions vs private sector JDs
  • The Occupational Questionnaire
  • Federal resumes vs private sector resumes
  • Writing your federal resume
  • Federal resume tips

The Government wants demonstrated experience

For federal jobs, experience trumps almost everything. Hiring agencies aren’t interested in potential, or as Segal says, “It’s not about your journey. You should have already arrived.” Federal HR wants to see proven success, role mastery, and expertise.

The entire federal job application process is about demonstrating that you are the ideal candidate by showing your experience and success. Experience even outweighs education for most jobs unless an applicant’s education is part of the value proposition, such as scientist or mathematician jobs.

Federal HR will not make any assumptions about your resume. Even things that seem very straightforward need to be explicitly spelled out. Federal hiring practices are highly regulated, so federal HR personnel can’t make those assumptions. Every assumption could risk an EEO complaint or even a call from Congress.

As Segal puts it, “From a federal perspective, if it’s not on the resume, you didn’t do it.”

How is a federal job description different?

When a job is posted on USAJobs, it’s called a ‘job vacancy announcement’ (JVA). This job description contains far more than the basic list of responsibilities and requirements of a private sector job description.

federal resume guide - federal job vacancy announcement compared to job description from Monster.com

Segal recommends spending at least an hour thoroughly reading through the JVA. Understanding the JVA is key to structuring your resume to not just fit the job but to also demonstrate how you’re perfectly qualified.

You should use the same language that appears on the JVA on your resume to draw those lines even more clearly. Jobscan helps automate this process to make it go faster, letting you identify the most important keywords and skills .

Important sections of the JVA

Who may apply.

Not all JVAs will have this section, but make sure you fit the specifications if you see this section. These specifications usually involve citizenship, protected groups, etc.

How to Apply

Pay close attention to this section. Some jobs will require you to apply through the USAJobs resume builder.

Agency Contact Information

Segal advises that if you have further questions, pick up the phone and call the agency. Taylor explains, “The best times to call an agency are at 8:30 AM, 11:30 AM, and 4:30 PM EST. To really connect with agency employees, you have to target times when they aren’t as busy – first thing in the morning, right after lunch, and just before they head home.”

federal resume guide - screenshot of the Job family (series) section of a federal JVA

Score at least 70 on the Occupational Questionnaire

Many federal applications include a very important step called an occupational questionnaire . This questionnaire requires you rate to your knowledge, skills, and abilities that are relevant to the job you’re applying for.

While federal resumes are reviewed by humans, the questionnaire is scored by computers. If you don’t score high enough based on your questionnaire, your resume will end up in the ‘no’ pile before anyone has even seen it. A high score (70 at minimum) on the occupational questionnaire is the best way to ensure that a human will see your resume and review it.

However, don’t take that as a reason to lie or exaggerate your self-ranking. If you don’t feel like you can score yourself highly for each question, it’s a good indication the job isn’t a good fit for you. The occupational questionnaire is a likert scale, starting at A and going to the highest ranking of E.

Levin describes how occupational questionnaire questions are valuable to the job seeker: “If you’re looking at the questions and your stomach is sinking because you realize you’re not able to answer most of them at the E level, that should tell you that the job is not a good fit for you.”

Segal adds: “If you do not have what they are looking for, don’t bother to apply, because you’re unlikely to get any traction.”

The occupational questionnaire gives you even more understanding of what the hiring agency is specifically looking for in the role. Take the opportunity to prove your expertise not just by rating yourself E, but by demonstrating how you used the skill to succeed.

What’s the difference between a federal and a non-federal resume?

Writing a resume to apply for a job in the federal government is extremely different from applying in the private sector. Federal HR may look for some of the same things that a private sector recruiter will, but their perspective is completely different.

Taylor likes to tell her clients, “Leave everything you know about resumes at the door.”

How long should a federal resume be?

Federal resumes are much longer than a standard private sector resume. Federal resumes usually range from 6 to 8 pages depending on the applicant’s level of experience and the seniority of the job. Even entry-level applicants should furnish resumes of 4 to 6 pages.

“Federal resumes are so much longer, dense, and complex than private sector resumes,” explains Levin. “This is because federal HR wants to see that you have the actual experience that they’re looking for.”

The length of federal resumes comes from the amount of detail each resume section needs to contain. Since federal HR personnel are precluded from making any assumptions of what your prior work entailed, you’ll need to list out each responsibility and the details associated with it. While a list of responsibilities is important, even more importantly, you’ll have to detail how your skills allowed you to succeed with each of these responsibilities by giving specific examples.

“You specifically have to use the keywords from the federal job announcement to show that you are absolutely the best fit and the right person for this job because you have already done this kind of work before,“ adds Levin.

One way you can find those keywords is by scanning the JVA and your resume with Jobscan .

feder resume guide - Jobscan match report from federal JVA

You don’t need to include information that doesn’t relate to the job you’re applying for. Keep details about prior jobs that don’t relate brief or omit them entirely – the government doesn’t care about employment gaps.

Federal Resume Requirements

Federal resumes have strict requirements, and not following these requirements is a great way to get passed over. While agencies are not required to eliminate candidates who do not follow the rules, they can. As Segal explains, “If I’m sitting there as an HR person facing a thousand resumes and only a few days to go through them, I want to figure out how to winnow my pile. What’s the best way to do that? Eliminate those who didn’t follow all the rules.”

Hours Worked

Federal HR uses hours worked to determine your amount of experience, so federal resumes require your average weekly hours for each job in your work experience section. The government often requires at least 52 weeks of experience in the skills on the JVA.

Supervisor Name and Contact Information

List your immediate supervisor and their contact information for each job you list. Make sure to denote whether your current supervisor can be contacted or not.

To avoid putting yourself in an awkward position at your current job, Taylor suggests requiring you be asked before your supervisor is contacted. If asked, find out if the hiring agency is ready to offer you the job as soon as they contact your current supervisor.

References aren’t always required – it depends on the hiring agency. However, it’s a good idea to include them if you have space.

Despite the controversy over disclosing prior pay in the private sector, salary is commonly included on federal resumes. Whether it’s required in your resume depends on the hiring agency.

‘GS’ or ‘ General Schedule ’ is the pay scale for most of the federal government. If you’re already working in the government, use your GS level instead of your salary.

Writing Your Federal Resume

There are three good methods for creating your federal resume:

  • Write it yourself
  • Build it with USAJobs’s own federal resume builder
  • Hire a federal resume writer

Some JVAs may actually require you to apply through the USAJobs resume builder, but it might not be obvious in the JVA itself. For this reason, among others, both Taylor and Segal suggest applying through the USAJobs resume builder instead of creating a resume from scratch.

No matter what choice you make, do not procrastinate on applying if you find a JVA you’re interested in. The application process is much more time consuming than a private sector job application, and JVAs have a strict close time. There may also be unexpected requirements once you’re finished applying through USAJobs.

Federal Resume Format

Levin recommends building your own resume, because although federal resume formatting is very conservative, there are a few things you can do to make your resume stand out. Additionally, you control the content and don’t have to worry about the character limits of fields on the USAJobs resume builder.

The official font of the US government is Times New Roman, size 12. Some JVAs will actually require you to use this. If it’s not required, you can use different fonts, but nothing too modern. Jobscan’s guide on appropriate resume fonts can help you choose the best fonts. Levin’s favorite font to use on a federal resume is Calibri, with Arial Black used for section headings and contact information.

You can use tables and columns in your resume, but be sparing with them. Bullet points are also acceptable, but avoid other special characters. You can upload multiple documents, so be sure to upload your resume as both a PDF and a DOCX to cover all of your bases.

Using the USAJobs federal resume builder

Using the USAJobs resume builder is a great idea if you’re new to the federal job application process. The resume builder requires all of the important information that could get you disqualified if omitted, so there’s an extra level of safety in using it. There is, however, a lot of information to include in the builder, so it does require a good deal of attention to detail. Make sure you don’t accidentally skip any fields.

The biggest drawback of using the resume builder is that the fields for prior job experience have a 5,000 word character limit. While that seems like a generous limit, it’s something you might hit given the length of federal resumes.

However, Segal keyed us in a great way to deal with that character limit: “There is a section in USAJobs called ‘additional information.’ This is a free form block of 20,000 characters.”

The additional information section is where you should put further details you weren’t able to fit in throughout the rest of the process. It’s also where you should put certifications or awards.

Professional Federal Resume Writers

Your third option is to hire a federal resume writer. Since federal resumes are so complex, having an expert help you can be a great asset. Many experts don’t just write your resume, they’ll teach you how to tailor your resume for each position you’re interested in or even show you the best ways to leverage the USAJobs resume builder.

Do thorough research when selecting resume writers . Levin cautions, “There are a lot of opinions out there about federal resumes. Take them with a grain of salt. Look at that person’s experience. Do they do this professionally or is this just their opinion? Be mindful of who’s telling you what and what their background is.”

Federal Resume Tips

  • “Digitized company’s internal microfilm library of more than 5,000 files”
  • “Steered company through a complicated re-organization, resulting in a 75% increase in profits with minimal employee turnover.”
  • Use the same language as the JVA and occupational questionnaire
  • Use Jobscan to match and optimize keywords
  • Make your qualifications for the role straightforward and obvious
  • Take advantage of how long federal resumes are expected to be (4-8 pages)
  • Only list your responsibilities and not show measurable results
  • Assume that anything about your prior experience is self-explanatory
  • Include personal pictures such as a headshot
  • Include personal information such as your SSN or hobbies
  • Finally, we asked each expert what they thought some of the most important things federal job seekers should know:

Nancy Segal : “You have to understand the process. If you do the process right, you should consistently get to the hiring manager.”

Lex Levin : “Federal hiring is very much a marathon, not a sprint. It takes on average about a hundred and six days to go from application to onboarding, which is over three months. Many people wait longer than that. If you are getting referred [to the hiring manager], that means the resume is working for you – keep applying!”

Karol Taylor : “Don’t struggle with no results. Invest in your future, invest in yourself. This is your career, it’s your future, it’s worth the time and money.”

Useful Resources:

  • USAJob’s resume writing video tutorial
  • Pathways – recent grad federal job program
  • Free virtual events from USAJobs including resume writing workshops
  • AskFedWeek.com
  • How to write executive core qualifications

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how do you write a federal resume

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Tips for Creating a Federal Resume

A resume is your ticket to a job.  It must do two things; qualify you for a job, and impress a hiring manager enough to offer you an interview.

In general there are two types/usages of resumes:

  • A private sector resume is typically limited to two pages, with concise information and plain language.  It includes bullet formatting that provides a brief synopsis of your work history.  This resume is preferred by many organizations that may not take or have the time to review a long comprehensive resume.  Recruiters may tell you that they prefer a private sector resume.  This type of resume is more commonly used when attending career fairs with no or very few federal agencies participating at the event.  Additionally, a private sector resume is popular with resume writing classes that are offered, many times at job fairs.  When competing for a federal job, a private sector resume limits your competitiveness against an applicant with a well-developed federal resume.  
  • A federal resume is typically several pages long with a high-level of detail and government keywords that demonstrates what knowledge, skills, and abilities you possess that align with the requirements listed in a federal job vacancy announcement.  This type of resume is more difficult to create and includes sentence and paragraph structure.  It requires you to read the job announcement closely to ensure the government keywords are included and addressed in your resume.

If you have multiple skills, it is advantageous to create more than one resume on USAJobs.gov.

General information on how to enhance your federal resume:

  • The easier a resume is to read and the more focused it is on the job vacancy requirements, the faster it is for human resources (HR) staff and hiring managers to evaluate and determine if you qualify for a position.  Remember to include the month and year of previous employment when listing your employment history.  
  • You should focus your qualifications on the knowledge, skills, and abilities and job requirements listed in the vacancy announcement and provide your professional background as it relates to the needs of the federal agency.  
  • Use titles or headings that match language found in the job announcement.  In the federal application process, a “one resume fits all” approach is not appropriate.  Employers often make quick decisions while scanning resumes.  Furthermore, your resume should highlight the most important and relevant information about your experiences, skills, and education that relate to the job.  
  • It is important to “civilianize” your resume while effectively communicating your military skills and education.  HR staff and hiring managers often have little or no experience in the military and may not be familiar with common military language.  Moreover, many standard military acronyms are also not understood and you should limit its use whenever possible.  Have someone who has no military experience read your resume, and if they have questions or do not understand something you have listed, chances are HR staff and hiring managers will have the same questions.  
  • Using numbers, statistics, and quantifiable data to describe achievements and skill sets can improve how well you compete for a position.  If you can demonstrate that you have saved an organization money, streamlined a process to increase production, or improved efficiencies in an operation, it is easier for a hiring manager to favorably rank you against other applicants.  Additionally, it enhances your resume when you can highlight significant accomplishments or show the impact you have had in a previous occupation.  
  • It is a common practice in the military, especially on evaluation or fitness reports, to make a list of the duties you perform and to use words such as responsible, assist, coordinate, etc.  However, consider using the power words and active verbs below to describe your accomplishments to convey your skills:

accomplished

administered

analyzed

contracted

created

directed

developed

drafted

established

improved

implemented

negotiated

7. Creating a federal resume can become more difficult if you have multiple skill sets that you need to exhibit.  To help develop your resume, research multiple federal job announcements that you believe you are qualified to apply for, review each one from start to finish, and make sure you note all of the requirements, duties, and responsibilities of the position.  Next, highlight the key words and sentences from each announcement and use a search engine (Bing, Google, Yahoo!, etc.) to request information on the job titles listed on the announcement (Program Analyst, Program Manager, Program Specialist, etc.).  This will provide you with generic information on the types of responsibilities that are common to that job title (usually in civilian terms).  Finally, compare the words and sections that you highlighted on each job announcement and the generic list from the search engine, and see if you have a large number of those items already listed in your resume.  If those words do not appear and you possess those skills, add them to your resume.  Remember, for a federal position you are trying to create a comprehensive, well-written resume that is relevant to the job.

8. Information that should not be identified on your resume:

  • College fraternities/sororities
  • Health status
  • Marital/family status
  • References (use “references available upon request” to ensure they are current)
  • Social Security numbers
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Karl Kahler

Federal resume examples & templates

Federal resume examples & templates

Choosing the right resume format for the federal government 

Include your contact information, make use of a summary or objective, outline your work experience , include the relevant key skills that make you a great federal employee, detail your education & relevant certifications, pick the right resume layout and design for a federal resume, what type of salary you can expect in federal government.

Getting a federal job with the U.S. government can be a great way to start or continue your career. As with any formal job, the first step is to create an organized, powerful resume to land those high salaries and stable positions. 

Entry-level Federal Resume Example

State organizations are often famous for their formal requirements and bureaucracy, and there are lots of hurdles to clear. According to the official government website USAjobs.gov : “Whether you’re a current federal employee or new to the Federal Government, your resume is the primary way for you to communicate your education, skills and experience.”

Resume guide for a federal resume

Regardless of the type of federal job you’re targeting, you need an outstanding resume—and Resume.io can help. Our resources include resume examples for over 500 professions, and our resume builder makes it easier than ever to create a winning resume, even with the additional requirements from the government. 

This resume guide and corresponding federal resume example will cover the following:

How to write a federal resume

  • Choosing the right resume format for federal jobs
  • How to add your contact information
  • Using summaries to introduce yourself
  • Adding your relevant experience
  • Listing education and other credentials
  • Picking the right resume design/layout
  • What the federal job market looks like and what salary you can expect

Regardless of occupation, this is the framework of elements that all resumes should incorporate:

  • The resume header
  • The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
  • The employment history section
  • The resume skills section
  • The education section

However, due to the unique requirements of the federal government, your federal resume will likely include more detail in each of these sections than on a standard corporate resume. 

Even with the federal government, a job application is a way of selling your unique value proposition to your future employer. You can do this in the following ways:

  • While a federal resume requires you to list your job duties, you can also highlight accomplishments to give your resume more power. Anyone can list the tasks they were given, but what did you specifically accomplish in your past roles? What value did you bring?
  • We recommend tailoring your resume to the specific employer, which you’ll be doing when you create a federal resume. Don’t just send your regular corporate resume; you need to follow the specific federal format.
  • Ensure the design and layout of your resume are professional and easy to read. Federal resumes contain a lot of information, so make it easy to find what’s important!
  • The federal government receives thousands of resumes, so be sure yours is optimized with the right keywords so it won’t be filtered out by ATS screening software .

Optimize for the ATS

ATS stands for applicant tracking system : a system used by companies, including the government, to collect and manage applications. Some advanced systems use algorithms to help scan and filter resumes based on how well they match the defined criteria.

Resumes that contain the desired keywords and phrases are green-lighted for further review. But when resumes fail the test, a human being may not even bother looking at them. And it turns out the official website for U.S. federal hiring actually addresses this issue under the helpful item “ What should I include in my federal resume? ” They suggest using the right terms to address each qualification from the job posting. 

For example, if a job calls for:

  • Military experience
  • Bachelor’s degree

You want to make sure those terms are covered on your resume. Putting them into the summary, for instance, could look like this: “Experienced project management professional with military background, bachelor’s degree in business administration, and extensive experience with MS Project.”

Federal jobs require a unique resume format. In fact, they have recommended templates and examples online. At its core, the federal resume is similar to a hybrid resume format . This means your resume opens by displaying your skills and competencies and then moves into your work history, presented in reverse chronological order . This work experience should include employer headings with the company name, job title, and dates worked.

When it comes to design, the best federal resumes use a simple layout that is clean, streamlined, and lacking distractions. 

An eye-pleasing resume header helps you stand out in the crowd of other federal government job contenders. Double your impact by making your resume and cover letter show off your personal brand with identical headers. Most important, the prominent placement of your name and contact information makes it that much easier for interested recruiters to get in touch with an interview invitation. 

Because federal resumes are unique, you might need to incorporate extra information into your header compared to other types of resumes:

  • Full name & title . List your first and last name and the title of the job you’re pursuing.
  • Professional email address . Use a professional email format like [email protected] .
  • Phone number . Add the best phone number for them to call, ensuring you have a professional voicemail greeting set up.
  • Location . While on most resumes you list only your city and state , federal resumes require a full address.
  • LinkedIn . If your LinkedIn profile is active and relevant, feel free to include it.
  • Citizenship status . List whether or not you are a US citizen and, if not, include your visa status.
  • Special details . Add details like veteran experience, prior federal experience, or any government clearance you hold.

Don’t include:

  • Date of birth : Even though federal resumes require more information, you can leave this off; it could potentially lead to age discrimination .
  • Personal details : Marital status, passport number , etc. A social security number may be requested, but if it is not, you can leave it off.

Dave Salius

5004 Ingrid Lane, Washington D.C., 20016, United States

(202) 362-7188

[email protected]

Citizenship: US  

Special Hiring Authority: None 

Federal Experience: Yes, Federal

Clearance: None

You may not be running for office, but like any candidate for a government job, you need to make a clear, strong opening pitch on why you’re the right person to fill it. The resume summary—often referred to as an objective on the federal resume—is the first thing employers will see on your resume after your header.

A simple way to create a federal resume objective is to craft a basic statement including the agency and position you’re targeting. These few sentences are your opportunity to introduce yourself as the best person for the job. 

In general, any resume summary should do more than just reiterate the resume content. Instead, use this space to give an overarching narrative of your experience and qualifications. For example, “Professional statistician with 10 years of experience in expert-level research and data mining, as well as writing and information design skills to present results to the public.” 

Need inspiration for your summary? Check out our related resumes: 

  • First selectman resume sample
  • Correctional officer resume sample
  • Federal resume sample
  • City manager resume example
  • Bank manager resume example
  • Government resume example

You can find adaptable federal resume examples summary below:

Dedicated and hardworking HR professional seeking HR Coordinator role within US Health and Human Services. Strong understanding of HR practices and employment laws. Adept at providing optimal support to executives and officials in need. Committed to integrity and constantly securing the privacy of identities and documents. 

HR Generalist with five years of experience ensuring HR systems adequately support federal agencies in recruiting, hiring, and retaining an excellent and diverse workforce. Adept at providing optimal support to executives and officials in need. Committed to integrity and constantly securing the privacy of identities and documents. Proven track record of facilitating excellent workflow in HR departments. 

Experienced and dedicated HR Manager with over ten years of experience ensuring HR systems adequately support federal agencies in recruiting, hiring, and retaining an excellent and diverse workforce. Adept at providing optimal support to executives and officials in need. Committed to integrity and constantly securing the privacy of identities and documents. Proven track record of facilitating excellent workflow in HR departments.

Your resume's employment history section should list current and previous jobs in reverse chronological order. Like most resumes, you should include the company, title, and dates of employment. However, unlike standard resumes, federal resumes also require you to add the number of hours you worked per week, your level or federal grade, and sometimes your salary.

For example, directly from USAJobs :

Program Analyst GS-343-11 January 2009—Present 40 Hours/Week $63,000/Year

  • Experience/Accomplishment

Include at least the last 10 years of experience. Don’t just list job duties (although those are important); make sure to list your specific achievements at each job. Avoid saying “Was responsible for” and use strong action verbs to describe what you actually did. Be as specific as possible, ideally citing any numerical evidence (facts and figures) for your accomplishments (alternatively, share project or team-based achievements). 

As an example, vague, duty-based statements might look like this:

  • “Assisted in attracting and retaining workers.”
  • “Handled HR procedures.”
  • “Helped to foster a diverse and inclusive work environment.”
  • “Provided optimal administrative support and conducted yearly reviews.”

When you rephrase them to focus more on your specific impact and results , your resume becomes much more compelling:

  • “Assisted in attracting and retaining a high performing and diverse workforce, contributing to a 30% increase in retention.”
  • “Handled all HR procedures with confidentiality and ethics, leveraging expertise from PHR certification.”
  • “Fostered a diverse and inclusive work environment, including execution of three programs that grew employee diversity by 10%”
  • “Managed administrative oversight for location, including conducting annual reviews for 15 employees of various levels.”

Take a look at the federal employment history resume sample below:

Federal HR Manager at Federal Government, Washington D.C.  June 2006 - September 2018 

  • Assisted in attracting and retaining a high performing and diverse workforce.
  • Handled all HR procedures with confidentiality and ethics.
  • Helped to foster a diverse and inclusive work environment.
  • Provided optimal administrative support and conducted yearly reviews.

Your skills section should include a mix of hard and soft skills to paint the full picture of who you are as an employee.

Hard skills include advanced expertise in your field or technical skills like knowledge of specific systems. On the other hand, soft skills like cross-functional collaboration, communication skills , or problem solving talents are important as well. 

Our resume builder offers a myriad of pre-written skills to choose from, along with proficiency ranges you can set. You can also include your own skills.

Here’s what the skills box looks like in our federal resume template. 

  • Computer Systems
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Organizational Skills
  • Positive Work Ethic

However, while a federal resume’s skills section is important, it’s not the only place to show your skill set. Instead, ensure your skills show up throughout your resume—especially in the summary and work history sections. 

For example, you might highlight things like:

  • Specific role expertise by describing the knowledge you gained and leveraged in past roles, accomplishments specific to the role at hand, and impacts you’ve made in relevant positions
  • Technical skills including any specific systems or software you’ve used. If you’re in a technical role, be sure to list coding languages, databases, or other technologies.
  • Interpersonal skills such as leadership experience , cross-functional collaboration, or strong communication skills.

Look to the job description as a guide for what key skills to include.

The federal government hires workers from a broad range of educational backgrounds, from scholars with doctoral degrees to people who never finished high school. Study the requirements of government jobs in your field and make sure you have the required education before you apply. 

In your education section , list your educational credentials in reverse chronological order along with any special certifications in your field. For example:

  • Training and certifications . Any courses, workshops, or even webinars that enhance your skills in the job you’re targeting.
  • Internships . Include any relevant internships or training programs.
  • Professional development . Memberships in related business or trade associations show your interest in your field and desire to continue growing your knowledge.

Be sure to include the name of the institution, your degree or credential, dates attended, and your GPA (if relevant). 

Bachelor of Communications, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.  August 2002 - May 2006 

High School Diploma, St. Rose's High School, Arlington  September 1998 - May 2002

You have likely heard you should keep your resume to one page, but with a federal resume, you should expect to write a longer resume. Don’t get too caught up in the number of pages since a multi-page resume is standard.

Do, however, keep your resume layout and design simple, straightforward, and elegant. Avoid gimmicks, splashy colors , or excessive decoration. Strive for a professional, eye-pleasing look, use a balance of white space and text, and choose a simple font . 

It may feel daunting to write a federal resume, but there are ways to make it easier. Check out our field-tested resume templates and let us handle the heavy lifting. 

Federal text-only resume example

Experienced and dedicated Federal Government HR Manager with over ten years of experience, ensure HR systems support agencies in recruiting, hiring and retaining an excellent and diverse workforce. Adept at providing optimal support to executives and officials in need. Committed to integrity and constantly securing the privacy of identities and documents. Bringing forth a proven track record of facilitating excellent workflow in HR departments. 

Employment history

Federal job market and outlook

Federal jobs remain highly coveted, and with good reason, as they often are some of the most recession-proof opportunities out there (relatively speaking, of course). The federal government is the largest employer in the United States : in 2023, there were 2.95 million employees working for the federal government. 

To a job seeker, these numbers add up to big opportunities. Not only are there lots of jobs, but federal workers generally enjoy exceptional pay and benefits, good hours, and extraordinary job security. Plus, over the long haul, government payrolls are relatively immune to political changes at the top.

  • The fastest-growing jobs in the federal government are projected to be statisticians, medical workers, computer and data experts, and analysts.
  • However, there is an anticipated decline in overall federal employment, estimated at 2% .
  • The locations with the highest average federal salaries are Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey. The lowest-paid are Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

Due to the wide variety of federal jobs, the changing number of jobs, and the varying amounts of pay (all of which are moving targets), estimates differ on average salaries for federal employees. The short answer, however, is that the pay is good. 

According to USAFacts.org, the average annual pay for civilian federal workers exceeds $80,000 in all US states. The highest paid professions include medical officers ($269,735 per year), securities compliance examiners ($210,689), dental officers ($202,333), administrative law judges ($192,546), and ship pilots ($183,500). 

Key takeaways for building a federal resume

There are millions of federal jobs with excellent pay, benefits and job security, and the job outlook for this sector is fairly secure. For anyone seeking federal employment, building an outstanding resume is a crucial first step. Make sure each resume you send out is custom-built to specifically address the requirements of the job you’re seeking.

Spend some time with our online resume builder at Resume.io, choose one of our professional templates, and start crafting a bulletproof resume today. The jobs are there—all they’re waiting for is you.

Beautiful ready-to-use resume templates

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  4. FBI Resume: Template, Example and Guide [PDF+Word]

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  5. Federal Resume Example & Writing Tips for 2022

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  6. Veteran Federal Resume Samples [PDF + Word]

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VIDEO

  1. DECODING USAJOBS

  2. Creating a Federal Resume

  3. Federal Resume Writing Tips & Uploading/Building Resumes

  4. 🇺🇸 How to write a federal resume

  5. Job Club: Preparing A Federal Resume

  6. Federal Resume vs. Private Sector

COMMENTS

  1. PDF writing An EFFECTIVE FEDERAL RESUME

    A guide to understanding and writing an effective Federal resume. Your resume is your marketing tool in which to describe why you may be the best candidate for the position for which you are applying. When writing your resume, you should consider your accomplishments, making your resume is results-driven. It is best to break your resume down ...

  2. Tips for Writing a Federal Resume

    Tips for Writing a Federal Resume. Creating a federal resume that brings your qualifications to life and shows that you are a perfect fit for the job can be a challenge. Be sure to demonstrate how your skills, experience, training and education match the employer's needs. Avoid misspelled words and bad grammar.

  3. How To Write a Federal Resume (Plus Tips and Example)

    Here are some tips on how to write a federal resume: 1. Identify the role. Before your contact information, consider identifying the role you're applying for. It's sometimes appropriate to include the formal name of the role, its General Schedule (GS) grade and its identification number. You can usually find this information in the job description.

  4. How To Build a Federal Resume (With Template)

    1. Gather the required information. Additional information is required when writing a federal resume. It also requires particular formatting and should include the sections listed below: Job information: This includes the announcement number, title, series and grade of the job in which you apply. Personal information: This includes your full ...

  5. Writing a federal government resume

    What needs to be included, in what order, and what would it look like with real information. This is that example. (Law and Order chimes) It can be helpful to think about a federal resume like an academic CV, an overview of your whole career. Also, these are long documents. This is not the place for a 1-2 page resume.

  6. Federal Resume: Example, Template & How to Write

    Here's a resume template with everything you need to build a resume for uploading to USAJOBS: 1. Resume Heading. FIRST AND LAST NAME. Address: your street, city, state, zip code | Email: [email protected] | Phone: xxx xxx xxxx. Desired job: Title, grade (GS #), announcement number. Citizenship:

  7. Federal Resume Tips

    Education and work experience that is indirectly related can be excluded if the resume begins to grow too long. Be concise and keep paragraphs short. To make your resume easier to read, add a brief, relevant heading to paragraphs to maximize readability. Use bullets to describe your experiences and accomplishments.

  8. PDF Federal Resume Guide

    Federal Resume Guide Page 4 Writing a Winning Resume Knowing how to write a winning resume is a valuable skill to have in today's job market. Your resume is the first impression you give to a potential employer - it is your marketing piece. A well-written resume can help you land an interview or may lead to new job opportunities.

  9. USAJOBS Help Center

    Whether you're a current federal employee or new to the federal government, your resume is the primary way for you to communicate your education, skills and experience. The federal government does not have a standard job application. Your resume is your application. A resume for a federal job is different than one for the private sector.

  10. Quick Guide to Preparing a Resume For Federal Government Positions

    Best Example. Write a brief description of your experience/duties, and identify your major roles and responsibilities. Describe in detail each position you held for at least the last 10 years and quantify and qualify each statement). IP: Describe each duty as if you are describing it to someone for the first time.

  11. Writing a Federal Resume

    The best way to create a federal resume is to use the resume builder on the federal government's jobs website, USAJOBS. The resume builder will guide you through the whole process. And you don't have to stick with one. You can create a resume tailored to fit different positions you apply for. You can also create a searchable, master resume ...

  12. How to Write a Federal Resume in 2024 [3 Free Templates]

    Helped implement a cutting-edge project management solution organization-wide, improving employee output by 20% for the year. Step #5. Add Your Educational History. Next up in the federal resume is your educational history. This one's pretty straightforward - all you need to do is mention the following: College name.

  13. Federal Resumes Guide for USAJobs

    The main differences between a federal resume and a private sector resume are the length of the resume and the detail involved. While a typical resume should be no more than two pages in length, a federal resume can extend to five pages or more. In addition, federal resumes require more details in regards to references, availability, and ...

  14. Building a Federal Resume: Tips and FAQs

    Resume Writing Do's. Resume Writing Don'ts. Be thorough, detailed, and clearly depict experience, qualifications, and accomplishments. Don't only state duties; showcase your accomplishments. Use ...

  15. How To Write a Government Resume (With Example and Template)

    How to write a government resume. Here are six steps on writing a government resume: 1. Provide your contact information. As with a regular resume, you include your contact information to introduce yourself. Start with your full name, current job title, phone number, email address and location.

  16. 10 Tips for Writing Your Federal Resume > DCAA > Article View

    Do include: your name, address, phone, and email address. Include your most recent positions first. It's usually easiest for reviewers to follow a resume organized in reverse chronological order. Be specific about your relevant experience and address every requirement by including: The month and year that you started and ended each position;

  17. How To Write Federal Resume For Government Job + Tips

    In the Work Experience section of a federal resume, it is important to include several components for each job descriptions or work experience listed: The start and end dates, including the month and year. The level of experience (e.g. manager, supervisor, etc.) and how long the experience was at each level. The average weekly number of hours ...

  18. PDF Tips for Writing a Federal Resume

    application ‐ your federal resume is your application. A private sector resume is generally limited to two pages and provides a brief synopsis of your work history. A private sector resume is essentially a marketing tool to help you get an interview with an employer. CONTENT

  19. How to Write a Federal Resume

    Writing Your Federal Resume. There are three good methods for creating your federal resume: Write it yourself; Build it with USAJobs's own federal resume builder; Hire a federal resume writer; Some JVAs may actually require you to apply through the USAJobs resume builder, but it might not be obvious in the JVA itself. For this reason, among ...

  20. Federal Resume: Templates, Example, & What to Include

    The federal resume template up top shows how. Tailor your experience section to the job. Look at the job announcement on USAJobs.gov. Describe your job with keywords, then add measurable accomplishments. Add other sections to your federal government resume to show you're the best candidate.

  21. Tips for Creating a Federal Resume

    negotiated. 7. Creating a federal resume can become more difficult if you have multiple skill sets that you need to exhibit. To help develop your resume, research multiple federal job announcements that you believe you are qualified to apply for, review each one from start to finish, and make sure you note all of the requirements, duties, and ...

  22. Federal Resume Examples & Templates (2024) · Resume.io

    How to write a federal resume. Regardless of occupation, this is the framework of elements that all resumes should incorporate: The resume header. The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement) The employment history section. The resume skills section. The education section.

  23. News Intern, in Salt Lake City

    You must include with your application: A cover letter A resume Published news writing samples (cannot be class papers). ... or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. For more information, or to apply now, you must go to the website below. Please DO NOT email your resume to us as we only accept applications through ...