The government job application can be a frustrating process. There are steps you can take to greatly increase your success. If you follow the tips below you will be qualified and referred more consistently than ever.
The very first and most important tip is to verify the hiring path or area of consideration for the position. Ensuring you meet the area of consideration can save you a lot of time and headache. If you apply to a job that you do not meet the area of consideration for, you will not be considered. No matter how qualified you are.
Once you’ve confirmed you meet the hiring path the next step is to get your resume in order. This means to have your resume formatted with the right structure and to tailor it to the specialized experience required for the position. The most important part of a government job application is the resume.
The correct format for a resume refers to the way your work history is listed. Your resume can look any way you want as long as it includes the following information: start and stop dates (month/year – month/year), and whether the employment was full or part time. If part time you must include the average number of hours you worked per week. Including this information is important because it is what HR uses to verify the required length of experience needed to qualify for the position.
The date range is used to calculate the one year of specialized experience needed as referenced in the job announcement. If you have full time experience it makes the calculation easy. One year equals one year. If you have part time experience it gets a little tricky. I would have to break down your experience by hours to ensure they add up to the magic number 2080. One year of experience equals 2080 hours.
You don’t have to have the entire year of experience under one block of experience. If you have multiple part time employers where you performed similar duties, they can be added together for the one-year requirement. There have been many times when I have added up 2, 3, and even 4 different blocks of experience to determine someone met the one year of specialized experience.
Once you have your employment dates formatted properly it is time to tailor your resume.
The key to your government job application being found eligible is including the specialized experience from the job announcement in your resume. The specialized experience examples from the qualifications section come directly from the hiring manager for what they are looking for in a candidate. The HR specialist puts that in the job announcement so everyone can see what is required. When reviewing job applications, I will open the job announcement and use it as a reference against your resume.
The experience should not be listed word for word as a copy and paste. You could use the experience as a guide but then list specific examples of your own experience to show that you have performed the duties the hiring manager is looking for.
Listing required experience in your resume also applies to assessment or online questionnaire. When you take the online questionnaire there may be rating questions. These questions have you rate yourself from no experience to being an expert on a specific situation. You should answer that you are an expert to every question, but also include examples of the duties from the question in your resume. This will ensure that you meet the score needed to be in the highly qualified category.
After you have your resume tailored you are almost home free. The next couple tips are part of the assessment. The first tip is to make sure include all required documents. If you aren’t sure about what documents are required, the rule of thumb is to include any document needed to qualify for the position or to meet the area of consideration.
Examples of required documents would be your transcripts if you are using education to qualify for the position. They can be unofficial transcripts just make sure they have your conferral date on them. Also, a copy of your license if required. Your SF-50 if you are a current federal employee. Your DD-214 and VA disability letter if you are claiming Veteran’s preference or status. Schedule A letter if you are qualifying based on disability. The list goes on.
By not including a required document you could be disqualified. It could cause you to not meet the requirements of the position or not meet the eligibility you claimed to even be considered.
This last tip is just to help increase your chances of being referred and possibly interviewed. There is no right or wrong with this tip, but I’ll explain how following it will place you on more certificates. This will apply to positions that include multiple grades. When a career ladder position is posted you will be asked during the assessment what the lowest grade you would like to be considered for. You should always pick the lowest grade possible. Even if you know you qualify at a higher grade, pick the lowest. There is a very good reason.
The primary reason to pick the lowest grade to be considered is that it puts you on all certificates that you qualify for. Since the hiring manager gets to pick which certificates, they want to use it is important to be on as many certificates as possible.
The secondary reason is to keep you from overestimating your experience and being disqualified. The way it works is if you don’t qualify for the grade you pick then you are screened out. On the other hand, if you pick a lower grade, but qualify for a higher grade you will be on the certificate for every grade you qualify for.
So, if the position is a GS-7/9/11 and you qualify at the 11 but pick the 7 as your lowest grade, you will be on the certificate for the 7, the 9, and the 11. This is beneficial because you never know which certificate the hiring manager is going to choose to do their interviews. If you were to pick the GS-11 only in this example you would only be on the one certificate. You are offered the grade of the certificate you are selected from, but the hiring managers are aware and do a good job of selecting applicants from the correct certificate to give you the highest grade you qualify for.
Once you have everything ready and submitted there is only one thing left to do. That is to contact the HR point of contact at the bottom of the job announcement. You want to verify that all documents uploaded properly and that you rated yourself eligible on your government job application. If there is an issue you can correct it up until the announcement closes.
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