Is it worth paying for a federal resume?
July 10, 2012 8:17 AM Subscribe
Has anyone ever paid to have a federal resume created and did it help? Even if it didn't initially result in a job offer were you happy with the end product?
Here's the deal; in the last 6 months, I have applied for 4 jobs via USAJobs. Other than a difference in subject area, they were virtually identical to a position that I held for 2.5 years as a grant funded position (as a trust rather than federal employee) in a different unit of the same institution. Yet I can't seem to even get to the interview stage. In one case it was due to the subject area specialization,. but the others? My USAjobs resume was deemed worthy of being passed on to the hiring committee in one case. I have purchased and read through one of the recommended "how to create a federal resume books" but frankly I due to my current unsatisfying job, which has a long commute and is depressing the hell out of me, I don’t have a lot of energy. I wouldn’t mind throwing money at this problem as long as it wouldn’t be the equivalent of throwing money away. I know that there are no guarantees, but since I’ve got the experience and I’ve come close before, I wonder if getting my resume done professionally would give me any sort of edge?
Here's the deal; in the last 6 months, I have applied for 4 jobs via USAJobs. Other than a difference in subject area, they were virtually identical to a position that I held for 2.5 years as a grant funded position (as a trust rather than federal employee) in a different unit of the same institution. Yet I can't seem to even get to the interview stage. In one case it was due to the subject area specialization,. but the others? My USAjobs resume was deemed worthy of being passed on to the hiring committee in one case. I have purchased and read through one of the recommended "how to create a federal resume books" but frankly I due to my current unsatisfying job, which has a long commute and is depressing the hell out of me, I don’t have a lot of energy. I wouldn’t mind throwing money at this problem as long as it wouldn’t be the equivalent of throwing money away. I know that there are no guarantees, but since I’ve got the experience and I’ve come close before, I wonder if getting my resume done professionally would give me any sort of edge?
From what I've heard the higher you go, the better an idea this is. SES? Yes, very. GS-11? Not so much.
posted by anti social order at 8:58 AM on July 10, 2012
posted by anti social order at 8:58 AM on July 10, 2012
I just came here to Nth newg. Federal jobs are VERY competitive.
posted by emilynoa at 10:34 AM on July 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by emilynoa at 10:34 AM on July 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
This is a very complex issue.
First off, many of the jobs posted weren't actually open in a meaningful sense. Those postings may have been tailored for the resume of a person who had already interviewed for the job, or was known to the agency, or was an internal hire of a contractor or someone else. Federal law may have mandated the job be posted, but you may have had no chance. Some agencies are much much worse at this than others.
Second, the people who do the vetting, well, they are often atrocious at this. I usually tell people that literally every single word in the description must appear in your resume at some point. If the posting says that you must have five years of experience managing a small team of Rhesus Monkeys, and your resume says 1990-1995 Director of All Monkeys team, that won't do it. You often have to say "I have five years of experience managing a small team of Rhesus Monkeys." Imagine sub-literate robots who suck at regular expressions and pattern matching. Now imagine they live in West Virginia and drink moonshine all day. That's basically who vets these things, but with fewer teeth.
Third, there is some ridiculous scoring going on that can make service-disabled veterans trump all. There are firms that work with vets to dress up a resume such that our sub-literate robots parse it. I've seen people with veteran's preference get through the initial vetting with virtually none of the qualifications while extremely talented people who were leaders in their field did not.
Resume coaches won't tell you much more than this, but they can actually do some of the leg work of checking to make sure you address every single qualification.
posted by allen.spaulding at 10:51 AM on July 10, 2012 [8 favorites]
First off, many of the jobs posted weren't actually open in a meaningful sense. Those postings may have been tailored for the resume of a person who had already interviewed for the job, or was known to the agency, or was an internal hire of a contractor or someone else. Federal law may have mandated the job be posted, but you may have had no chance. Some agencies are much much worse at this than others.
Second, the people who do the vetting, well, they are often atrocious at this. I usually tell people that literally every single word in the description must appear in your resume at some point. If the posting says that you must have five years of experience managing a small team of Rhesus Monkeys, and your resume says 1990-1995 Director of All Monkeys team, that won't do it. You often have to say "I have five years of experience managing a small team of Rhesus Monkeys." Imagine sub-literate robots who suck at regular expressions and pattern matching. Now imagine they live in West Virginia and drink moonshine all day. That's basically who vets these things, but with fewer teeth.
Third, there is some ridiculous scoring going on that can make service-disabled veterans trump all. There are firms that work with vets to dress up a resume such that our sub-literate robots parse it. I've seen people with veteran's preference get through the initial vetting with virtually none of the qualifications while extremely talented people who were leaders in their field did not.
Resume coaches won't tell you much more than this, but they can actually do some of the leg work of checking to make sure you address every single qualification.
posted by allen.spaulding at 10:51 AM on July 10, 2012 [8 favorites]
Just came here to nth what everyone's been saying.
1. The resume has to be tailored to the job with the EXACT wording that's in the posting.
2. The scoring! The scoring! There are tons of vets, and many disabled vets applying for the same jobs. They get the preference, it's as simple as that.
3. My Dad got in only after being a DOD contractor for 6 years!
But, keep posting. Also, keep looking for other public sector jobs too. Be in it for the long haul.
I has a score of 105 and never got the interview. I was fingerprinted at the IRS and never got the interview.
I'm cool where I am now, but I look every now and then.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:13 AM on July 10, 2012
1. The resume has to be tailored to the job with the EXACT wording that's in the posting.
2. The scoring! The scoring! There are tons of vets, and many disabled vets applying for the same jobs. They get the preference, it's as simple as that.
3. My Dad got in only after being a DOD contractor for 6 years!
But, keep posting. Also, keep looking for other public sector jobs too. Be in it for the long haul.
I has a score of 105 and never got the interview. I was fingerprinted at the IRS and never got the interview.
I'm cool where I am now, but I look every now and then.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:13 AM on July 10, 2012
I'm a Federal employee, and I've received two (engineering) job offers through USAJobs in the last couple of years. That was after applying for 50-60 positions.
Don't worry so much about the other stuff, such as the scoring and whether other people are out there beating you. The other posters here have it right: the only thing you have control over is how you address the "magic words" within the job posting.
One technique I used: I would copy/paste the job description into my resume and start finding places to put the words and sentences until everything had a place within the resume. This creates a version of your resume that is so embarrassingly written that it is only good for USAJobs.
posted by jason6 at 12:45 PM on July 10, 2012 [3 favorites]
Don't worry so much about the other stuff, such as the scoring and whether other people are out there beating you. The other posters here have it right: the only thing you have control over is how you address the "magic words" within the job posting.
One technique I used: I would copy/paste the job description into my resume and start finding places to put the words and sentences until everything had a place within the resume. This creates a version of your resume that is so embarrassingly written that it is only good for USAJobs.
posted by jason6 at 12:45 PM on July 10, 2012 [3 favorites]
Hi, yes, almost all of the jobs that are listed are because of certain regulations - in reality they already have an internal (or subcontractor) canidate that is already predetermined. Knowing someone helps as well.
How did I 'get in" ? I guess my resume. I'm not a member of the military. I don't know anyone. I don't even have a degree (although a degree is not necessarily required for my position).
My resume tastefully included a lotttttt of key words about skills, software, etc. I also edited my resume to reflect certain keywords that were in any job postings that I saw. I also added a splash of color.
I actually started off as a "temp/casual" employee - which means very little benefits and floating to different areas. Then I worked my way to a perm. position.
So keep on it!
posted by KogeLiz at 12:47 PM on July 10, 2012
How did I 'get in" ? I guess my resume. I'm not a member of the military. I don't know anyone. I don't even have a degree (although a degree is not necessarily required for my position).
My resume tastefully included a lotttttt of key words about skills, software, etc. I also edited my resume to reflect certain keywords that were in any job postings that I saw. I also added a splash of color.
I actually started off as a "temp/casual" employee - which means very little benefits and floating to different areas. Then I worked my way to a perm. position.
So keep on it!
posted by KogeLiz at 12:47 PM on July 10, 2012
As someone with 29 years federal service with experience on both looking for jobs as well as looking for people, the best advice I can give you is what has already been said. In my Agency at least, the initial applicants are automatically screened by the computer based upon keywords defined by the hiring official. If your application does not have enough keyword "hits" it will never be seen by a human, it's as simple as that.
Then you have to be selected by the human for an interview.
Good luck and keep trying.
posted by jeporter99 at 6:09 AM on July 11, 2012
Then you have to be selected by the human for an interview.
Good luck and keep trying.
posted by jeporter99 at 6:09 AM on July 11, 2012
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posted by newg at 8:57 AM on July 10, 2012