Robert Jurasek ⋅ Hollywood, FL Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ⋅ 45 years experience

Dear Richard,

When applying for Federal positions on USAJOBS, the details of your present and previous work experience should be adjusted to include much of the same wording used to describe the Responsibilities, Specialized Experience, Training, and any Certification Requirements in the job announcement for which you are applying.

And while the content of the résumé is very important and should be tailored to a specific job announcement, it also is important that the information be presented in the correct format for a Federal résumé. USAJOBS has a résumé builder and résumé tips that might be of interest to you at https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/account/documents/resume/build/

The job announcement will have a section that lists “Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA)” or have a box with a hyperlink for “Preview Job Questionnaire”, where you can scroll down to the KSAs. To answer any given KSA, you will have several choices that generally range from having no clue of what they are talking about – to being a subject matter expert (SME). The blank space that follows the KSA is your opportunity to give examples that will support your answer—PLEASE USE IT!

Ideally, you will provide two examples for each KSA using the Context- Challenge- Action- Result (CCAR) method of documenting your accomplishments. Here is one over-simplified example:
• Context: In February, 2015, as the Manager of the shipping department at ABC Shipping Co., Miami FL . . . (The Context sets the stage for the rest of the story.)
• Challenge: The Company mandated that all departments reduce their budget by 5%.
• Action: I formed and chaired a committee to analyze our current shipping practices and to identify ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Based on our analysis, we developed policy and procedural changes that would reduce both our shipping time and costs. I trained all of the employees then implemented the changes.
• Result: As a direct result of the changes that we initiated, we exceeded the company mandate of a 5% reduction, and we were able to reduce our budget by 10%, or $1,500,000 per year.

In addition to the resume builder on USAJOBS, The Resume Place (www.resume-place.com) has free résumé and KSA (Accomplishment) builders that might help you. On their website, click on Resources then select Free Builders, Federal Resume Samples, or Accomplishment Samples. The Resume Place also can assist you with your résumé, as well as write your KSAs, for a fee. (I do not work for The Resume Place or receive any compensation from them, but I have used their services on several occasions.)

Lastly, please pay special attention to the section of the job announcement titled "Required Documents", as I have seen highly qualified people disqualified because of a missing or incorrectly formatted document. HR will not call you to make you aware of the mistake—they simply will move onto the next application.

Thank you for your Service, and all the best with your job search!

Sincerely,
Bob Jurasek

Bob Potterton ⋅ Oakton, VA Monday Properties (Commercial real estate owner manager, operator) ⋅ 30 years experience

Happy to review. You can send it to me at bpotterton74@gmail.com.

All the best,
Bob

Jacinda Chan ⋅ Sacramento, CA TruthOut ⋅ 5 years experience

You can send me your resume to jacinda@cal.berkeley.edu.

Duke Khadan Sawh ⋅ Keyport, NJ CECOM, Department of Defense ⋅ 25 years experience

Hi Richard,

Be happy to look over your resume. Send to me at duke4446@gmail.com. List the type of job/field for which you would be applying. Thanks.

Duke R. Khadan Sawh
B.S., M.A. (Hon)
SGM, US Army (Ret), GS-13 (Ret)

Bob Molluro ⋅ Wilmington, DE Benchmark Consulting Services ltd. ⋅ 30 years experience

Richard, did you know that as veteran the company that employees you is entitled to a tax credit up to $9,600. Most employers don't this either. I can show you what to add to your resume that will point this out plus how the employer can take advantage of the credit. Just send me an email to ramco1@verizon.net if you want to learn how. Anyone else reading this feel free to contact me for some guidance.
Warmly,
Bob