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Now more than ever, having a super-specialized, occupational job series specific federal resume with the right KSAs and keywords added is critical for landing a federal job.

How badly do you want a good paying Federal government career? Or are you currently in the federal system and want to lateral or transfer into a higher grade (and paying) federal position in the shortest time possible? Federal Resume Experts� can help!  

IF YOUR ANSWER TO ANY OF THE SEVEN QUESTIONS BELOW IS �NO�, YOU SHOULD BE A FEDERAL EMPLOYEE!

(1) Every year (52 consecutive weeks) in your current position, do you receive a raise or increase in pay�? (2) Has your 401(K) plan or similar retirement program ever averaged monthly rates of return greater than 20 or 30%...? (3) Have you ever received an incentive award, recruitment or relocation bonus, cash award or been enrolled in a student loan repayment program through your employer�? (4) Do you receive free on the job training in career enhancing subject matter on a regular basis�? (5) Do you currently receive paid holidays, sick & vacation leave�? (6) Do you currently enjoy twenty-six 3-day weekends every year (as provided through the federal flexible-work schedule program to enjoy more time with family and friends)�? (7) Do you have excellent health benefits with about 180 health plan options to choose from which are conveniently located throughout the United States �?

• Federal Resume Writing: KSAs and Keywords

Writing a federal resume requires a structured and nuanced approach using precise stylistic guidelines and expected phrasing derived directly from vacancy postings. The use of keywords and phrases from the job listing to describe your knowledge, skills, and abilities is critical to ensuring that your federal resume makes it through the initial screening process and into the hands of hiring managers and decision-makers.

What Are KSAs and How Are They Important to Federal Resume Writing?

Knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) are position-specific requirements that are featured prominently throughout the USAJobs vacancy posting. In addition, you can find these requirements outlined in the “How You Will be Evaluated” section toward the bottom of the vacancy posting. Often, several KSAs will be explicitly presented in this section. For example, these four KSAs were derived from a review of a USAJobs’ posting for a Project Manager within the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS):

• Project Management • Planning and Evaluating • Oral Communication • Written Communication

In addition to KSAs, the questionnaire included in the posting can provide valuable keywords and phrases that more precisely align your federal resume with the vacancy. The following key phrases were taken from the questionnaire accompanying the same posting from the FDA:

• Develop project plans that define scope, requirements, deliverables, and schedules. • Manage, coordinate, and execute highly complex projects of national scope and significance in diverse areas. • Identify and assess project risks and issues and develop and implement response strategies minimizing impact to project outcomes.

Private Industry Keywords vs. Federal Resume KSAs

When drafting a private sector resume, strategic resume writers rely on a list of keywords derived from targeted job postings and sprinkle the words throughout the document while calling specific attention to the higher-level skills. In addition to keywords, federal resume writing requires the candidate to not only present keywords throughout the document but also to expand upon how the candidate’s work history and accomplishments demonstrate the required KSAs.

For each job within your work history, you must list each KSA and describe how you demonstrated this proficiency. Additionally, phrases taken from the vacancy posting and questionnaire such as “develop project plans that define scope, requirements, deliverables, and schedules” should be stated verbatim or paraphrased throughout the document, followed by how you accomplished this in each position.

Like a private sector resume, a federal resume focuses on highlighting the candidate’s core skills and achievements, but the difference between the two lies in how this information is phrased and presented. An optimized federal resume must demonstrate the candidate’s career history while adhering to stringent presentation requirements.

Although writing a federal resume is complex and time-consuming, taking the time to identify as many KSAs and key phrases from the vacancy posting as possible may be the difference between getting an interview or not. To discover more strategies for writing an effective federal resume, review our comprehensive USAJobs Resume Guide .

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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]

• , external, [email protected]

Handbook.tts.gsa.gov

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

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.

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Federal Government Jobs

Helping job hunters find, apply for, and land government jobs, federal resumes, federal resume guidance.

Federal resumes and KSA s provide selecting officials their first impression of the applicant through their application and federal resume composition, format, and content.  I personally reviewed and rated thousands of federal resumes during my career. Resumes and KSAs that are tailored to the job announcement receive higher ratings.

Your application makes a lasting impression on the selecting official and it tells them a lot about your attention to details, desire, qualifications, and motivation. These are essential first steps that you must take to write a professional federal resume that will help you attract the attention of the rating and selecting officials. Use our Federal Resume Guide to make your resume stand out from the crowd.

Resume Menu

The essential first steps.

• Caution (Read this first)
• Required information
• Private and federal sector application differences.
• The Federal Job Announcement?
• Sample Federal Style Resume
• KSAs – Knowledge, skills & abilities
• About USAJobs
• Federal Resume Tips
• Federal Resume Guide

Certified Federal Resume Writing Services

• SES Positions – SES Resume Services
• What services do you need?
• Return to “Apply for Jobs”

To gain federal employment, candidates must be aware of two very specific strategies:

First, applicants must read the entire vacancy announcement and the position description if available. All too often, applicants transitioning from the military or private sector to the federal government do not read the entire announcement. Rather, they look at only the salary and the job description; if they like what they read, they decide to apply.

Many end up disappointed when, during an initial consultation, they realize that other mandatory elements were overlooked in their haste to find federal employment — elements they’re unable to fulfill.

Further, in reading the entire announcement, you will gain an up-front understanding of what supporting documents are required for the announcement. In many cases, we have seen candidates — who were perfectly qualified for a job — end up being rejected by the government because they failed to include a document requested as part of the How to Apply section of the announcement

Second, candidates must tailor their federal resumes to the position description or the vacancy announcement. The federal government does not want to hear that an applicant thinks he/she can do the job; rather, the government is looking for specific examples that demonstrate that he/she can do the job. For example, being self-taught in setting up a home computer network and having successfully set up one in a home is not the same as setting up a Local Area Network (LAN) for a multi-location agency spread over a 500-mile radius.

When you complete your federal resume online read the instructions carefully. When tailoring your résumé to a specific job description or vacancy announcement, it is important to mirror what the announcement is looking for, as best as possible. There is no such thing as “too much information” — the more examples of your success in fulfilling the job description you can provide in accomplishment-focused statements, the higher your application package will be rated.

A federal style resume is completely different from the simple one-page private sector résumé. There are over 40 specific informational data elements required and much of it repeats for each work experience. Before attempting to complete your federal résumé online, review the samples in this chapter and use the next section to complete your federal resumes. You must include all requested information and answer occupational questionnaires if required in the job announcement.

I suggest writing your federal resume using a word processor program prior to attempting to post it online. Some agencies still require hard copy submissions, and this way you can produce both a paper hard copy and electronic format. You will be able to spell check your federal resume and you will have time to compose coherent work histories tailored to the job announcement or position description without time limits. To submit your application online simply copy and paste each section from your draft into the online résumé builder.

This process can dramatically improve your federal resume, resulting in higher ratings, and you will be able to keep your resume updated on your desktop. When you bid on other jobs in the same or similar occupational group you may be able to simply change the job announcement number and title and send it in. However, review each job announcement carefully. Even occupations in the same job series within the same agency can have significantly different requirements, and you must tailor your resume to those criteria to improve your chances.

Federal Resume Writing Services

Applying for federal jobs can be frustrating and the federal resume has to be targeted to the job announcement and highlight your qualifications to be rated “Best Qualified.” Only applications rated best qualified are forwarded to the selecting official for consideration. Federal resume writing services can give you the edge that you need if you work closely with them to highlight your qualifications for the position applied for.

You must work closely with the federal resume writer to provide detailed information. Federal resumes and KSAs must be specific, and the only way the federal resume writers can get this information is from you, so be prepared. They will need lists of your awards, detailed work history, military service job descriptions, rank and time of service if applicable, education and training, special skills and certifications, volunteer work, and temporary details and promotion information. Only you can provide the details.

A professional federal resume service uses only certified writers. They will work with you to ensure that your federal resume, KSAs, or ECQs are thorough, grammatically correct, properly formatted, tailored to the job announcement, and in a file format suitable for the job you are applying for.

Applicants can also write their resume / application independently with the proper resources and knowledge. Many are able to complete their application using these excellent resources. If you don’t have the time or inclination to do it on your own, there are Federal Resume Writing Services available to assist you. The service you select will be based on several factors including:

• Complexity of your resume and application
• Grade level that you are applying for
• Personal contact − ability to talk with the professional you hire
• The time you have available to work with the writer, and
• Cost of service – what you can afford

When selecting a resume writing service, make sure you will have phone and email contact with your assigned writer before you sign up. A professional service will help you tailor your application and resume to the specific job announcement. A number of low-cost services offer only online contact through a resume desktop.

Professional Service

Creditable services will discuss your personal needs and fees by phone once you provide them information about your work history, education, and qualifications, and upload a copy of the federal job vacancy announcement of interest.

Based on their initial review of your background, previously prepared documents, and position specifications, they will propose a federal resume package quote to meet your individual requirements. If you would like to proceed, an invoice will be generated for your approval and your certified federal resume writer will contact you for an introduction via email and telephone. Project development will be discussed and any additional documents that might be required will be requested by your writer.

Your federal resume and/or KSA drafts will be submitted for your review via email, and you will have the opportunity to request any changes or provide additional information to your writer.

Which Service is Best for You?

It depends on many factors. With the proper resources you can write your resume yourself, time permitting. If you hire a professional resume writing service, you will have to work by phone and online with the resume writer. Only you know the details they need to write your resume. An entry level federal style resume is typically 3 to 5 pages long and you must tailor you application and work experience to the job announcement’s required qualifications.

One advantage of hiring a professional service is that once they complete your resume for you can use that same resume, with minor modifications, for other government jobs within the same occupational group that you apply for. Just change the job title and announcement number and review the new job announcement to check for additional or different required duties and responsibilities. If these changed you will have to incorporate them into the new application.

You will find a sample federal style resume on our Federal Career Development Site . You must devote the time necessary to read the application sections, understand the concepts, tailor your resume to the job announcement, and compile the data logically, spell and grammar check your work in a word processor, and then apply.

Write Your Federal Resume Using Proper Guidance and Samples

When writing your resume, you have to consider many things and include all required information . Format is also important especially with RESUMIX and online submissions. If you are good at putting your thoughts down on paper and have the time available, you can complete your resume application as long as you fully understand the application process. I wrote many federal applications during my 35 + years of government service with great success. I was also a trained and certified federal rating official and reviewed and rated thousands of job applications.

The application and federal resume process isn’t formidable; however, you must tailor your federal resume to the job announcement . With a little coaching and the comprehensive federal resume samples that we provide here, you too can compile a comprehensive resume. Entry level job applicants can expect to spend at least 4 to 8 hours on their application. Midlevel applicants can easily spend several days compiling key information in preparation for completing their federal resume.

I encourage all who apply to complete their resume OFF-LINE. It is best to write your federal resume and/or application on your word processor and take your time to compile the info you need, draft your work experiences, spell check and ensure that you have ALL information that is required for the Job Announcement. Your federal style resume MUST be tailored to the job announcement to improve your chances of landing the job. After you complete your federal resume offline, it is a simple matter to copy and paste your federal resume data into online resume builders.

A word of caution. Once you have your federal resume completed and posted on USAJOBS, it’s easy to submit that same resume to apply for other job vacancies. That can cost you a possible job. Before resubmitting that same federal resume for another job vacancy READ the job announcement thoroughly to confirm other duties and specialized experience are not required for the new position. If you find different requirements, and you possess the new duties or specialized experience, incorporate them into your resume. It is not unusual to apply for the same job series and find other requirements, or new or additional KSA statements.

While all federal resumes typically require the same information, here are the significant character count requirements for the USAJobs online resume builder in order to file your application successfully online:

• Overall Length: 30,000 characters
• Work Experience: 3,000 characters per work experience
• Education (includes relevant course work, licensures, and certifications): 2,000 characters to describe course work
• Job-Related Training: 2,000 characters
• Professional Publications: 2,000 characters
• Additional Information: 22,000 characters; enter job-related honors, awards, leadership activities, skills, and professional profile. KSAs may be copied and pasted into this field, depending on the announcement’s instructions.

Candidates may store up to five separate federal resumes for use on the USAJobs site.

Tips for Preparing an Electronic Federal Resume

As you have seen in the previous section in which we discuss the different types of online application systems (USAJobs, CPOL, CHARTS, etc.), there is no such concept as “one size fits all” when preparing a federal résumé. However, below are a few tips to help you bridge the compatibility differences in most of the common application systems.

• Use white space and line breaks to separate topics and sections
• Use 10- or 12-point type size
• Use a margin of at least one inch on all sides
• Use CAPITAL LETTERS to highlight sections
• No graphics of any kind, including bullets
• Use date format mm-yyyy (example: “May1988” would be “05-1988”)
• No bold, italic, or underlined text
• Keep each employment block (duties and accomplishments) to about 3,000 characters and spaces each. (Note: If you must exceed this count, you can break up a job into two separate entries when you file your application online.)

Professionally Written Federal Resumes , KSAs, ECQs, and Cover Letters

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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.

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.”

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 .

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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• USAJOBS Resume Builder
• Federal Resume Guide
• UsaJobs Tips

Last Updated on 02/08/2024

Before you start creating a brand new resume to apply for a federal government position, you need to choose the way to build it. You can either make use of the USAJOBS resume builder or upload your own resume. The former has a number of advantages over the latter.

First of all, by using the USAJOBS resume builder, you will create a document in a standard federal resume format. It will make searching and evaluating your resume easier for federal human resources specialists.

Second, the USAJOBS resume builder allows you to duplicate your resume, which is very helpful when you need to upgrade the document or tailor it to a specific position. Offering you to use its federal resume builder, USAJOBS provide you with a professional resume writing instrument, which is worth trying out.

Table of Contents

• 1.1 1. Searching for Jobs
• 1.2 2. Tailor Your Resume for Each Specific Position
• 1.3 3. Do Not Leave Blank Fields
• 1.4 4. Proofread
• 1.5 5. Keyword Research
• 1.6 6. Consider Your Audience
• 2.1 Step-by-Step Guide on USAJOBS Resume Builder
• 2.2 Should I Use USAJOBS Resume Builder or Upload My File?
• 3 Wrapping It Up

USAJOBS Resume Builder Tips

For your resume to be searchable and efficient, take your time to learn the subtleties of the federal resume builder USAJOBS has created. We have come up with the top 4 tips that will help you avoid the common mistakes that often prevent the candidates from being recognized as qualified for the job.

1. Searching for Jobs

The USAJOBS search engine can be tough. To speed up your job searching process, use OPM Job Series. It’s one of the effective methods to find the right job in your field.

Read the announcement carefully! Before appl ying for a position, go to the Qualifications section in the vacancy announcement and preview the vacancy announcement questions.

Let’s compare a basic Qualifications list for a Marketing Assistance position : 

And more detailed Qualifications list for a Strategic Marketing Analyst position : 

As we can see, Qualifications requirements may vary depending on GS position, education, expert level skills or other specific knowledge relevant to a job announcement. So make sure to select a corresponding answer to each question prior to appl ying for a job posting. 

2. Tailor Your Resume for Each Specific Position

This is indeed a tedious task but it is totally worth the effort. USAJOBS allows the employee to have 5 resumes created and uploaded via the USAJOBS resume builder.

Tailoring your resume for each specific federal job announcement can be the key to your success.

Although having similar titles, the different job announcement will be using different keywords to describe their requirements for the candidate. Keep your resume brief, describe your work experience and education relevant to the position you apply for.

The advantage of the resume builder is that you get a consistent federal cv, which can be found by a recruiter using a keyword search. Building a resume that is perfectly in tune with the specific announcement will help your application score more points in the competition.

Information for Veterans: The Saved Documents section on USAJOBS allows to save up to 10 supporting eligibility documents as recommendation letters, cover letters or performance reports.

3. Do Not Leave Blank Fields

It is true that a resume should normally be kept brief but with the federal government resumes, it is all about the perfect balance between being concise and being informative. The technical trick about the USAJOBS resume builder tool is to use all the fields it provides.

4. Proofread

Believe it or not but such an obvious step in the resume writing process is often neglected by the applicants. Typographical errors, not to speak of grammatical and spelling mistakes, will seriously impair the impressions of the federal HR specialist even about a seemingly perfect resume.

As a practice task, you can take any USAJOBS resume builder sample and evaluate it in terms of the points described above. This will train you to be more critical and attentive when you start building your own federal resume.

5. Keyword Research

Don’t forget that there is no automated sorting out of resumes — your qualifications will be checked and analyzed by real people. Given that they read through dozens of submissions, your task is to boost your application’s informational strength. Highlight crucial keywords — place yourself in the potential reader’s shoes.

Make your USAJOBS resume format clear and precise. Although it contains long paragraphs describing your skills or job-related accomplishments, add proper keywords to fit into the target position’s frames.

The keyword research as a process should fail into these two categories:

• General — “teamwork”, “communication”, and something like “leadership” commonly have a universal appeal in making your resume get noticed among other applications. Still, it is better to see what requirements your position stays on to avoid overly general terms.
• Specific — nonetheless, industry-specific keywords will help you nail it and showcase your professionalism and expertise in the target field. When applying for a government position, enrich your resume with the right content in headers, work experience, skills, and accomplishments sections. You don’t have to allocate them evenly throughout the text — the beginning of paragraphs or resume’s new sections are quite good for the task.

6. Consider Your Audience

When working on your federal resume’s content, conduct a thorough research about the hiring agency and its standards. You can focus on the most widespread expectations and format preferences in your field and adhere to them. Following a typical resume structure and using USAJOBS resume builder without much creative customization will help you stay on the safe side.

Consider your industry of expertise. Attorneys, budget analysts, human resources specialists, and civil engineers as a few examples of federal government jobs will have their distinctive storyline formats.

How to Create a Resume with USAJOBS Resume Builder

If you do not know what to start with, read through the instructions on How To Create and Develop USAJOBS Profile . We provide all the necessary basic technicalities of the resume building process. If you have a vague idea about what to write in each section, we highly recommend examining at least one USAJOBS resume builder example to see how a well-built final document should look like. Do not forget that all the information you put in your resume should not only be up-to-date and 100% correct but also demonstrating the level of your qualification for the job to the full extent.

If you want to get the best federal employee compensation package with benefits like taking part in the FSAFEDS or long-term care and health insurance, it is crucial to raise your resume’s potential. The easiest way is to include all the crucial details in the document and choose a template that caters to the interests of several agencies in the market. That’s why using the services of the official employment website of the federal government is such a lucrative opportunity.

Step-by-Step Guide on USAJOBS Resume Builder

Let’s check the step-by-step guide on your course of action on the USAJOBS:

• Sign in or sign up. Provide your valid email address and select your language preference. You can choose from English, Spanish, and French newsletters.
• Acknowledge the platform’s terms and conditions to complete the registration.
• Check your mailbox for a confirmation letter from USAJOBS.

Once the registration is completed, confirm your account. The system will let you select the desired authentication method: security key, backup codes, voice or text message, authentication app, face or touch unlock.

Don’t leave blank fields — it will simplify your interaction with the platform. You can add hiring paths, citizenship, languages, experiences, and further details. The system lets you save up to five resumes and up to ten documents of other types (DD214, for instance).

• Open the Documents tab to be able to upload a finished and polished resume to start your job search. If not ready yet, create a custom version matching the target position’s requirements.
• Fill in the fields. Click “Add Work Experience”, “Add Education”, and “Add Reference”, enter the data, and hit the “Save” button for each section. For more detailed descriptions of your skills, you will have a field with 5000 characters available.
• To move your ready paragraphs and adjust the storyline’s order, use the web’s arrows.
• Click “Add” to provide other pieces of information, including your academic accomplishments or training. Although you have to be open about your experiences, there is a list of exceptions of what data is insufficient for a federal resume on the website: – in-depth personal information, including your religious preferences, sexual orientation, etc.; – personal photos (another difference between federal resumes versus private ones); – Social Security Number; – government and classified sensitive data (only approved files of general use). If your GPA is below 3.5, it isn’t a compulsory detail to include in your resume. Besides, make sure you double-check the qualification of educational establishments on your list — OES and NCOES military schools won’t be considered as high education institutions to apply for a federal position.
• Review the provided data and proofread the document. Once you submit the application, no further changes will be possible.
• Hit the “Finish” button to complete your resume for USAJOBS.gov.

Should I Use USAJOBS Resume Builder or Upload My File?

Both options can help you deliver top-notch resumes and prove your worth as a federal worker. Still, creating such a document from scratch requires certain skills and experiences. If it is your first time, there is nothing wrong with relying on ready-made templates from USAJOBS resume builder.

“Should I use USAJOBS resume builder?” is one of the most typical concerns of novice applicants. The key advantage of taking the most out of the website’s functions is that you minimize prospective risks.

Wrapping It Up

By taking a closer look at USAJOBS resume builder examples, it is easier to understand what format to pursue to get the best results. Follow the tips and suggestions from this guide to ensure your value as an ideal applicant in the eyes of the target hiring agency in the federal market. Make sure to customize your resume for every position with proper keywords, job-related training, and other facts that match up to its requirements. Good luck in finding the job of your dreams!

Still unsure about how to make federal resume? Read our USAJOBS Tips articles:

How long does USAJOBS take to review applications

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An official website of the United States government

National Wildland Fleet Manager

This position is located with the BIA, Office of Trust Services, Division of Forestry & Wildland Fire Management, located at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), in Boise, Idaho. Information about the surrounding area can be found at https://www.boisechamber.org/ We expect to fill 1 position at this time; however, additional positions may be filled from this announcement if they become available.

• Accepting applications

Open & closing dates

08/27/2024 to 09/09/2024

$86,962 - $113,047 per year

Pay scale & grade

1 vacancy in the following location:

Telework eligible

Yes—as determined by the agency policy.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Relocation expenses reimbursed

Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.

Appointment type

Work schedule.

Competitive

Promotion potential

Job family (series).

• 1601 Equipment Facilities, And Services

Supervisory status

Security clearance.

Not Required

Position sensitivity and risk

Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk

Trust determination process

• Credentialing
• Suitability/Fitness

Financial disclosure

Bargaining unit status, announcement number.

BIAMP-24-12529079-RS

Control number

This job is open to.

Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.

Current or former competitive service federal employees.

Certain current or former term or temporary federal employees of a land or base management agency.

Native Americans or Alaskan Natives with a tribal affiliation.

Individuals eligible under a special authority not listed above, but defined in the federal hiring regulations.

Clarification from the agency

All current career/career-conditional or former federal employees with reinstatement eligibility; Indian Preference Eligibles; Veterans' Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA); Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) and former Public Land Corps (PLC) eligibles. CTAP and ICTAP eligibles within the local commuting area.

• Develop policy and guidance related to wildland fire apparatus and fire facilities.
• Manage and advise a national fire fleet inventory.
• Provide guidance on replacement and renovation as appropriate.
• Plan funding, Aquisition and construction processes.
• Ensure fire fleet is maintained in a manner in which it is within current technological capabilities.

Requirements

Conditions of employment.

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Indian Preference applies.
• Eligibility Documentation Required (i.e. DD-214, BIA Form 4432, SF-50 etc.).
• You will be required to have federal payments made by Direct Deposit.
• You may be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period.
• Background security investigation will be required of all new hires.
• Supervisory Probationary Period: If you are selected for this position, you will be required to serve a one year supervisory/managerial probationary period if one has not previously been completed.
• An applicant appointed to this position must possess (or obtain within 30 days of entrance on duty) and maintain a valid state driver's license while employed in this position.
• Be sure to read the “How to Apply” and “Required Documents” Sections.
• Resume MUST contain job title (include job series and grade, if Federal), duties, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary (optional).
• You must possess experience in wildland fire suppression, management, fuels management, and/or wildland fire incident response.

Qualifications

Preference in filling vacancies is given to qualified Indian candidates in accordance with the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (Title 25, USC, Section 472). Verification Form BIA-4432 must be submitted with the application if claiming Indian Preference. Indian Preference eligibles not currently employed in Federal service may be appointed under the Excepted Service Appointment Authority Schedule A, 213.3112(a)(7). Consideration will be given to Non-Indian applicants in the absence of qualified Indian Preference eligibles. For more information about Indian preference or to obtain BIA Form 4432 application instructions, please visit: https://www.bia.gov/jobs/Indian_Preference

Specialized Experience : In order to be rated as minimally qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the minimum qualification requirements - please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience. Failure to provide required information on resume could result in ineligibility for consideration. For GS-12 : You must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-11. Specialized experience MUST demonstrate experience in at least three of the following areas:

• Experience at a Regional or Unit level Program Manager or Specialist, such as: Fire Management Officer, Assistant Fire Management Officer, Fuels Specialist, Prevention Specialist, Fire Operations Specialist, or other specialist position that supports wildland fire programs.
• Experience planning, managing, and formulating budgets to support programs across multiple disciplines such as Fire Preparedness, Prescribed Fire and Fuels Management, and Fire Suppression.
• Experience in the utilization of professional fire apparatus to support all wildland fire program needs and ensure they meet interagency standards and requirements.
• Knowledge and experience in determining program support needs such as Fleet, Facilities, Equipment, and other logistical support.
• Thorough knowledge in interpreting and understanding laws, statutes, regulations, and policies of a Federal Government program.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Prior on-the-line firefighting: Prior wildland firefighting experience and training on the fireline is a mandatory requirement to carry out the duties and responsibilities of this position. The Department of the Interior defines wildland firefighting experience as any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland. Wildland firefighting experience is gained through work on the fire line in containment, control, suppression or use of wildland fire. Wildland fires are categorized into two distinct types: (1) Wildfires - Unplanned ignitions or prescribed fires that are declared wildfires; and (2) Prescribed Fires - Planned ignitions. This description includes only Fireline experience on a Prescribed Fire; it does not include experience in the planning stages. Prescribed fire experience must be supplemented by fire suppression experience in order to be creditable as previous wildland firefighting experience. This experience must be documented in the online application or resume with specific to AND from dates (MM/YY), description of work performed, AND hours worked per week. You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement. Federal employees in the competitive service are also subject to the Time-In-Grade requirement in accordance with 5 CFR 300.604. If you are a current Federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks at the next lower grade level.

There is no substitution of education for specialize experience at the GS-12 and above grade levels.

Additional information

Verify Employment Eligibility (E-Verify) : DOI uses E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/e-verify . Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/lnteragency Career Transition Assistance Program(ICTAP): CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. Information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibility is available from OPM's Career Transition Resources website at CTAP or ICTAP . If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration or that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) This vacancy is within your CTAP/ICTAP eligibility; 2) You apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) You are found well qualified for this vacancy. You must provide proof of eligibility with your application to receive selection priority. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, or a copy of your separation personnel action form.

CTAP and ICTAP eligibles will be considered well qualified if they receive a minimum score of 85 based on the rating criteria used for this position. Permanent Change in Station (PCS): Travel and relocation expenses will be paid consistent with the Federal Travel Regulation, Chapter 302, and Departmental policy. Selectee will be responsible for tax obligations related to payments for moving expenses - 2017 Tax Cuts and Job Act, Public Law 115-97. See "Other" section for additional information on 2017 Tax Cuts as related to Permanent Change in Station (PCS). For additional information on WTA/RITA allowances and eligibilities, please visit: https://www.gsa.gov/policy-regulations/regulations/federal-travel-regulation-ftr/i1182168#i1180710 Travel, per diem, and lodging expenses will be paid consistent with the Federal Travel Regulations. Telework: The official worksite for the selectee is the duty station identified in this vacancy announcement. The selectee will typically report to this duty location on a regular and recurring weekly basis. The selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval. ** THIS IS A READVERTISEMENT OF ANNOUNCEMENT BIAMP-24-12509474-RS ** Applicants who applied under the previous announcement MUST reapply to receive consideration. BIA may use certain incentives, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract high quality applicants. FIREFIGHTER SPECIAL RETIREMENT : This is a secondary/administrative fire position under the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) (CSRS) and 5 U.S.C. 8412(d) (FERS). While secondary positions are not subject to the maximum entry age policy, the selectee must have prior service in a primary position and meet the transfer requirement for movement from a primary to secondary position to be eligible for special retirement coverage. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure this office has enough information to determine your retirement status to ensure you do not lose benefits (normally through submission of your SF-50). YOU MUST LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN A PRIMARY POSITION.

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window Learn more about federal benefits .

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

You will be evaluated based on how your application materials reflect the qualification requirements of this position. Once the application process is complete, we will review your application to ensure you meet the job requirements. To determine if you are best qualified for this job, a review of your resume, supporting documentation and responses to the online questionnaire will be made. Your responses to the online questionnaire will be used to measure the degree to which your background matches the requirements for this position. However, your resume must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. The best qualified candidates will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be contacted for an interview. Your responses to the online questionnaire will be used to evaluate your competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics) in the following area(s):

• Fire Management - Knowledge of the concepts, principles, and theories of fire management, including the characteristics, behavior, and ecology of fire; methodologies, strategies, and equipment used in prescribed fires; fire detection, prevention, and suppression strategies; and integration of fire with natural resource management.
• Project Management - Knowledge of the principles, methods, or tools for developing, scheduling, coordinating, and managing projects and resources, including monitoring and inspecting costs, work, and contractor performance.
• Accountability - Holds self and others accountable for measurable high-quality, timely, and cost-effective results. Determines objectives, sets priorities, and delegates work. Accepts responsibility for mistakes. Complies with established control systems and rules.
• Vehicle Maintenance - Knowledge of motor vehicle engines, parts, and systems, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Technical Competence - Understands and appropriately applies procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise (for example, engineering, physical science, law, or accounting); maintains credibility with others on technical matters.

In the evaluation process, due weight will be given to job related experience, education, training, incentive awards and performance appraisals. Applicants must have a performance rating of at least the equivalent of fully successful to be eligible for promotion or placement. Applicants may provide a copy of a performance appraisal of record dated within the last 18 months. If the applicant is unable to provide a performance appraisal of record dated within the last 18 months, the applicant may provide a written explanation as to why.

Your resume must show relevant experience and education (if applicable) including the dates (MM/YYYY) of each employment along with the number of hours worked per week and optional salary information. In describing your experience, please be clear and specific. Visit the USAJOBS Help Center for more information on What should I include in my federal resume ?

Your resume will be used to validate your responses to the assessment tool(s). Failure to provide required information will result in loss of eligibility.

You are welcome to submit an optional cover letter.

As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies.

In addition to the online application (i.e. resume and responses to the questionnaire), you are required to submit the following forms: - BIA Form 4432: Verification of Indian Preference (if claiming preference). Note, this is the only form accepted for verification. Failure to supply documentation will result in ineligibility of preference. - Resume: At a minimum, your resume MUST contain job title (include job series and grade, if Federal), duties, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary. USAJOBs has a template to ensure a complete resume. For more information, visit OPM Resume Writing Tips .

- SF-50 Notification of Personnel Action form: if you are a current or former Federal employee. You must submit your most recent non-award SF-50 that shows tenure code 1 or 2 in block 24, and position occupied code 1 (competitive service) in block 34. The SF-50 must show the position title, series, grade, and step of your position. If you are claiming reinstatement eligibility, you must submit an SF-50 showing your separation. If you have previously held a higher grade than the grade/position you currently occupy, you must submit a copy of the more recent non-award SF-50 you received for that position. - Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA): You must submit ALL SF-50s and performance documentation for each period of temporary/term employment if you are requesting to be considered Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act eligibility. Applicants eligible under PL-114-47, Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act must submit documentation verifying (a) initial selection under competitive examining procedures to a land management agency under a time-limited appointment in the competitive service, and (b) service under this initial appointment, or in conjunction with subsequent competitive service time-limited appointments, to a land management agency was for a period of 24 months without a break in service of two or more years. Your performance must have been evaluated as being at an acceptable level for the entire applicable period(s). "Required documentation" includes:

• SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action: first, any extension of appointment, and the last SF-50 for each appointment verifying the Position Occupied code (Block 34) is-Competitive Service.
• Documentation supporting satisfactory performance (i.e. Employee Performance and Appraisal Plan (EPAP)) for each appointment.

PUBLIC LANDS CORPS (PLC) CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY: A copy of the Certificate of Eligibility for Non-Competitive Hiring Based for Public Land Corps Service. Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or lnteragency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) eligibles : Submit documentation verifying your CTAP/ICTAP eligibility - this includes a copy of the agency notice and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level and duty location. Please note that documents selected for transfer from your USAJOBS profile are NOT automatically added do your application. You need to transfer your document(s) in the "Documents" step during the application process. Hard copy paper supplemental documents, submitted without prior Human Resources approval, will be considered as an incomplete application. Required documentation must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time , on the closing date of this announcement.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

THIS IS AN ONLINE APPLICATION PROCESS THROUGH USAJOBS. Your application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time by . If you need assistance in applying on-line, please contact the NIFC Fire and Aviation, Branch of Human Resources office at [email protected] or (208) 387-5523. If applying on-line poses a hardship for you (i.e. you do not have access to the Internet) you must contact us prior to the closing date of the announcement for an alternative method of applying. PLEASE NOTE: If you have access to a public library, State Job Service Office, etc., you should use these resources to apply online. You must follow the steps described below in order to complete the application process successfully: 1) YOU MUST HAVE OR CREATE A PROFILE IN USAJOBs ; your profile must contain a current resume for submission. In order to receive proper consideration, your resume should include the following information:

• Current personal contact information.
• Work experience (paid or unpaid) including - starting and ending dates (month and year, MM/YYYY - MM/YYYY), employer's name and address, job title (include job series and grade if Federal), duties and accomplishments, supervisor's name and telephone number, indicate if supervisor may be contacted, hours per week, and salary.
• Education and job-related training including - school name, type and year of degrees/diploma received, credits earned and majors; title of training course and year of completion.
• References - personal and professional- Additional information - skills (languages, tools, machinery, typing speed, etc.), certificates or licenses (current only), and/or honors, awards, and special accomplishments (recognition, professional memberships, publications, leadership activities, etc.).
• To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application.
• Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
• After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process .
• You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application.
• The eligibility portion of the application process is designed to allow you to choose how you wish to be considered for this announcement. You may choose more than one eligibility. You must provide proof of your eligibility and will only be considered for the questions that you answer "yes".
• Please note, your eligibility will be based solely on the selections you have indicated in this section. You must provide the supporting documentation to support your claim to be considered. You may choose more than one eligibility in this section.

To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login , all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/ .

Agency contact information

Once you submit all the required documents and the online application (i.e. online questionnaire, resume, and any supporting documentation, etc.) in USAJOBs, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After the evaluation process is completed by the Branch of Human Resources, you will be notified via USAJOBs of a status change (i.e. referred, not eligible, not qualified, referred to the hiring official, etc.). Note, you must login to your USAJOBs profile to view details of the status change. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted by the hiring official. You will be notified if this job is filled or canceled. Timelines for this process vary widely. Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other Bureaus/Offices within the Department of the Interior (DOI) who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in the same geographic location(s), including within the same metro/commuting area. Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration. FOLLOW UP. Check your application status before the announcement closes. It is your responsibility to ensure that a complete application (including a resume, on-line questionnaire, and applicable supplemental documentation) is received by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on of the vacancy announcement. NOTE: Technical problems may take at least 1 business day to resolve; therefore, you are highly encouraged to complete the application process prior to the closing date.

The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.

• Criminal history inquiries
• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
• Financial suitability
• New employee probationary period
• Privacy Act
• Reasonable accommodation policy
• Selective Service
• Signature and false statements
• Social security number request

Required Documents

How to apply, fair & transparent.

This job originated on www.usajobs.gov . For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/806842100 . Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.

Learn more about

Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) provides services to 574 federally recognized tribes with a population of about 1.9 million American Indian and Alaska Natives. BIA offers an extensive range of programs such as social services, law enforcement & detention services, administration of tribal courts, natural resources management, economic development, implementation of land & water claim settlements, housing improvement, disaster relief, & the replacement/maintenance of schools, roads, & bridges. The Department of the Interior (DOI) places a high value on diversity of experience and cultural perspectives and encourages applications from all interested eligible candidates. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) are fundamental principles that guide the Department and allow us to successfully achieve our mission.

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

http://www.bia.gov/

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