After a few years in public accounting, I decided to switch to the federal government sector. But the job process was entirely new for me. I read several articles and was super excited to put together my first resume.
I took it to the Air Force Family Readiness Center for review and found out there was no way my resume would make it through the system. Ouchh.
Instead, she gave me many wonderful resources to rewrite my resume and get my job application through the system.
Job Series for Federal Government Positions
The federal government uses a numbered system to group similar jobs called job series. For example, the number used for the accounting, auditing, and budgeting jobs is 0500.
The job series are broken down into subcategories for specific occupations. Here are the subcategories for the 0500 accounting, auditing, and budgeting series:
- 0500 Accounting and Budget Group
- 0501 Finance Administration
- 0510 Accounting
- 0511 Auditing
- 0512 Internal Revenue Agent
- 0526 Tax Specialist
- 0560 Budget Analysis
The OPM website has a handbook for each job series to describe the duties of each position in detail. Here is the guide for the 0500 job series.
When you are searching for an open position in USA Jobs, you can search for posts using the job series number to ensure all the open positions in the occupation comes up. It is helpful because if you search using the keyword “accounting,” you could miss out on auditing or finance jobs.
Once you find the position you would like to apply for, it is time to submit your job application.
Federal Government Job Application
Depending on the job you are applying for, there are four main parts to submitting your job application:
- Resume
- Questionnaire
- Civil Service Exam
- Supporting documentation
Here is how to get your job application through the federal government system for each part.
1. Resume
The resume you use for your civilian jobs might differ from a federal job. My federal resume is four pages, while my civilian job resume is never more than one page.
Job Header
When applying for a federal position, your resume must include the start and end dates, the number of hours worked per week, and relevant work experiences for the post. To ensure you don’t miss any details, use the resume template on usajob.gov to fill in those data. Then, export the resume as a word document to edit it more presentably. USA Jobs has a great article going over the requirements here.
Your last pay isn’t a requirement, but I decided to include it. I was a staff accountant for most of my accounting career, but my gradual increase in pay reflected the level of duties I was performing. It helped to my advantage since the person reviewing my resume might not understand my title but could see my current pay was at par with the opening’s rank. Here is an example of how I set up the header for each position on my resume:
Job Description
In addition to that, the person reviewing your resume has to make sure it meets the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) for the position. Be sure to clearly state you have the experience for the job in your own words based on the job description. To make sure I met the KSA requirements, I decided to use a narrative resume format. I would paraphrase the KSA in all capitalized letters and then write a few sentences describing the duties I performed relevant to it.
Here is an example:
The KSA was “preparing audit working papers and substantiating documents.”
Here is my resume description:
TAX AND AUDIT WORKING PAPERS: Independently prepared work papers, schedules, reports, and adjusted journal entries for review…
I pulled out “audit working papers” as a keyword to describe my duties and used other keywords when relevant. Then, I used the job series handbook from the OPM website to add keywords to make my resume even more robust. Here is a Youtube video that explains KSA more in-depth by a former federal government resume reviewer.
Also, I created a specific accomplishment section that included numbers, percentages, and other metrics to make my resume stand out. Here is an example from my resume:
SPECIFIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Redesigned not-for-profit account grouping to import and streamline workpapers to cut preparer’s time by 10 hours per return (67%) to increase efficiency
- Prepared approximately 75 individuals, 25 small businesses, and 25 not-for-profit tax returns per season
I got most of this information from this great book called Stars are Lined for Military Spouses. Even though the book is for military spouses, it has real examples of before and after real case studies of resumes for high-ranking positions. I highly recommend this book.
Uploading your resume
Word documents could get distorted while being uploaded or downloaded for review. Uploading your resume as a PDF instead of a word document helps avoid that problem. If you decide to upload a word document, please be sure to use a new word document with the proper naming convention.
2. Questionnaire
Once you submit your resume, you might be required to fill out an Occupational Assessment questionnaire. It is a self-assessment of your skills based on multiple-choice questions.
Many people tend to underestimate themselves and score lower than they can, eliminating themselves from the application process. I struggled with this as well.
So, I printed the questions in a PDF format and wrote down why I gave myself the score for each answer to reference later if needed. Ensure you read each question slowly and break it down word by word to give it some serious thought before answering. It will help you think about what you have done to score yourself adequately based on your experience.
The answers are not final until the job is closed. Feel free to go back and review your answers to the questions again.
3. Civil Service Exam
Some of the job applications require a Civil Service Exam. It is a timed test broken down into sections based on the position. You have 48 hours to take the exam after the closing date. You don’t have to take the entire exam at once, but you could take each section individually. The sooner you submit your job application, the sooner you get access to it and allow you more time to take it.
The exam score is good for one year, and you cannot retake it. Some jobs require a particular score for your application to go through the system, like mine. That is why I decided to invest in the learning material.
I went to the library to get a study book, but it only had eight questions for each section. That’s the cheap option to study, but I felt like it wasn’t enough. I purchased one month of membership at Job Test Prep and studied for a few days before taking the exam. The study material was tailored for my exam and helped me prepare.
4. Supporting documents
You may be required to submit additional documents to your job application, such as a school transcript, certifications, or preference documentation. Be sure to read the job posting clearly, so you don’t miss any documents.
Military Spouse Preference
As a military spouse, I discovered a hiring authority through executive order (E.O. 13473) to help us with the job search. Military spouses can apply for jobs that are not open to the public and get additional points for their application. I will discuss the point system later.
If you are applying for Military Spouse Preference, be sure to submit the following documents:
- Narrative resume
- Marriage verification such as marriage certificate or license
- Copy of spouse’s military orders
- Self-certification checklist signed within 30 days
- SF-50s and Performance Ratings for military spouses with prior federal work experience
I tried to use the Military Spouse Preference for my job application but failed because I missed some documents. Luckily my current position was open to the public, so my job application made it through the system anyway. Any missing documents or outdated signatures could eliminate your Military Spouse Hiring Authority. Double the self-certification checklist to make sure you uploaded all the required documents.
*Related: Four Resources for Military Spouse Accountants
Job Application Scoring System
Many job openings received hundreds to thousands of job applications. The job applications go through a scoring system to help filter through the number of applicants. It will be given a score between 70 to 100, based on the questionnaire you filled out. Applicants receive bonus points for preferences such as a veteran or military spouse.
Then, the resume is reviewed to verify you meet the ratings you gave yourself in the questionnaire. It is crucial to make sure your resume addresses the answers to the questionnaire for this reason!
What if you didn’t make it through?
Find out why your job application didn’t make it through the system. When I apply for a job, I print a PDF of the job announcement to save it. I go back to the job announcement and find the agency contact information. I either called the phone number or emailed them why I didn’t get the job.
Depending on the agency, I usually get a live person to explain it to me on the phone. I discovered my job application didn’t go through because I didn’t attach all the required documents or my low questionnaire score.
I used this information to ensure my next application didn’t make the same mistakes. Remember, this learning process might take some trial and error to figure out. That’s okay.
My favorite phone call was finding out my resume was one of the 150 applications that made it through the system out of 2,000 applicants!
The federal government job process might seem overwhelming to make it through the system. But once you break down each step of the process and use the resources to your advantage, it will help you get one step closer to landing a job.
After making changes to my job application, the resume that wouldn’t have made it through the system became the first one to be selected for an interview, with a score of 90.
If I can do it, you can too. You got this!