Federal Resume Writing Blog

(Mostly) Useless Federal Resume Writing Tip #1

Include personal information such as your full name, mailing address with ZIP code, any phone numbers, Social Security Number, reinstatement eligibility and civilian grade, including the job series and dates that you held the previous position.

Well, that information is most certainly needed in order to successfully apply to a federal career position. But here’s the deal…the government doesn’t leave you guessing as to whether or not you should include that information!

With few exceptions, most of your job searching will take place on USAJOBS.gov. If you are using USAJOBS.gov to job search, chances are you have already created an account (if you haven’t, do so immediately). In this account you can create resumes. As you create your resume, you will be required to include all the information mentioned in this (Mostly) Useless Federal Resume Writing Tip.

In most cases, if you find a job worth applying to, you will be able to apply online and submit your resume on the spot. Voila! All the information is sent automatically.

Let’s just say, though, that the application process requires you to fill out another form – for instance an Optional Form (OF) 612. Guess what? The form will ask you for all that information!

Here is an actual useful tip:

If, for whatever reason, you are not using an online option to apply to a federal position, go ahead and build your resume in a USAJOBS.gov account anyway. There are a couple of reasons why…

1. At some point in time you may find a position on USAJOBS.gov that you do want to apply to. Why repeat the resume building process again later?
2. After you build your resume in your USAJOBS.gov account (which will ask you for all the mandatory information), you can print your hard copy resume for submission right from there. You don’t have to do anything but plug in the information.

Hopefully you didn’t waste too much time searching the internet for this “(Mostly) Useless Federal Resume Writing Tip.”

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