Applying for a job in the federal government requires applicants to follow some specialized steps and techniques.  Once you locate a job for which you’d like to apply, follow these steps during the online application process:

 

1. Create a federal resume
2. Answer essay questions posed online
3. Submit application materials by the stated deadline
4. Follow-up with the appropriate agency contact with inquiries about hiring progress

 

 

#1 Creating a federal resume

Federal resumes differ from the “traditional” resume and need to be crafted according to the standards outlined here on USAJOBS.gov. 

 

Sections of a federal resume include:

• -Candidate information
• -Work experience
• -Education
• -References
• -Affiliations
• -Desired locations

 

It is also essential that you include more detailed information than you typically would on other resumes.  These additional details include information about the opening, personal information, education and coursework levels, dates and number of hours you worked per week at each job, the location of the position and your supervisor’s contact information.

 

Use the resources on USAJOBS.gov to build your federal resume and save it to the site.  You will have the ability to save up to five different federal resumes at a time as you search for and apply to opportunities.

 

 

#2 Answering Essay Questions

In order to better assess a candidate’s qualifications before bringing them in for an interview, an agency may require that they complete an application questionnaire as part of the application materials or that they complete essays (which are sometimes called KSAs).

KSA is an acronym for Knowledge, Skills and Abilities and can be extremely important in evaluating candidates.  KSAs are similar to interview questions in that they are narrative in nature and should provide the employer with concrete examples that demonstrate skills.  In order to effectively answer KSAs, use the CCAR approach when crafting your answer – CCAR stands for Context, Challenges, Action and Result.

 

• Context:  Describe the specific problem you had to address.  What did you have to handle, solve, resolve, respond to?
  
  
• Challenges:  Share the factors that contributed to a specific challenge in this situation.  Examples might include budget cuts, new legislation, institutional reform, new goals from upper management, etc.
  
  
• Action:  What steps did you specifically take to solve the problem?
  
  
• Result:  Describe the outcomes of your actions with concrete indicators like percentages, numbers or grades.  What was the difference that you made?

 

 

An example of a KSA might ask that you address your ability to communicate in writing.  Following is an example of a KSA response:

 

• (Context)  “As the Newsletter Editor of my living-learning community, I was responsible for writing articles and editing all submissions published in our monthly newsletter.”
  
• (Challenges)  “Our community wanted to use the newsletter as a means for reaching out to alumni of the program with the goal of increasing their involvement in the community.  Before I started as Editor, we had never had a submission from an alum.”
  
• (Action) “I decided to focus the first newsletter of the year entirely on accomplishments of our alumni, with a message throughout encouraging alumni to submit articles and pictures.”
  
• (Results) “Over the course of the academic year when I was Newsletter Editor, we received an average of 5 alumni submissions per newsletter.  Additionally, alumni and program participants rated the quality of the newsletter higher than any other year.”

 

 

Tips for the KSA section of your application materials:

 

• -Address key words and phrases that are mentioned in the posting for the position
• -Tie your experiences to each KSA through the use of examples
• -Focus on outcomes to which you directly contributed
• -Use plain language, avoiding the use of acronyms
• -Make sure that you are being succinct, that your essays are easy to read and that you are using correct grammar and spelling
• -Review the KSA Writing worksheet

 

#3 Submit Application Materials by Stated Deadline

Select the positions for which you’d like to apply carefully and plan ahead, allowing yourself plenty of time to complete all application materials.  Once you’ve submitted your materials, prepare yourself to wait and don’t assume that you have been rejected if you have not heard back within weeks of submitting your application.

 

#4 Follow-Up

Contact the identified representative from the posting in order to learn about the status of your application materials.  Once you’ve submitted your materials, an agency follows a set of steps including:

 

-Evaluating candidates’ qualifications once the application closing date has passed

• -Producing a list of qualified candidates
• -Selecting candidates to interview from the list of qualified applicants

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Other pages:

 

Information – Working for the Federal Government

Information – Locating Opportunities

Resource – Partnership for Public Service | “Making the Difference: Jobs in Federal Service” slideshow

Resource – Career Services workshop | “Government Jobs” slideshow

*all information adapted from the “Making the Difference: Jobs in Federal Service” slideshow, offered through the Partnership for Public Service website