Query of the Week: “How do I get a Federal Job?”

RECIPE: Snickerdoodle Cookies

During the month of September, you’ll meet representatives from Federal agencies with lots of great jobs just designed for people like you – State Department, the CIA and FBI, DEA and DHS, and oh, the IRS. A whole alphabet soup will be offered and you’re probably wondering how to get these jobs and internships.

In my last blog, I talked about worthy goals always having obstacles in their path. A Federal job must be the worthiest since you’ll be forced to climb small mountains in order to secure an appointment. Alums who have ascended swear it’s worth it – and they’re willing to help you. The recruiters will, too, and you already know my door is open.

The rewards of Federal service are many:
· service to your country
· job security
· normal hours for most people
· competitive salaries
· wonderful medical benefits
· generous vacations
· attractive – and early – retirement options

Still, the real reason our MPPs have found Federal jobs irresistible is a factor few think about, looking at the bureaucracy. The work is interesting; even, fascinating – and important.
Not one of our almost sixty grads in Federal employment has ever copped to being bored or feeling like “just a cog in the machine”. Instead, they talk about what a “privilege it is to serve”.
So, how do you get one of these jobs?

This year, the Federal government will hire 127,000 new employees. Getting one can’t be impossible.

Here are your steps:
1. Find the Opening
2. Submit a Competitive Resume
3. Ace the Test
4. Ice the Interview
5. Pass the Clearances
6. PATIENCE!
7. Hit the Ground Running on Day One – and don’t be dismayed if the job you thought you had is different from the one you’ve now got. It will work out.

For today, I’m going to focus on the first two steps, since you’re nowhere without them. That said, take a deep breath and prepare for a process that will try your patience and weaken your will. Keep breathing. Remember the rewards are bountiful.

FINDING THE OPENING
First, create an “agent” on www.USAJOBS.gov.

Some keywords I recommend are:
· California
· Analyst
· Specialist
· “Career Intern” or “FCIP”
· Management

If you’re just starting out, check every week for new openings that are in the GS-07 to GS-09 range, knowing that you’re leaving out hundreds of openings that are not in the government’s standard Civil Service database. Some agencies use a different classification scheme, so check for jobs in the same salary range, roughly mid-forties to high fifties. (Don’t worry, our MPPs move up fast).

Now that you’ve got your agent, about half the jobs – and virtually all the internships – you want will not be posted on USAJOBS. “Gee, thanks” I can hear you mutter. Do not despair.
Team up with your classmates and set one of you to keep track of openings on the agency websites you care about. Scan for jobs that might say “MBA Fellows” or “MPP Fellows” or even, “MPA Fellows” or graduate interns – these are all full-time jobs at competitive salaries with one to two-year terms. They’re the fast-track paths. You WANT these. Watch for them. We’ll post them on EPPIC when we find them, but don’t count on our scans. Find them yourselves.
When you do, file for the job right away. Even if the deadline is a week in the future, Human Resources may decide to stop reviewing after the first hundred applications. You won’t want to miss out.

WRITING THE COMPETITIVE RESUME
There’s a detailed explanation of “how to” in the online EPPIC Document Library, but here are some critical tips:

1) Use the space available to you. These resumes offer you lots of room to write about your accomplishments in each and every relevant experience. Don’t limit yourself to the skeletal bullet points of your standard one-pager, but stick to the word or character limit. Anything longer is truncated.

2) It’s not just about Employment, Internships, Academic Programs and Volunteer Experience count. List not only the jobs for which you were actually paid, but anything that led to your acquiring the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) the job specifies. Although the government is officially phasing out KSA’s as screening tools, the principles still exist in masked form (see below).

3) Those dreaded KSA’s. Here’s what they are:
Knowledge – Factual learning gained either on the job or in school. You may be knowledgeable about Federal regulations in some particular issues area. If it has any relevance, put it in, especially if you are expert.
Skills – These are tools in which you develop proficiency through use, usually languages and technology usage, of some sort.
Abilities – “Soft skills” or things you’re born with that you have developed through experience, such as team-building or leadership, presentation, writing.
In the past, government applications had a section entitled KSA’s in which applicants were asked to answer questions about requisite KSA’s, giving examples of where they had been used. For a variety of reasons, mostly having to do with manpower, this approach was abandoned in favor of computer screening. Now, computers seek out the KSA’s (see below).

4) Keywords in Context (KWIC). Since your resume will first be screened by a computer that crawls through your words looking for specific keywords, make certain every keyword you can truthfully insert is in your resume. It will boost your score. Also, if you have reasonable fluency in a critical language – Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Pashto, Russian, Korean – put it in. It may not be relevant to this particular job, but you might get bonus points for it. Veterans and ROTC/ National Guard members also get bonus points.

5) Do NOT hit submit until you’re ready. Preparing this resume is a cut-and-paste exercise. Prepare carefully crafted Word snippets just the length you want with all the keywords you need. Copy and paste into the federal application slots. Just keep hitting “Save” as you fill in the form. Before you submit, print it out and review it – and, have your friends and counselors check it over. Never hit “Submit” until you’re happy.

Note that some agencies, including the CIA, only give you 72-hours to start and finish the resume. Make sure you start it on a weekend when you’ll have plenty of time to work on it.

6) Don’t lie – or, omit any important details. This should be obvious, but it catches up even the most honest applicant. On their one-pagers, most people leave out lots of jobs that don’t seem relevant. For the Feds, include every job for which you were paid with an IRS record. One of the first checks the system makes is for non-disclosure. That can get your application tossed. If you’re male, you must have applied for Selective Service. Check the box. If you don’t, your application will be tossed. If you had a traffic ticket you forgot about and it went to warrant, include it. In most cases, the ticket won’t disqualify you; the omission will.

7) CCAR - Challenge, Context, Action, Results. This is all you need to know to boost your scores. Familiarize yourself with both the duties and qualifications sections of the Position Description. Jot down key words. Now, look at each “job” you’ve held and think about how you developed the requisite KSA’s in the qualifications. There are stories here.
Distill those experiences into very short stories of 20 – 50 words that describe the CHALLENGE you faced; the CONTEXT of the challenge – sometimes your job title is enough; the ACTION you took to meet the challenge; and the RESULTS, quantified, where possible.

You’re the hero of this story, of course, but if the job you want calls for teamwork, note your role in the team and how the entire team benefited from your actions. It’s simple.

Now, try a few with your own resume, using this skill and ability for practice:
· Experience with creating content for a website
· Experience dealing with an authority figure or elected official

CCAR’s are very useful tools because you can quickly expand the little stories into interview responses. When you’re in the mood, write lots of CCARs even if they don’t fill the needs of this particular job. It’s good to have a stash so you can swap them out for another application when a new opening pops up.

8) The Personal Statement. Often, this is the last block of space to be filled on a Federal resume. Applicants are rushed for time and they skim over it. Don’t! This could the most important essay you’ll ever write. For most federal jobs, it will be the first thing the reviewer sees because that’s the way it presents to H/R.

The Personal Statement is so important, it warrants its own blog, but I’ll say just a few words here. Use the full number of characters allowed.
Make sure your essay does these three things:
1. States why you’re passionate about doing this particular job for this specific agency
2. Highlights your particular skills that make you an asset for this job
3. Explains why this particular job is crucial to developing you for the career you seek

9) A word About deadlines. They’re getting tighter every week. And, although a date is given, the surge in applications for GS-07 and GS-09 jobs is so high that many agencies stop review after a few hundred applications are received, regardless of deadlines. If you see a job you want, act fast! The way to do this is to …

10) … Store Sample Federal Resumes. Once you develop your first Federal resume and you decide you like it, have a friend and a career counselor, check it over. When you’re happy with it, store it on USAJOBS. You’ll be ready with a solid foundation when the next opportunity comes your way. Often, you’ll only have to swap out a few CCARs and you’re good-to-go.

Whew! Are you still with me? You probably need a break by now. Ready for cookies?
There is nothing more American than snickerdoodles. I love the name, and even though the original derivation is Dutch, these are not like anything you’ll find in Amsterdam. Crispy on the edges and tender in the center with a snap of spice – very American. Enjoy with friends!

SNICKERDOODLES
About 6 dozen cookies

1 ½ cups sugar plus 1/3 cup
¾ cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 ¾ cup flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1) Preheat oven to 400-degrees.
2) Whip together butter and 1 ½ cups sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
3) Mix together flour, soda and cream of tartar. Stir into butter mixture. Form into a large ball and chill 30-60 minutes, until firm.
4) Mix the remaining sugar with the cinnamon. Roll pieces of dough into 1” balls and roll them in the sugar mix before dropping them onto ungreased cookie sheets* in rows about 2” apart.
5) Bake 8 to 10 minutes until the edges brown and the center is still puffy. Overcooking results in a crispier cookie.
6) Cool on wire racks and store in airtight containers, up to 2 weeks. They ship well, if you want to send a gift to your favorite troops.