Resume help

Federal resumes

A normal resume is no more than 1-2 pages, while a federal resume is typically multiple pages with a comprehensive list of all your professional experiences.

Did you know?

Your resume for a government job should look different from your resume for a private or nonprofit job.

Steps for writing your federal resume

1. First, list all of your past jobs, education, classes and volunteer positions.

Then, under each category, list all of the projects or responsibilities you had. For each project/responsibility, list the role you played, the budget, partners, challenges you faced and accomplishments.

2. Next, match your skills and achievements to those listed in the job description.

Review the job announcement and go through the Duties and Qualification Requirements sections of the Occupational Questionnaire. Highlight all of the keywords in the job announcement. Keywords are things like “conducting or assisting in field site assessments,” “entering and retrieving data,” or “creating and editing written correspondence.”

3. Now, match your skills to those listed in the position and add them to your resume.

If you can, use the exact keywords listed in the position description to describe your past skills and avoid using abbreviations.

Formatting

Include all of your experience. When applying for a federal job through USAJOBS, you may either be required to use the USAJOBS ResumeBuilder or have the choice to upload a resume. Even if you can upload a PDF or Word document of your resume, taking the extra time to transfer your information into ResumeBuilder will pay off. We can’t say it enough – you must be thorough in your application! Learn more about ResumeBuilder and applications.

Editing

Think you’ve captured all the information you need to in your resume? Allow your resume to sit for a few days after you are finished. Then, come back to it with fresh eyes and make sure that you have included as many keywords from both the duties section of the vacancy announcement and the occupational questionnaire as possible.

Resume tip

Put some weight behind your skills and accomplishments. Which of the following statements do you think would sound better to a hiring manager?

“Conducted fundraising activities” OR
“Raised $100,000 in grant funding over two years to support programming activities”

Make a list of the keywords that you found in the position listing and questionnaire. Next to that list, make a list of the keywords from your current resume or the list you created above.

Find out more about building your resume from the U.S. Forest Service.

Resume tip

It’s crucial to use exact dates on your resume. For example: March 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024.

Resume tip

Create your federal resume in a word processing program so that you can use the spell-check and save your work for future applications.

Resume tip

Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to submit your application. A federal resume can take several hours to complete. It can sometimes take time to get copies of your college transcripts or the special preferences letters.

Discover other resume resources

Many organizations have compiled step-by-step instructions on how to build a resume. Check them out:

How to Build a Federal Resume (US Forest Service)
Resume Tips (US Forest Service)

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Resume help

Federal resumes

Steps for writing your federal resume

Formatting

Editing

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Resume help

Federal resumes

Steps for writing your federal resume

Formatting

Editing

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Resume tip

Discover other resume resources

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