Writing your federal resume requires format compliance, detail and adherence to federal resume guidelines using all best practices you wouldn’t know without experience. At SES Writers, we have written more than 70,000 military, corporate and federal resumes, putting us in the lead among our competitors. We are here to offer the federal resume writing services you need that earns interviews.
Unlike our competition, our company utilizes a process and a quality management system to be the most strategic and comprehensive process in the industry. Many ingredients go into customizing our clients career documents such as wrapping keywords, core competencies, skills, experience and accomplishments around the series and grade for the vacancy of interest. Meaning: it’s not what you wish to tell your audience through your application; it’s what they want to hear and how they want to hear it.
If you have written a private sector resume before, you will notice that federal job resume writing is a different process with unique guidelines. The format is very specific, as outlined by the federal government. A cover letter can be a great addition to your federal resume and on many vacancies can be uploaded. The federal resume is usually built in the USAJOBS system and once you apply for a specific federal job, there is a questionnaire that you must populate with your level of experience to specific questions related to the job applied. This one exercise can eliminate you for moving onto the next stage of your resume being qualified and sent to the agency hiring official.
Instead of having one professional resume that fits every application, the USAJOBS application system holds up to five versions of your resume. Each time you use your federal resume to apply, we recommend that you tweak your resume to address the specialized experience in the federal job announcement and ensure you have addressed the keywords, core competencies and assessment questionnaire related to the position of interest.
Private-sector resumes must follow this same practice, you will need to tailor your resume specifically for each individual federal job to show your qualifications for the position. If the resume is being written for the SES level, it must entail leadership qualifications and accomplishments. General experience listings won’t be enough to acquire a federal job. Each SES position may receive hundreds of application packages; however, typically, only a few of the very top job applicants will be interviewed. Your SES package must be exceptional to garner the coveted “best qualified” status.
At SES Writers, we write your resume to show professional achievements and leadership capacity using our signature headline format and compelling content that will prove your experience, skills and accomplishments. It is crucial to make use of all the best practices. Strict compliance with vacancy-specific and federal guidelines escalates your resume to federal hiring authorities. We have a saying: “It’s not what you want to tell the federal hiring official, it’s what they want to hear –and how they want to hear it.” This saying is especially applicable for the Qualification Review Board (QRB) and their strict guidelines.
Following these guidelines will compel hiring departments to reach out to you for an interview:
Writing a federal resume means following federal resume guidelines to ensure hiring managers are able to find the exact details they are looking for with just a quick glance. Our Headline format leads the hiring official right to the specific areas of interest and details about employment experience you have had in the past.
When you choose SES Writers for your resume project, we provide consulting on the assessment questions, coach you in developing your ECQs, and writing the narratives for Technical Qualifications for your job posting, further giving you a substantial edge over the competition.
I was selected for the jobs I applied for both times that I made a career change. After serving 28 years in the US Army, Lee made the process of rebranding me from a Military officer to a Multifaceted professional a super easy one. The resume he wrote highlighted my important milestones and demonstrated the values I bring to the federal government. I believe that I received more calls for interviews and selected more jobs than if I had used a self-written resume.
Upon retiring from the military five years ago, I started my journey and transition to Civilian life and employment. Your organization has been an asset to my career progression from day one. I have been successful in getting selected by name twice for promotion to higher pay grades and positions. When I submit my CareerPro Global prepared resume through the USAJOBS website, I know I will receive (and have every time), a notification that my resume has gone through the computer selection process and has been referred to the hiring authority. I would not be in the position that I am today and the positions that I’ve been chosen for in the past without the assistance of the CareerPro Global staff. Thank you all so much.
I would recommend this service to anyone serious about getting a federal position. My hard work and experience was displayed in a magnificent way and this service helped me get my dream job.
My new official title will be “Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Information Security / Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)” Thank you for a job well-done.
Thank you so much for all your help with my ECQs and SES documents. I made it through the OPM evaluation on the first try. I am now a permanent SES. You worked through a very tight timeline and I was a pretty challenging customer due to my schedule
USAJobs resumes are sometimes confused with SES resumes. A USAJobs resume is submitted via the USAJobs platform when applying for general federal positions. SES resumes are more specialized 5USAJobs resumes submitted for federal Senior Executive Services openings.
Differences between the two resume types exist in several areas:
The USAJOBS application system has approximately 10,000 federal government job listings on any given day. With thousands of candidates, the process exists to extract any applicants who fail to follow exact guidelines, which means your USAJOBS resume needs to be precise and follow the specifications exactly. Federal hiring managers want to know you can follow instructions before they consider your actual qualifications. This one process eliminates more candidates that can be imagined.
Note, most vacancy announcements now permit uploading your resume instead of filling out the USAJOBS builder.
Federal government resumes must be complete, with information not ordinarily found on other resumes—including the general series and grade you are applying for, full addresses of previous employers, supervisor names and phone numbers, salary history and a detailed listing of your education and training. Most importantly, your federal government resume must include your top experiences, skills, and accomplishments for you to stand out and be most competitive. Please be prepared to make a serious time investment when preparing for your SES application—whether it’s with us, on your own, or elsewhere. We recommend a minimum of two weeks to develop your application and OPM advises an average of 80 hours alone spent on Executive Core Qualification (ECQ) development.
The resume itself needs to address specific content, core competencies, keywords and relatable executive experience unique to the job posting, so you can earn a ranking as a best-qualified candidate and get your invitation for a job interview. You’ll be able to keep your USAJOBS federal resume in the system for whatever amount of time you need, as well as the ability to develop multiple versions for different applications. Your USAJOBS resume should be tailored to address special experience, technical skills and hone in on executive leadership with a focus on Challenge, Context, Action and Result stories.
Because every job announcement will require a tailored resume, the USAJobs Resume Builder is the most common of application formats, however many vacancies allot you to upload your federal resume and best practices for SES applicants is do not submit more than five pages. The key to building a USAJOBS Resume is to ensure your resume is in compliance with all information required, and you focus on qualitative and quantitative results related to your career progression. With that in mind, there are a few tips you can use to increase your chances of getting your resume past the initial filters.
When you start the federal application process through USAJOBS, you will be asked a series of assessment questions that determine your experience level. Your response content needs to appear in the body of your USAJOBS resume, and the answers should reflect your superior knowledge and skill level. Simple errors can mean automatic elimination by the USAJOBS system before it reaches the review stage.
When you look for federal resume writing services, you want to feel confident the writers will include all the relevant information a federal resume should contain. Here are some things you should communicate to your resume writer:
A critical part of the resume is proving you have the ability to perform the tasks detailed in the job description of the announcement. Your experience should convey that you can handle these duties and have performed similar work in the past. In other words, you need to prove you have the skills and experience to perform in the job.
Federal job applications should highlight qualitative and quantitative numbers to show why you would make a good hire. If you have data on how much money you saved your company by changing the way something is done or how many times you performed a task each week, you should give this information to your federal resume writer. The more specific and results oriented your resume is, the better. In other words, quantitative and qualitative results are important to emphasize.
The people doing the hiring want to find candidates who can step right into the position. Your resume should reflect confidence you can perform this job. You must show that you have the equivalent experience or education level the job vacancy announcement is requiring. Using all best practices, that is what our federal resume service delivers.
While you might submit the same resume for non-federal jobs, every resume you submit for a federal job should be tailored to the position. You will find specifications for each job that you need to address. This is another reason hiring a federal resume writer makes sense. Our writers have the time to sort through the requirements and experience necessary to polish your resume, so it is competitive and uses all best practices. They understand what the government agencies look for in a resume and can develop yours according to those specifications.
Offering four decades of experience in civilian, military transition and federal hiring practices, our PROCESS is by far the best in the industry. Adhering to a strict quality management system combined with the expertise of our master and world-class writers.
With federal applications and USAJOBS resumes specifically, a one-size-fits-all approach will not work to get you the job you want. Professional federal resumes need to represent you as a perfect fit for each opening, which means your USAJOBS resume should be updated to show specific experience and keywords that fit with the job listing. You are far more likely to be invited for an interview if the answers to your assessment questions and the information on your resume line up to reflect your suitability for the position. You should always keep your USAJOBS resume updated. Each year you should add to your experience and accomplishments, as well as when you transition into a new job.
The pricing for federal resume services varies depending on a number of important factors. We take your series and pay grade into account as well as the level of composition the writers have to put into the resume. The level of your experience and how technical in nature your past positions entail. Federal resumes are individually priced due to the level of content requirements. Assessment question answers must be addressed, and sometimes mini-KSAs are required. If related, federal resumes can be tailored for up to two different general series. You will receive a custom quote prior to project acceptance.
SES Writers will access the proper resources and put in whatever amount of time it takes to customize your resume properly.
No matter which type of federal resume you need to prepare, enlisting a multi-certified and highly accomplished resume writing services provider like SES Resume Writers provides numerous benefits:
Get Federal Resume Help – Talk To A Master Resume Writer TodayIf you’re looking for professional federal resume writing services you can trust to get you the federal job you have always wanted, SES Writers is exactly who you need. We have enjoyed almost 40 successful years in the business and our award-winning, world-class and multi-certified writers will ensure you lead the pack of other applicants in securing an interview.
The government is looking for strong leaders and achievers with great communications and people skills. We’ll make sure your best attributes are portrayed to maximum effect. Help us help you make your federal government job resume take you to the next level.
Our in-house web servers keep us up-to-date with current resources and career tools best suited to help you. You can also view a USAJOBS or senior executive service resume example to help you understand what to expect from our writing services. Contact us for a free consultation if you want to know more or if you feel ready to start on the next chapter in your career.
We will provide a no-cost career consult to determine the type of resume and level of composition and presentation. Then we will relay a customized quote based on your requirements and goals. Finally, with your agreement, we will assign one of our Master Senior Executive Writers to work with you in developing your presentation.
