How to make your resume searchable on USAJOBS

If you’re interested in federal government jobs, it’s worth making your resume searchable on USAJOBS. Here are instructions on how to do that.

At the end of September, USAJOBS rebooted its whole system to implement the new 2-page limit on federal resumes. The search setting for all resumes was disabled on September 27th. That means that if you want your resume to be searchable again, then you need to log in to USAJOBS and manually make one of your resumes searchable.

That’s right: you can only make one version of your resume searchable at a time. While you can store up to five versions of your resume in USAJOBS, a hiring manager will only find the version you set as searchable when they look for eligible candidates. You can only set a resume as searchable if it meets the new 2-page limit. If your resume is longer than two pages, USAJOBS will tell you your resume is too long. It won’t let you set that resume as searchable.

To make your 2-page resume searchable, upload it to USAJOBS. Click your name, then “Resumes & documents.” Click “Upload a resume.” After your resume uploads, you’ll see a white button next to your resume with text reading, “Make searchable.” Select that option. If your selection is successful, you’ll see a happy green notation indicating the date when your searchable setting expires. It will remain searchable for up to 12 months.

You can manually disable the searchable setting for your resume at any time. To do that, click the three vertical dots next to the resume. It will open a navy blue menu with an option reading, “I don’t want this resume searchable.” Select it to disable searchability.

Some federal jobs are not posted publicly on USAJOBS, but hiring managers still use that system’s vast treasure trove of resumes to search for strong candidates. It’s to your advantage to be findable when hiring managers search USAJOBS to fill those positions. Make it easy for federal agencies to find and hire you by uploading a 2-page resume to USAJOBS and setting it as searchable.