What to include and exclude on your 2-page federal resume
Back in September, I wrote about the USAJOBS reboot and its new 2-page limit on federal resumes. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently shared additional guidance on how to write a short federal resume. Some of that guidance contradicts traditional federal resume requirements, so it’s crucial to know what’s new if you hope to apply successfully for federal jobs.
Because resume real estate is precious, deciding what to keep and what to cut is strategically important. Here is a rundown of key elements you may have wondered about including when writing your 2-page federal resume:
Special Hiring Status. If you received a RIF notice and are eligible for federal Career Transition Plan positions through CTAP, ICTAP, or RPL, absolutely indicate that status on your resume.
Profile Summary and Core Competencies. I include these sections on most resumes I write. For federal resumes, however, I agree with OPM that you should only retain these sections if you have space for them. The Experience section is more important in proving that you qualify for the job, so shorten or drop your profile and competencies if you’d otherwise need to shortchange your Experience section to include them.
Salary Data. Thank goodness we can omit this data. Salary history can perpetuate underpayment of qualified workers. Don’t include it.
Federal Positions. Do include your official job title, job series, and grade for prior federal positions held. Specify the month and year (but not the day) for your start and end dates in each role. OPM still recommends that you note the hours worked per week to distinguish part-time and full-time roles.
Supervisor Contact Information: In exciting news, you no longer need to list your supervisor's name, title, and contact information for past federal jobs. That information took up so much resume space and was often out-of-date as past supervisors moved into new roles, so this is a great change.
Older Roles and Career Ladders. Focus on your most recent roles. You don’t have space to discuss everything you’ve ever done. It’s okay to consolidate older positions into a single sentence with the dates of employment. For career ladder positions, you can combine the jobs into one entry to minimize repetition and save space. For the most senior position in a career ladder, OPM recommends that you specify your time-in-grade to ensure you qualify for higher grades when applying for new roles.
Education. Degrees are required for most federal jobs. Include the name of the school, completion date, and degree earned. There are conflicting instructions about whether your GPA is required for all job postings. If a degree is a required element in a job announcement, then err on disclosing your GPA.
Volunteer Work. If you have space for relevant volunteer work, OPM recommends including it, even if the work was unpaid.
Follow this guidance to increase your chance of surviving the USAJOBS gauntlet. Do read the job announcement carefully as you write your resume. If the job announcement requires any specific information that differs from what’s described above, always follow the job announcement.
Stay tuned for more tips on federal hiring, and good luck with your federal resume writing in the meantime.