WRITING A FEDERAL RESUME
PURPOSE OF A FEDERAL RESUME
Your federal resume will serve as your application for a position in the Federal Government. It
will be used to verify that you meet the minimum eligibility requirements for a position with the
Federal Government as detailed through the formal Job Opportunity Announcement (JOA). Once
a hiring agency veries that you meet with minimum qualications it may use other assessments
such as interviews or skills testing to identify the best-qualied applicants.
HOW A FEDERAL RESUME IS DIFFERENT THAN A TRADITIONAL RESUME
• Longer – There is usually no page limit; however, 5 is the maximum limit for some agencies.
• More Detail – Includes information such as citizenship, hours worked, supervisor and salary.
• Experience – The experience section is much more detailed in order to demonstrate the
applicant’s qualications. It should detail both experience and related accomplishments.
WHERE TO BEGIN
USAJOBS.gov is the ofcial website for federal jobs and the portal used to apply for most federal
jobs. If you do not already have a resume, it is recommended that you create an account and use
the USAJOBS resume builder to create one. Each federal resume should be tailored to a specic
job announcement. Up to 5 resumes can be saved using the resume builder. USAJOBS.com
provides additional resources and tutorials for creating a federal resume and locating federal jobs.
HEADING
Heading/Personal Information
The heading of a federal resume typically includes more information than a traditional
resume. In addition to your name, address and contact information (email and phone
number), you should also include:
• Country of Citizenship
• Desired Locations (city/state)
• Veterans’ Preference (see below)
• Highest Grade (see below)
• Availability (see below)
• Security Clearances (if applicable)
Veterans’ Preference
U.S. military veterans receive special preference when considered for work in federal positions. To be
eligible for veterans’ preference, you must have been discharged or released from active duty in the
U.S. Armed Forces under honorable conditions. If you are not a veteran, indicate ‘No’.
General Schedule Grade (Series/Pay Grade)
If you worked for the Federal Government previously, include the highest GS level you held.
Otherwise not applicable.
EXAMPLE OF FEDERAL RESUME HEADING
EDUCATION
It is important to include all information on your educational background and experience.
Below are the sections typically included:
• Name of School/ Institution Attended
• Name of Degree
• Location of Institution (City, State)
• Graduation Date (Month, Year)
• GPA (optional)
• Relevant Coursework (optional)
• Honors received (optional)
• Academic Papers and Projects (optional)
• Key Presentations (optional)
• Number of credit hours completed (optional)
Availability
Job Type refers to Permanent, Temporary, Seasonal, Summer, Internships etc. You should include all
of the job types that you are interested in.
Work Schedule options include Full-time, Part-Time, Shift Work, Intermittent, Job Sharing and Multi-
ple Schedules.
Not all Job Types and Work Schedules are available for all job listings, so refer to the JOA.
Sarah Seminole
100 N Woodward Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32301 | (850) 123-4567 | ssnole@my.fsu.edu
Country of Citizenship: United States of America
Veterans’ Preference: No
Highest Grade: Not applicable
Availability: Job Type: Permanent
Work Schedule: Full-Time
Desired Locations: US - DC - Washington/Metro
US - VA - Arlington
US - VA - Alexandria
EXPERIENCE
Your experience should address every required qualication in the JOA and should be
customized for each position you apply to. Hiring agencies will look for specic terms in
your resume to make sure you meet the minimum requirements so use the same terms/
keywords that they used in the JOA when applicable.
WRITING A FEDERAL RESUME
EXPERIENCE (CONT.)
They will look for the amount of work experience you have as well as the level of your experience.
The ‘level’ of experience refers to the level of responsibility you had within your organization. This
should be demonstrated with concrete examples, because your job title may have different mean-
ings depending on the organization. When detailing your experience always include:
• Position & title
• Name of organization and location (city/state)
• Start and end dates for each job (MM/YYYY)
• Average number of hours worked per week (full-time or part-time)
• Supervisor (or HR rep to verify employment) name and phone number
o Permission to contact (yes or no)
• Salary (per hour or month or year) (optional for some agencies)
• Level of experience (eg. team member or project manager)
• Examples of experience and accomplishments (most recent experience listed rst)
Describing and Formatting Your Experiences
• Use outline or paragraph format
• Include all relevant paid/unpaid experience including volunteer experiences
• Begin sentences/bullet points with positive action verbs
• Quantify your accomplishments, incorporating numbers or metrics when appropriate
• Avoid acronyms
• Give enough information to demonstrate AMOUNT and LEVEL of experience
•Match your experiences with the job qualications using the same vocabulary/keywords
WRITING A FEDERAL RESUME
Example of Federal Resume Work Experience
The examples below exhibit one way to organize and format the experience section. The
examples demonstrate experience by quantifying where appropriate and highlighting the
level of experience. This applicant also included accomplishments such as publication in an
online magazine.
Work Experience
Institute on World War II and the Human Experience August 2018 – May 2019
6600 W College Ave., Tallahassee, FL US
Research Assistant
Supervisor: Dr. Gary Nice (555)123-4567
Salary: Unpaid
Hours per week: 20 hours per week, Part-Time
Okay to contact this Supervisor: Yes
• Conducted research detailing American GI life by examining over 200 World War II letters
resulting in an online article published on ‘History Net.com’ with circulation to 72,000
readers.
• Annotated, transcribed and digitized over 200 World War II-era letters as part of a special
exhibit, “Witness to War” now on display at the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art.
• Conducted research analyzing current political trends as byproducts of World War II
and prepared a synopsis for part of a lecture presented by a faculty member at the 2017
Society of Military History Conference.
Florida Museum of Textile Arts January 2018 – July 2018
123 S Warehouse St., Tallahassee, FL US
Archivist Intern
Supervisor: Dr. Judy Jones (555)123-4567
Salary: 10 USD per Hour
Hours per week: 20 hours per week, Part-Time
Okay to contact this Supervisor: Yes
• Led a team of 3 volunteers to perform public relations duties to promote the 2016
Annual Quilt Show by writing radio announcements, creating a webpage, and using
social media blasts, resulting in a 15% increase in attendance over the previous 3 years.
• Synthesized archived photos and applicant questionnaires to create program guides in
InDesign, resulting in over 2,000 printed copies for a 3 -month event.
• Led between 6-10 tours a week of groups of 5 or more patrons.
WRITING A FEDERAL RESUME
OTHER CATEGORIES TO INCLUDE INFORMATION
Depending on your experiences, there may be other sections and information that you include on
your federal resume. For these sections, you want to be specic and state how it relates to the JOA.
Many of these could include:
• Job-related training
• Language Skills - Include level of prociency
• Afliations or Organizations
• Professional Publications
• Awards
• Leadership Activities
• Public-Service Engagements
• Volunteer Experience
OTHER TIPS TO CONSIDER
• Tailor your resume to each specic job that you are applying for.
• In addition to your resume, you may need to submit any required documents such as a copy
of school transcript (if qualifying based on education).
• You may be required to complete a self-assessment or questionnaire as part of the application
process.
• Everyone hired for a federal position is required to undergo a basic background investigation
of their criminal and credit history.
• If the position you are applying for includes access to sensitive information, you will have to
obtain security clearance.
• Some federal agencies accept uploaded resumes while others require that you utilize the
USAjobs resume builder.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• USAjobs: The ofcial job board for the United States Federal Government. Every position with
the federal government will be posted on the website.
• Go Government: Website through the Partnership for Public Service, with many resources on
federal resumes and applying to jobs with the federal government.
o How to search for a job on USAjobs
o How to Read Federal Job Announcements,
o Go Government Career Guides by Job Field
o Background Check and Security Clearances
• Pathways Program: Current student or recent graduate are eligible for federal internships and
job opportunities through the Pathways and other student programs.
• Federal Occupations by College Major: A list on USAjobs of academic majors and some Federal
occupations related to those majors.
• Most federal agencies have additional resources for hiring processes, federal resumes, and
USAjobs on their websites.
850-644-6431 • career.fsu.edu/ • @fsucareercenter • #DesignYourCareer
WRITING A FEDERAL RESUME
