College Counselors Top Tips for Students Applying for Federal Jobs

College Counselors Top Tips for Students Applying for Federal JobsCollege Counselors Top Tips for Students Applying for Federal JobsCollege Counselors Top Tips for Students Applying for Federal JobsBaltimore, MD (PRWEB) April 24, 2014 (see article on PRWeb) Many students and new grads are interested in federal employment.About one-fourth of US college students list government as one of their three major targeted employers, according to the 2013 Student Survey. Yet just 8.5% of all federal workers are younger than 30.In a recent Washington Post article, Tom Fox of the Partnership for Public Service wrote that a crucial strategy for bringing more young people in is strengthening their understanding of the feds application process.However, as the recent Washington Post article noted, they need to be better informed about how to apply.The Resume Place, publisher of the Students Federal Career Guide, 3rd Edition and a certifying trainer on the federal hiring process, recently intervi ewed career counselors at two colleges. Tamara Golden at the University of California, San Diego and Emily Gomez, MS at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill shared tips for getting the inside edge in the federal job market. The counselors emphasized learning how to write the longer, more detailed federal resume and offered other important tips.Tip 1 Learn how to cast a wider net on www.usajobs.gov (the US governments official job site)Both Gomez and Golden agree that many students make the mistake of searching for openings on USAJOBS by the limited number of federal agencies they know. They dont realize that there are a lot of similar positions and similar agencies, says Gomez. Instead the counselors recommend searching by occupational series. The Students Federal Career Guide walks you through determining which occupational series would fit you best. By searching by occupational series, you can find those hidden gems, advises Golden.Tip 2 Be sure youre actually qualifie d before applying.The vacancy announcements will literally describe who will be eligible to apply, observes Golden. And the Students Federal Career Guide explains how to understand the complicated announcements, adding that they must be looked at carefully. Golden recommends that you also spend time reviewing the Occupational Questionnaire linked to the announcement. If you cant score yourself at the highest level across most skill areas, then you wont be qualified, she says. Avoid status positions only open to current or recent federal employees. And students interested in Recent Graduate positions need to note how close to graduation they need to be to apply.Tip 3 Know that federal resumes are longer, and different, than private industry resumes.You cant just attach a private industry resume if you want to land a government position. Fed resumes must be longer (3 to 5 pages) and more detailed. Just this afternoon, one of my students expressed frustration at repeatedly being desig nated best qualified, but never getting an interview, says Golden. The student had been using a one-page resume, which is a big no-no. She told him to change to a multi-page resume at the least and also steered him to using USAJOBS zugnglich resume builder. Many USAJOBS announcements even require applicants to utilize the resume builder option only.Tip 4 Draw on your student experiences to demonstrate your skills and knowledge. Academic activities can play an important role in showing that you have what fed HR wants.Class projects, presentations, papers and other academic accomplishments can be highlighted on your resume, along with internships and community activities. Golden has her applicants include this info in the work section of the resume builder. The Students Federal Career Guide includes 8 sample resumes showing how college classwork and accomplishments can be addressed.Tip 5 Play the card you hold in terms of veterans preference.Vets get preferential scoring for their a pplications for many positions. If thats you, make sure you supply all the needed paperwork. One exception to vets preference is for Scientific and Professional positions at the GS-9 level or higher. The Students Guide includes a helpful chart that lists these exempt positions. Golden has found these exemptions to be helpful for her non-vet students applications.Tip 6 Start to prepare your federal resume now before you need it.More and more often, fed job announcements only allow a limited amount of time to apply. Gomez says it would be difficult to create an outstanding federal resume if you only have a week before the deadline. Start to build that fed resume today, she advises, and then youll just have to make minimal changes based on the specific requirements.Gomez agrees that many times students have no idea what it entails to apply for a federal position when working on their own. The federal government is not going to hire you because youre a college student or new grad, she points out. They want to see that youve done whats required as described in the job description. Thats why your resume needs to be so thorough.The new Students Federal Career Guide, 3rd edition, by Kathryn Troutman and Paul Binkley, EdD, was just selected as a finalist in Career for the Book of the Year Awards This informative 178-page guide is available in paperback, Kindle and PDF, and its sold at The Resume Place website and Amazon.com.