Use the USAJobs Resume Builder to
create your federal resume. It walks you
through the sections step-by-step and
ensures your resume is in the correct
format. You may create and upload several
resumes and tailor each of them to t
different positions.
Avoid bold fonts and horizontal lines.
Your resume should be scannable and
easy for the Applicant Tracking System to
understand.
Describe job duties and activities in
paragraph or bullet form.
Use the active voice when writing about
your experiences.
Begin each work experience with a
description of overall duties in paragraph
form followed by paragraphs or bullets
describing accomplishments. Relate
these accomplishments to the job
announcement.
Job announcements often refer to KSAs,
which are knowledge, skills and abilities.
These are used to determine whether an
applicant is qualied for the role. Think of
KSAs as a way of writing your bullet points.
Describe your knowledge in a particular
area, the skills you gained (e.g., technical,
language and soft skills) and your ability to
perform a task. Your resume must include
KSAs in addition to specialized experience
and keywords from the job announcement.
Federal resumes should be between 2-5
pages. Describe your accomplishments
in full detail and list all activities and work
experience. Use numbers to quantify your
accomplishments whenever possible.
Federal resumes require details on college
coursework, papers, projects, recognitions,
internships, athletics or other college
activities, part-time jobs and volunteer
positions. The skills you gain during these
experiences is what is important — it does
not matter if the activities were paid or
unpaid.
Some jobs allow the option to upload your
own document; others require that you
use the USAJobs.gov Resume Builder.
You may also upload a a master federal
resume to USAJobs that provides a
general overview of your skill sets and
experience that HR specialists can nd
when they are actively recruiting for
positions.
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