Navigating The Federal Job Hiring Maze with Kathryn Troutman [Podcast]

Episode #195 – Kathryn Troutman Explains How to Find, Write a Resume, Apply and Interview for a Federal Job

Description:

Kathryn Kraemer Troutman, Federal Career Coach™ is the founder and president of The Resume Place, Inc., a service business located in Baltimore, MD, specializing in writing and designing professional federal and private-sector resumes, as well as coaching and education in the federal hiring process. For the past 30 years, Troutman has managed her Professional Writing and Consulting Practice, Publishing and Federal Career Training business, and with her team of 20 Certified Federal Resume Writers, The Resume Place advises and writes more than 300 federal resumes per month for military, private industry and federal clients world-wide.

This episode is sponsored by Career Pivot. Check out the Career Pivot Community.

Now on to the podcast…

Why Federal Jobs Now

The federal government is a stable employer. It is also the largest employer in the country.

Applying for a federal job is very complicated. The hiring process is much more detail-oriented than most private sector positions.

Federal resumes are much longer and typically 5 pages. You have to prove on paper that you have the skills. You have to go into much greater detail.

When you want to apply for a federal job the first thing to look for in the job description is the hiring authority. You must make sure you are eligible to be able to apply.

Federal jobs are listed on USAJobs.gov. Jobs can be filtered similarly to what you find on other job boards.

Your application status can be tracked. As your status changes you will receive email notices.

When you apply for a job you will be required to take a self-assessment questionnaire. The questionnaire will vary a lot from job to job. Be very careful in taking this assessment as you need a 90% grade to be able to move on.

Federal interviews are behavior-based interview format. They are typically 35-40 minutes, you will be asked 5-8 questions and they will be open-end questions.

You need to be able to answer the questions with a story. A good book on storytelling is Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling.

The federal government is hiring a lot of people at SBA, FEMA, FDA, HHS, CDC, and other organizations that have funding from the CARES act.

Most of the jobs are remote.

If you really want a federal job you need to set up a saved search.

If you are turned down for a job that you feel you are eligible you need to call the HR person to find out what you did wrong.

Requirements and qualifications is the most important section to find keywords.

Check out Kathryn’s website Resume-Place.com

You can reach Kathryn at her contact page on her website.

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