Transcript How to Apply to Federal Jobs

How to Apply to Federal Jobs
Presented by: Antoine L. Dotson, Director
Office of Human Resources, IMLS
What does GS, WS, WG, YA, VN etc.
mean in a position’s title?
• Positions within the Federal Government are classified by
occupational series, grade or pay level, and pay plan. Pay
plans identify the pay system under which the position is
covered. Many white-collar employees are paid under the
General Schedule (GS), which is regulated by title 5 and
administered by OPM. GS positions, including other whitecollar positions, are paid annual salaries. Current GS
salaries may be viewed at:
http://www.opm.gov/oca/06tables/index.asp.
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What does GS, WS, WG, YA, VN etc.
mean in a position’s title?
• Blue-collar employees are paid under the Federal Wage
System (FWS). FWS positions are craft, trade, and laboring
positions and include several different pay plans (WS, WG,
WL, etc.). FWS positions are paid on an hourly basis. For
current FWS rates, please visit
http://www.opm.gov/oca/wage/Wagesch.asp and select a
state and county for the corresponding wage schedule.
• Some agencies have statutory authority to administer their
own pay systems. Employees within these agencies may be
paid under separate pay systems (e.g., pay bands) with
separate pay plan codes.
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What does it mean when the vacancy announcement's Who
May Apply section says "all sources" or "status applicants"
and/or "reinstatement eligible”?
• These are groups of individuals the agency may identify as
groups from which it will accept applications to compete for
its vacancy. When a vacancy is open to “all sources”, it
means anyone may apply. While there are no restrictions
on the groups of candidates who may apply to these types
of announcements, in most cases, U.S. citizenship is
required.
• “Status applicants” refers to those individuals who are
current or former Federal civilian employees who hold or
held non-temporary appointments in the competitive
service, not the excepted service.
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What is the Competitive Service?
• For Competitive Service positions, appointment procedures,
internal promotion requirements and qualification
requirements are prescribed by law or by the Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) and apply to all agencies.
• Competitive Service includes all civilian positions in the
Federal government that are subject to Title 5, United
States Code; that are not specifically excepted from Civil
Service laws by statute, by the President, or by OPM. This
includes most positions in the Executive branch of
government. The most common method for entering the
Competitive Service is to be selected for an appointment
after competing in an examination with other individuals
from the general public who also desire to work for the
government.
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What is the Excepted Service?
• The Excepted Service can be defined as employment in a
federal position or with an agency that is outside the
federal Competitive Service. For this definition to be
meaningful, one needs to understand the Competitive
Service. Briefly, the competitive civil service refers to
federal employment that uses OPM's competitive hiring
process including Veterans' Preference rules. This means
that OPM, or an agency delegated by OPM, conducts a
competitive evaluation and rates the job candidates.
Once employed, candidates who have gone through this
process have civil
service competitive status. An employee with this status
can move freely from one government job to another
without going through OPM's competitive hiring evaluation
again.
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What is the Excepted Service?
• The Excepted Service, then, is comprised of positions and
agencies that are not required to use OPM's competitive
hiring examination. These agencies have authority to
establish their own hiring programs to fill Excepted Service
vacancies.
There are two kind of exceptions: (1) positions and (2)
agencies.
Agencies that are considered to be primarily Competitive
Service likely will still have some Excepted Service
positions. In other cases, an entire agency may be
excepted by statute from the Competitive Service and is
referred to as an excepted agency.
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How to Find and Apply to Federal Government Jobs
• Primary Sources
– www.studentjobs.gov
– www.usajobs.gov
– www.monster.com
– www.government.about.com
How to Apply to Federal Government Jobs
• Resumes and KSA’s
– Resume Format
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Detailed
Exact
Professional
Personal Information
Educational Information
Work Experience
Length
– What are KSA’s
• “KSA” Knowledge, Skill, & Abilities
– Knowledge- Organized body of information-normally factual or
procedural in nature
– Skill- Proficient manual, verbal, or mental manipulation of
data or things
– Ability- Power or capacity of activities performed
What are these KSA’s ?
“KSA” is an acronym that stands for Knowledge, Skills and
Abilities (also called “ranking statements”, “evaluation
criteria” and narrative statements”) required by government
and public sector organizations in addition to a resume or
application when applying for a job vacancy. KSAs are
qualities needed by applicants to successfully perform their
job and are used in the Merit Promotion process to
distinguish the “highly qualified candidates” from among the
“qualified” candidates. KSAs are defined as:
KNOWLEDGE: An organized body of information, usually factual
or procedural in nature. For example, “knowledge of the
concepts and principles of accounting” could be used as a
KSA for an Accountant position.
When responding, applicants should indicate what
accounting principles they are familiar with, discuss how
they applied these principles in the work environment, and
describe other significant situations they were involved in.
SKILL: The proficient manual, verbal, or mental manipulation of
data or things. For example, “Skill in Operating Personal
Computers” could be used as a KSA for a Computer
Assistant position.
When responding, applicants should indicate what type of
personal computers they have operated, discuss the various
types of software programs they have used, and describe
how these programs were applied in their work
environment.
ABILITY: The power or capacity to perform an activity or task.
For example, “Ability to Identify Signs of Discord, Tension,
or Abnormal behavior” could be used as a KSA for a
Correctional Counselor position.
How to Apply For Federal Government Jobs
• Resumes
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Detailed- Current most up to date information
Exact- Dates, Months, Hours, Names, Titles, Telephone Numbers,
Work Experience- Professional & Non-professional (i.e., Volunteering)
Personal- Full Legal Name
Educational- Complete history (i.e., Schools, Major (s), Quarter Hrs./Semester
Hrs., Exact Dates attended)
– Work Experience- Start with relevant first then strongest other experience
– Entry level
– Journeyman level
– Senior or Supervisory
– Length- Approximately ¾ page per experience
– Total Length 5-6 pages depending on history
– Concise
– Consistent – Utilize the same format throughout
What are Competencies?
• Competencies are identified behaviors, knowledge, skills,
and abilities that directly and positively impact the success
of employees and organizations. Competencies can be
objectively measured, enhanced, and improved through
coaching and learning opportunities. Here are a few
examples:
• Technical and Functional Expertise
• Understanding of the Business
• Results Focus
• Customer Service/Teamwork
• Interpersonal Communication
• Leadership
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Federal Resumes
Full Legal Name
[ Your street address & Apt. # ]
[Your city, state, zip]
[Daytime and evening phone #s Available ]
[Your e-mail address if you have one]
[Optional/Best Means of Contact]
Social Security Number:
Country of Citizenship:
Veteran's Preference:
Highest Federal Grade:
Contact Current Supervisor:
Schedule A Eligible
[Type N/A, 5pt. or 10 pt.]
[Type series and highest grade or Federal Equivalent]
[Type Yes or No]
[Attach Certification Letter]
VACANCY INFORMATION:
Announcement #:
Job Title:
Grade (s) Applying for:
[Failure to do so will result in mis-qualification]
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS:
[Type a summary of work history and skills – This could state a career change, completion of a degree, and so forth]
WORK EXPERIENCE:
Employer:
Dates Employed:
02/1999-03/2001
Street:
Hours per Week:
40 Not 35 for FT
City, State, Zip:
Annual Salary:
Supervisor: [Click here and type name/ph#] {Can this person be contacted ? If not, provide alternate}
Title, Grade, Series:
[Click here and type position title, grade, series or Equivalent]
Responsibilities and Accomplishments:
[Type major responsibilities/accomplishments]
[Type minor responsibilities/accomplishments]
How to Apply to Federal Government Jobs
• What are my KSA’s measured against?
– Rating Criteria
factors)
(Established by mgt.: Tool assessment, mandatory selective
– Legal Standards (OPM Qualification standards on
minimum qualifications and education requirements)
Overall outcome of rating determined:
– Best Qualified/Well-Qualified/Qualified
Category Rating – Competitive Hiring
• The Presidential Memorandum - Improving the
Federal Recruitment and Hiring Process issued on
May 11, 2010, requires agencies to use the
category rating approach (as authorized by
section 3319 of title 5, United States Code
(external link)) to assess and select job
applicants for positions filled through competitive
examining. Agencies would evaluate candidates
and place them into two or more pre-determined
quality categories.
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Category Rating – Purpose:
• The purpose of category rating is to increase the
number of qualified applicants an agency has to
choose from for selection while preserving
veterans' preference rights. The category rating
approach gives agencies the flexibility to assess
and select from among applicants in the highest
quality category without regard to the "rule of
three."
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What About Automation?
• Faster, Smoother, User Friendly
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Environmentally Friendly
Time sensitive
Adaptability
Just-in-Time
Return on Investment
Greater Applicant pool
Privacy
Sources
• Primary portal: www.usajobs.gov
– www.quickhire.com
– www.avue.com
– www.usastaffing.com
Applicant Processing
Old vs. New
Applicant is notified of vacancy
status via USPS mail
Applicant writes summary to
demonstrate KSA’s which are
used to certify qualifications
• Applicant is notified of status by email
sent by hiring agency throughout the
recruitment process
• Applicant responds to questions and
writes a brief summary to certify
qualifications
HR staff member assesses the • Automated system screens for basic
basic qualifications of
qualifications based on applicant
candidates using paper resume
responses to questions
Manager receives paper
applications
• Manager views certificate and
application package online
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Applicant Processing
Old vs. New
- Panel members
rate/rank applications
- HR issues best qualified
certificate
• Applicants are rated and
ranked based on responses
to weighted questions
- HR Specialist maintains
paper copy of application
& resume
• Application information is
stored online for future use
- HR Specialist manually • System has ad-hoc
reporting capability
researches information
and prepares reports
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Question Format
Question Development
Types of Questions:
 Applicant Assessment (set generic answers)
 Multiple Answer/Multiple Choice
 Multiple Choice
 Matching
 Yes/No
 True/False
 Short Answer
 Long Answer (narrative)
Immediate Registration & Eligibility Notification
New User Initial Intake Screen
Basic Qualifications Screen
How Applicants Use QuickHire:
Initial Registration Screen
Resume Template
Résumé Template
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Personal Information
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Full name, mailing address(with zip code)
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Daytime and evening phone number
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Email address
Work Experience
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Job title
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Duties
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Accomplishments
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Supervisor’s name and phone number
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Starting and ending dates
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Hours per week
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Salary
Education
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High School (Name, city, state, zip code, date of diploma or GED)
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Colleges and Universities (Name, city, state, zip code)
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Type and year of degree, major
Other Qualifications
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Professional Development Activities ( committees, work groups, teams)
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Professional Affiliations, Memberships, and Licenses (year, position)
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Professional Awards, Honors, and Special Accomplishments (year, type)
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Professional Publications, Articles, and other documents
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Professional Skills (not listed above)
References
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Professional References (Name, title, and phone number)
Core Questions Screen
Email Notification Option
Immediate Registration & Eligibility Notification
Basic Qualifications Screen
Specialized Qualifications Screen
Successful Application Transmittal Screen
Applicant’s Benefits
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Better Agency Communication with Applicants
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Optional Automatic Vacancy Notification
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Applicant Information Stored Online for Future
Use
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Faster and Easier Application Process
How does hiring officials make
selections?
• Agencies make selections from within the highest quality
category regardless of the number of candidates (i.e., the
rule of three does not apply). However, preference eligible
receive absolute preference within each category. If a
preference eligible is in the category, an agency may not
select a non-preference eligible unless the agency requests
to pass over the preference eligible in accordance with 5
U.S.C. § 3318 (external link), and the request is approved.
• If there are fewer than three candidates in the highest
quality category, agencies may combine the highest
category with the next lower category and make selections
from the merged category.
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Helpful Tips for Impressive Federal
Resume
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Be descriptive but not too wordy.
Write complete sentences.
Use Sub-headings (Education, Skills, Interest)
Top-down approach
Word or PDF
Customize your resume to fit the position.
Pay close attention to fonts and formatting….stay
consistent.
• Don’t decorate!
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How to Find and Apply to Federal Government Jobs
• Questions, concerns or
thoughts…