4
4
0
My husband served 10 years in the navy. We're trying to find a way to get him back in as a government employee so he can do 10+ more years. We've searched on USAJOBS.gov and honestly, feel completely overwhelmed and like it's fighting a losing battle. He was a DK (Disbursing Clerk - now known as Personnel Specialist), and recently applied for a civilian position at Ft Benning as a Military Pay Technician. Sure, we may be biased, but he had every.single.qualification the application requested. He ultimately was selected for further review, so I guess he made it through the first round of cuts,but didn't make it any further.<br><br>Upon talking to a retired army friend from church who now works as a civilian contractor at Benning, he told us that many GS jobs are filled by people who are first working as a contractor. I described the scenario above to him, and he said that "likely" what happened, is that they eventually decided to hire from internally, which could have been someone who was already a GS, or a contractor.<div><br></div><div>So.... some of my information may be faulty, if so, I apologize. Point is, how the heck do you get your foot in the door for these positions? usajobs.gove is SO difficult. I tried getting a government job when I first separated from the service, and honestly, I gave up after about 2 years of no luck. What's the best way to apply for these positions, how do you find out who the contracting companies are to get in the door first as a contractor (if necessary) or how do you navigate usajobs.gov successfully without feeling like it's a complete waste of time? Has anybody on here been successful, and if so, how did you do it?</div><div><br></div>
Posted in these groups: 
Civilian Career
Government Contracts
Civilian Career Government Contracts
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 6
6
6
0
Like Maj Miller said, you need to tailor resume to the job posting. A friend of mine paid the $400 for a class. Basically he said resumes are read by a computer. Your resume needs to read EXACTLY what is listed in the KSA;s (Knowledge, Skills, Attributes) and I dont mean just showing it. I/e if the KSA reads "must have 12 months expeirence.." you cannot just list dates (Jan 2010-Jan2014) you have to actually write in your reume "I have 12 months experience..." If you copy all the KSAs and tailor it to your expierience..your resume will make the "Best qualified" and these ratings are the only ones that make it to an interview. Once I did this, I had 2 interviews and was offered a job with in 2 mos ...I now work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons
(6)
(0)
1SG (Join to see)
I am GS employee with VHA. Like the 1SG said make sure your resume has the words used in the posting. Also, you have to check usajobs often. Some of their postings are not up long, so if you miss it, it’s gone.
(1)
(0)
3
3
0
<font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><font face="Consolas"><font size="3"><font color="#000000">One trick is that you need to ensure your resume is
tailored to the job posting and you list every skill that they are asking for
and how you meet it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> For Government jobs a longer resume is better, b</span>ut I'm no expert.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><o:p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Consolas"> </font></o:p></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><font face="Consolas"><font size="3"><font color="#000000">I have a large slide packet I will try to send you on
information I got from a VA counselor to pass around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also is willing to help vets prepare
better to get federal employment and his contact information is below.<o:p></o:p></font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><o:p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Consolas"> </font></o:p></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><o:p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Consolas"> </font></o:p></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Consolas">Carl Wells<o:p></o:p></font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Consolas"> [login to see] <o:p></o:p></font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Consolas"> [login to see] <o:p></o:p></font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font>
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><font face="Consolas"><font size="3"><font color="#000000">One trick is that you need to ensure your resume is
tailored to the job posting and you list every skill that they are asking for
and how you meet it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> For Government jobs a longer resume is better, b</span>ut I'm no expert.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><o:p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Consolas"> </font></o:p></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><font face="Consolas"><font size="3"><font color="#000000">I have a large slide packet I will try to send you on
information I got from a VA counselor to pass around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also is willing to help vets prepare
better to get federal employment and his contact information is below.<o:p></o:p></font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><o:p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Consolas"> </font></o:p></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><o:p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Consolas"> </font></o:p></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Consolas">Carl Wells<o:p></o:p></font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Consolas"> [login to see] <o:p></o:p></font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoPlainText"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Consolas"> [login to see] <o:p></o:p></font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font>
(3)
(0)
PO3 (Join to see)
Thank you. We had heard about tailoring the resume, and we did exactly that - almost to the point that it practically felt like we were "plagiarizing" the job description by using exact verbiage from it into his resume and cover letter...but we did so because one of the tips we previously had specifically said that they use an electronic reader to pull out certain key phrases.
Thanks for his info! And yes, if you could send me that packet, I'd appreciate it. I'll send you my email address in a message.
Thanks for his info! And yes, if you could send me that packet, I'd appreciate it. I'll send you my email address in a message.
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
It really who you know. Army takes care of army and navy navy. 80 percent of the time. I am the perfect example. Retired cw4 and GS 12. 44 years total
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google