Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Veteran Guidance on applying on USAJOBS.GOV

Often Veterans will need some guidance on applying on USAJOBS.GOV, building the personal profile,  building a federal resume, and extra tips when applying. Very soon Paul Moore will be putting out a very comprehensive presentation for this and as I tell everyone, he is by far the authority on this and has taught this all over our catchment area to EDD and other vocational stakeholders.

 Below you will find the details regarding how to set up a USAJOBS.GOV profile, build your resume (building it takes much more time and detail but will get much more positive results, I use this myself). I encourage Veterans to begin with this, take their time so it is not overwhelming.

Veterans should first watch some short introductory USAJOBS official videos below, to get the main idea, so that when they begin building the resume and applying they will be more knowledgeable and confident. Sort of like reading the instructions on assembling something before you actually assemble it.

First, creating a USAJOBS Account

USAjobs.gov: Creating Your Account Profile https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uDp74z0tZY 

 Brief USAJOBS Resume Tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YX7o1PBoFk

 Five minute video below: How to Apply for Federal Jobs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gih8-cwTCQU

Next is the step by step process for building a resume in USAJOBS, I also attached this as a document in case it is easier to read, and so you can save it, print it etc. Also attached are tips as to what to include in the federal resume.

How to build a resume in USAJOBS, the attached document of this is easier to read and navigate, with active links:

Sign into USAJOBS.

Go to your Documents.

Make sure you’re in the Resumes section and select the Upload or build resume button.

Click Build resume.

Name your new resume and click Next.

Click Add Work Experience, enter the required information and click Save Work Experience. To add additional work experience repeat this step or click Next to continue with your education information.

Click Add Education, enter the required information and click Save Education. Repeat this step to add additional education or click Next to continue with your references. You may also click Finish if you don’t want to add more information.

Click Add Reference, enter the required information and click Save Reference. You may add up to five references on your resume. Repeat this step to add an additional reference or click Next to continue to the next step.

You can enter additional information on your resume such as job related training, language skills, organizations/affiliations, professional publications, and other information.

Click the corresponding button under each section to add your information, enter your information and click Add or Save for each section once completed.

Click Finish to save your resume. Your new resume will appear in your Documents list.

Click View on the resume icon to preview your resume. To edit your resume click Edit on the resume icon and it will bring you to the first page of your resume in the resume builder tool.

Save your work periodically

For security reasons, your session will time out after a period of inactivity. We recommend you Save periodically so that you do not lose any work.

Updating your resume

In order to capture changes that you have made to your profile you will need to build a new resume. USAJOBS does not automatically update existing resumes. This allows you to easily keep a set of resumes to apply to different jobs and only apply changes when you desire.

Tips for formatting resumes in USAJOBS resume builder You can copy and paste text from Word documents into the resume builder. However, some formatting in these documents may not work in the USAJOBS resume builder. To fix formatting errors inside your resume, you must first save the original file in a .txt format.

To copy and paste from Word:

Open up your Word document or other word processing tool.

Select the File tab at the top.

Go to the Save As option.

Choose to save it as a Plain Text (.txt) file.

Open the new file and ensure the text appears in an acceptable format.

Copy and paste your resume text into the resume builder.

To edit your USAJOBS resume-builder resume:

Click on your username at the top of the page and select Documents from the menu.

Find the resume you want to edit and click “Edit” (located below the resume).

This will bring you to the first page of your resume.

Tips for submitting resumes to agencies

Some agencies accept uploaded resumes and resumes created using the USAJOBS resume builder, while some may only accept one or the other. Even though you may have both types of resumes in the Document section of your profile, the agency determines which ones to accept when you are applying online. The Apply button displayed on the job announcement page activates the process for a job seeker to complete an application.

USAJOBS automatically provides a list of available resumes and other documents to attach to your application, and will only display resumes and documents the hiring agency is willing to accept. For example, if the hiring agency only accepts resumes created using the USAJOBS resume builder, then your uploaded resumes will not be available to add to your application. Please pay special attention to the How to Apply section of the job announcement to find out which resume format and documents are accepted and how to submit them to the hiring agency.

Any questions feel free to contactme.

Barry Davis
Coordinator, Community Employment Services Vocational Development Specialist
(909) 825-7084 ext. 4933  Pager 7324
VA Loma Linda Health Care System
11201 Benton Street
Loma Linda, CA 92357
Excellence is relentless

 

 

 

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