USAJobs Part 3 – Steps I Took to Get a Federal Government Job

After researching and learning from a USAJobs course I attended, along with information I learned online, I recently posted Federal Jobs Overview & Resources & Tips for Keywords & KSAs. My goal was to use the information I learned to apply for a Federal Civilian position.

Federal Resumes are unlike any other resume you’ll ever right. Your resume can be anywhere from 3 to 6 pages long. If you are a Veteran or a Disabled Vet, you can claim Veteran Preference, which can help give you priority over other candidates.

Pharmacy Technician

Resume & KSA Developing
1. Keword Search – To find the important keywords to hit when writing my resume

• Copied Major Duties Section of the Duties Tab into a Word Document.
• Copied Specialized Experience, Education & Knowledge, Skills & Abilities Sections from the Qualifications & Evaluations Tab into the same Word Document.
• Copied Questions 17 to 88 of the How to Apply Tab into the same Word Document.
• Went back to Word Document & got rid of the excess, while keying in on keywords such as pharmaceutical calculations, Third Party Collection billing, measure, weigh, dispense and mix ingredients, etc. I focused mainly on the KSAs & Qualification Questions for my keywords.

2. Utilized O*Net Online to help in developing resume statements.

• Used Summary & Detail Tabs, copying & pasting this content to a Word Document. This is a good starting point for developing the resume.
• Removed statements that I had no experience in.

3. Further Developed my Resume

• By using the O*Net statements I had as a starting point & the keywords & statements I had, I customized the statements to my experience & added accomplishments to show impact of the work I did.
• To better organize the content, I created different categories (i.e. Primary Duties, Secondary Duties, etc)

4. Networked with Potential Employer

• Contacted Hiring Manager of position and asked relevant questions
• Asked for and Received a “Position Description” or PD

5. More Resume Tweaking

• The Position Description or PD is an awesome resource, as it shows you exactly what the employer is looking for, along with how critical each requirement is. I made several more changes to my resume based off the PD.

6. Developed KSAs

• Created a seperate Word Document & pasted all KSAs from Qualifications & Experience Tab. Here are two of the KSA’s.

1. Knowledge of an extensive body of pharmaceuticals, pharmacy practices, pharmaceutical rules, procedures, regulations, and operations to perform a variety of complex technical functions.
2. Knowledge of standard procedures and techniques involved in repackaging drugs and supplies; bulk compounding; receipt, storage, care, and distribution of pharmaceuticals; and preparation of certain sterile solutions.

• Started writing my KSAs, which were a paragraph each. With KSAs, they want you to write in the first person, i.e. I accomplished…

7. Finalizing Resume & KSAs

• I did more tweaking, read through my resume & KSAs ensuring it flowed well, all acronyms were removed, no incorrect spellings or grammatical errors were present, etc.
• I had others read through my resume to ensure it flowed properly & for more suggestions.

Key Considerations with Resume & KSAs

• Resume – No Bullets are used in the USAJobs Resume as it will mess up the electronic reader and make your content unreadable. Think, 1 Big Paragraph (up to 3,000 characters for each work entry)
• KSAs - Explain how you did each KSA, providing examples and other relevant experience and training. You should have a paragraph or two for each KSA. Use seperate document for KSAs and attach it when applying.

How I Applied

8. Completed USAJobs Resume

• After finalizing my resume and KSAs in my Word Docs, I copied & pasted my resume into my USAJobs Resume Builder.
• Completed each tab of the Resume Builder & added awards & training into the Additional Information section.

9. Clicked “Apply Online” to apply for the Pharmacy Technician position.

10. Completed all questions in both USAJobs & then in Application Manager. The Application Manager is where you’ll be automatically directed to complete qualification questions, upload additional documents like Transcripts, DD-214 (Veteran’s Only), etc.

Receiving & Accepting or Refusing an Offer

• I received an offer a few weeks later & had 48 hours to accept the offer by replying.
• After receiving an offer, there are a few pretty simple documents to fill out.
• You also have an option to negotiate for a better pay grade, but I was satisfied with what I was offered and was afraid that I’d lose the opportunity.

What I learned after Accepting the Offer

• After keyword searches, the candidates were trimmed down to 5 total candidates
• I was chosen as a Primary, meaning I was the pick, but if something fell through, the other candidates were alternates.
• Once in the system, you are considered “Internal” meaning you’ll have a chance to apply for any job before it’s listed as External. I was an External applicant and only got this job because no “Internal” people applied.

Other Key Informational Links
Application Manager Quick Start Guide
Veteran’s Employment Resource Center
Forms
Government Jobs – How to Find a Federal Government Job
USAJobs Tutorials & Guides
Career Opportunities & Interest Tools
Resume and KSAs Tips
Interview Tips

I am very excited to be a Federal Civilian. If any of you are interested in applying for a Federal Job, it’s likely going to take you days to complete & tweak your resumes & keywords. I’ve tried to explain some of the techniques I used to hopefully help you as well. If you have any questions, please let me know & I’ll try to help.