Tips for Federal Government Employment Applications on USAJobs.org

For people separating out of the military and trying to transition into federal government employment, USA Jobs is the only way you can apply. USA Jobs is the main website where you would submit information to get jobs in various fields such as the Postal Service, Homeland Security, or even your former military installation! I recently got a job on my former Air Force Base doing work that I was familiar with in my military life. Although I was able to begin employment within one month of separation, it was not an easy process. Here are some tips on how to apply and what to expect with USA Jobs.

Have ALL your documents ready! If you are still in the military and had a significant amount of training in whatever you did, dig back in your files and get every certificate you have. You would be surprised how much training helps! I was in the military for 10 years but had only done anything related to my current job for less than two years. However, in those two years I had acquired tons of training and took extra courses online (all free thanks to the military) to enhance my skills. I did this LONG before I planned on separating. It turns out all of that training came in handy when it was time to apply because many application questions were directly related to my new job! So get all your training and education documents/certificates and has them handy when you apply. And if you are already out, you have probably heard this next statement many times in the last year: have a copy of your DD214.

USA Jobs does NOT hire; they only facilitate the process. USA Jobs is not the hiring authority; it is whoever you are trying to get a job with. The hiring authorities submit their jobs with USA Jobs. USA Jobs will screen your information and, based on the various applications and /or tests, they will rank your application among the other hires and then submit them to the hiring authority. USA Jobs also works with the Office of Personnel Management to facilitate any background checks and reviews of your military or prior Federal Employment records. Again, they do not hire, so calling them to see if you got the job you applied for will do you no good.

Be very, very patient. Doing anything through USA jobs is not a speedy process. It can take months to fully review your resume, conduct a background check and submit their results to your hiring authority. In October made the decision to separate from the military the following April. The job I was seeking and applied for was open and ready for me to work at the same month. I submitted my resume in November and was not even notified of my official status until March, even though I was in direct contact with my hopeful place of employment every day. They couldn't tell me anything because USA Jobs still held all the official information that would have allowed them to let me start working. Bottom line is I was ready to work and they were ready for me to work by November of 2007 but I didn't get to start until May of 2008. If you are thinking about separating and apply through USA jobs, give yourself at least six months!

Read the fine print. You may search through USA Jobs and find thousands of interesting positions that you qualify for. They may even be in places you wouldn't mind living in like Hawaii or your hometown. However, many of those positions have specific details that you should pay attention to. The first is any position that says "Standing register". What that means is that your application will go into a pool of applications that won't even be looked at until that position actually becomes open. That job is likely a high turnover job and rather than going through a lengthy open position submission, the hiring authority has elected to always keep applications within an arm's reach. A relative of mine was unexpectedly hired that way. He put in a resume for a standing register position and two months later got a call for an interview. He had totally forgotten that he applied in the first place; he just thought it was an interesting job!

Copy and paste is your best friend. In USA Jobs your initial resume is often not enough to apply. Many agencies have different requirements of the same information yet in different formats. If you are not careful you could find yourself typing and re-typing the same information 20 times over. I suggest keeping pertinent information handy in another computer file like a Word Document so that, wherever possible, you can copy and paste into the applications.

These are just a few tips that will help you navigate through the initial rings of USA Jobs. Working for the Federal government offers many advantages, but it can take a long time to be in a position where you can use them. Take advantage of what I learned the hard way in order to speed up the hiring process!