Not every federal opening is posted on USAJOBS—but it’s a great place to start looking! Image: xtock/Shutterstock.com
By: Nancy Segal, Solutions for the WorkplaceUSAJOBS can be tough to navigate! And, if you’re coming from the private sector, it can be even trickier.
Here are 5 things you may not have known – and what you can do to maximize your success.
1. USAJOBS is not Applicant Tracking Software (ATS). If you’re coming from the private sector, you likely know all about ATS. Even if you’re a lifelong federal employee, this first point may surprise you. USAJOBS is simply a centralized job board for federal agencies; it does not screen your resume. Agency Human Resources (HR) people are the ones that do that. Keep that in mind when you prepare your resume; real people will be screening and reading it—not a machine.
2. You can use the USAJOBS “search agent” to identify remote jobs. All USAJOBS postings will identify if a job is remote (or not). If you are only looking for remote positions, you should set up your USAJOBS search agent accordingly. Please note that telework eligible is NOT the same as remote.
3. USAJOBS will notify you of the status of your application for a particular job 4 times. Agencies are supposed to notify you—through USAJOBS—as you progress through the process of being considered for a particular position. The 4 times are: when your application was received; whether you were rated qualified or not qualified; whether you were forwarded to the hiring manager; and when a selection is made. Individual agencies upload this information to USAJOBS so if you do not receive these notifications, it is not “the system’s” fault.
4. You can store as many as 5 different resumes in USAJOBS. We all know that it is important to tweak your resume to incorporate key words from each announcement. But you can keep as many as 5 different baseline resumes in your USAJOBS account. For example, if you’re an Information Technology (IT) person, you may want to maintain a cybersecurity resume, a customer service-focused resume, a systems analysis resume, and a programming one—all depending on your experience and skillset of course. By having a baseline resume ready to go, you can save time as you edit for individual jobs.
5. Not every federal opening is posted on USAJOBS—but it’s a great place to start looking! All competitive service positions are required to be posted on USAJOBS—that’s the vast majority of federal positions. However, positions in the excepted service, including the Intelligence Community, the legislative branch, the financial regulatory agencies, etc., are not required to be posted on USAJOBS although they can be. Individual agency websites are also a good place to search for federal positions—especially those in the excepted service.
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See also
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