Peer Reviewed Journal on the Challenges of Usajobs

This article was originally published past the Author at ThePOSTDOCket.

Equally a participant in the AAAS Science & Applied science Policy Fellowships (STPF)  program I had always dreamed of applying my scientific knowledge to civil service. Through my fellowship placement at the National Institutes of Health, I was equipped with an exemplary mentor, a supportive network of STPF alumni, and aplenty opportunities to grow in my career.

But while I felt well prepared for the future, at that place was a single obstacle that acquired my anxiety to flare up: USAJobs .

The supermassive blackness hole at the core of supergiant elliptical milky way Messier 87, or an incredibly on-betoken metaphor for USAJobs (Event Horizon Telescope collaboration et al.)

USAJobs, which refers to the United states Governmental Job Lath, has been known to induce shudders amid federal employees and government contractors alike. In fact, people oft refer to USAJobs as a "Blackness Hole" because of the tendency for resumes to get sucked in without e'er resurfacing. USAJobs has also gained notoriety for its rigidity, which tends to exclude qualified individuals from beingness referred to a hiring manager .

Fortunately, through my new network, I have learned a few tricks that may help task seekers escape the dreaded resume black hole and get their resumes into the easily of a hiring manager. If you are a scientist who is interested in a government career, I would like to offer the post-obit pieces of advice to recall when confronting USAJobs for the first time:

1. Use the Resume Architect to create your regime resume: If you lot take never written a regime resume, don't panic; USAJobs has a born tool to ensure that your data is in the correct format. To create my federal resume, I entered the basic information using the Resume Architect, downloaded the PDF, and converted it into a Microsoft Give-and-take document to add additional sections later. Using this tool ensures that you include the required information about each of your previous positions such every bit the time in the position, your key duties and responsibilities, and your major accomplishments.

1. Learn to use the search filters: Since USAJobs contains posts for all federal agencies, narrowing downward positions suited to your expertise and education level is crucial. Nearly civilian federal jobs are classified based on the Full general Schedule (GS) system, which is adamant by a combination of experience and educational level. For instance, obtaining a P h.D. qualifies a candidate for most positions at the 11th level (GS-eleven) , so postdocs looking for open positions should not look below this level. Also, USAJobs classifies positions using j ob series codes based on the area of expertise. For instance, every bit someone who was performing program direction piece of work in the NIH extramural environs, I specifically targeted my search towards jobs with a series code of 0601 ("General Health Science").

3. Pay attention to the language of the announcement : Although the Resume Builder may exist used to create the basic format of your federal resume, it is of import to tailor the content of your resume towards the chore announcement. Unlike a private sector resume, USAJobs resumes generally do non have a page limit, but it is important to listing the accomplishments and responsibilities that match the position clarification. For case, if you lot are applying to be a Scientific Review Officer , be sure to highlight your experience reviewing grant applications, manuscripts, and enquiry presentations. If you cannot identify the keywords from the Job Duties or Qualifications sections that should be highlighted, apply a word cloud generator! This tool will evidence you which words to use often when framing your accomplishments and responsibilities in your federal resume.

4. Be generous with the questionnaire: Besides uploading your federal resume, y'all will also have to complete a questionnaire that is specific to the chore that you are targeting. This questionnaire will ask you lot to rate your level of expertise with dissimilar tasks associated with the job vacancy. Although academic postdocs are trained to avoid overconfidence , it is crucial that you lot are NOT too difficult on yourself when taking the questionnaire, because a low score could bear upon your ability to be referred to the hiring manager. Therefore, I encourage you all to call up that yous should exist comparing your level of expertise to the average layperson rather than the experts in your field. According to the U.Due south. Census Bureau, but i.2% of the U.S. population has a Ph.D. Therefore, recollect that while you might underrate yourself, you are an skilful in your field!

5. Talk to the hiring manager: Postdocs are trained to withstand rejection, just learning that you did not make the document of eligible candidates (i.east. the "cert") is never pleasant. To find out why you were non referred to the hiring managing director, it is important to accomplish out to the human being resource (60 minutes) contact on the task announcement. A short e-mail exchange with 60 minutes staff about your job application might reveal how you tin can improve your resume for hereafter postings.

6. Request an entreatment if necessary: Furthermore, if you lot accept reason to believe that y'all should have made the certificate of eligible candidates based on your combination of teaching and previous feel, yous can e'er entreatment the decision by requesting a formal reconsideration of qualifications to the HR contact. I actually underwent the formal reconsideration process when I was rated at a GS level below my qualifications. Upon a successful appeal, I concluded up getting an offer at a higher grade than my initial offer. Although confronting Hour reps might seem daunting, advocating for yourself during the job search will normally go out you in a much ameliorate position than before.

While USAJobs appears daunting to those fresh out of academia, it is important to not let its intricacies hinder your dreams of public service. Recall to reach out to any contacts you might know who have obtained federal positions, accept colleagues proofread your resume, and just proceed applying! Your expertise and unique skill prepare are extremely valuable in the government sector, and if you can survive your dissertation defense, USAJobs should be merely a small hurdle.

Prototype: USA Jobs Logo, USAJobs.gov

Effigy 1 Credit: The supermassive black hole at the core of supergiant elliptical galaxy Messier 87, or an incredibly on-point metaphor for USAJobs. ( Credit )

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Source: https://www.aaaspolicyfellowships.org/blog/thrill-government-job-hunt-how-master-usajobs-puzzle

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