Finding Your Perfect Match

Finding Your Perfect MatchFinding Your Perfect MatchFinding Your Perfect MatchSome people approach a federal job search like they would approach buying a home.Here is my wish list gourmet kitchen, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, in a good neighborhood with great schools, close commute, and within my ridiculously low budget.Or, they might start surfing on USAJOBS and end up like a child in a candy shop.Oh, wow, look at that job posting I have always wanted to do that And its in Hawaii SweetAnd then there is realitywhere the competition for the 5,000 jobs posted today on USAJOBS is simply fierce. Think of it this way trying to land one of those jobs is, in some ways, mora like taking your driving test than buying a new home.You have to pass the test.Passing means that you are qualified TODAY to do the job that is posted, not sometime in the future after some on-the-job training (with some exceptions such as Pathways postings.)Passing means that you must have the one year specialized experience sp ecified in job announcement, or its a no-go for you.Passing means that you have to score basically 90 or better on your assessment questionnaire.Think its easy to pass this test?I recently helped a woman who had been working at a National Park for many years as an extremely high performing GS-7. They wanted her for the next level position, which was classified at GS-11. Even though she was acting in that new position for several months already, she did elend qualify for the GS-11 position. Luckily for her, they accommodated her and posted the position for GS-9/11. She was able to make the cert for GS-9, but barely Even with all of her qualifications, she just squeaked into the Qualified category.Here is where the fun really begins.After you pass the minimal qualifications test and are deemed Qualified, the rat race starts, and now your odds are more like those of applying for an Ivy League college. Of all candidates who were rated as Qualified, you must rise above the crowd to b e chosen for the select group title Best Qualified. Then you must go through another magical formula to be Referred in order to get your resume forwarded to the hiring supervisor. If you make it that far, you still have to be selected for an interview. Once that is accomplished, you have to make a final sprint to the finish line and beat out the rest of the interviewees for the grand prize of a job offer.Crazy, right?So what does this all mean?It means that finding the perfect match for you is more about looking at your past history than looking at your hopes and dreams for the future.Of course, you absolutely CAN look to the future. If you have goals for your federal career, you will simply need to plan ahead to position yourself for your ideal job somewhere down the line.So the common sense tip for your federal resume is this Be the perfect match for the job opening to increase your chances of getting hired.Tune in for next time Finding your perfect match if you are coming from pr ivate industry or wanting to make a career change within the federal governmentPaulina Chen has a passion for taking the complex and making it simple for people to understand. Paulina has been a graphic designer, developmental editor, and webmaster for The Resume Place for over 10 years. Since receiving her Certified Federal Job Search Trainer certification, she has been eager to show federal applicants that writing your best possible federal resume is within your reach. If you need more writing help with your federal resume, contact us for an absolutely free estimate. If you need expert advice or training, Kathryn Troutman the Federal Resume Guru is your best bet on the planet. Email *Sign up to be notified by email when our newsletters are posted