Beating the USAJobs Bot

Please let me introduce myself. I am Michael Cole, retired U.S. Navy and now US government employee, and career public affairs officer. I have worked both inside and out of the federal service. Even as a Veteran it took me years to figure out the way past the hiring bots of USAJobs.gov. I'd like to share my insights with you.

Yes, it certainly helps to be a Veteran or former federal employee, and even in some cases, only Veterans or former federal employees may be considered, but not all. So, first question - how do I know which jobs are open to the public?

USAJobs has an icon based system. There's an icon for federal employees, one for disabled persons, one for Veteran's preference and so on. The pale-blue icon with the little bubble people figure means the job is open to all U.S. citizens. Now, if you are one of the aforementioned groups, be sure to apply to all that you are eligible for.

The second thing you need to know is the job series code you're looking for. For a public affairs person, that would be 1035. These codes can be found here: https://www.federalpay.org/jobs/gs . Knowing this code will help you narrow your search for available positions within the job field(s) you're most qualified for.

Now the important part. Have your resume handy. Search the available jobs, find one that interests you and that you have the experience for. Read, I mean really read the job announcement - all the way through. Now read it again and this time, look for key terms and words, words that repeat themselves. These are the words that must be found in your resume - must. And, they must appear multiple times and in the proper context.

I am not saying to embellish or falsely represent yourself. I'm simply saying, learn the language of those doing the resume screening, and make certain you're speaking the same language. If you're not speaking the same language - how can you expect the resume screeners to interpret what you're expressing in your resume?

Now, look at your resume and compare it to the job announcement. Do they read the same – and not just in your head – read them out loud. I find that this help me identify key words and phrases. Imagine you’re the hiring manager that must go through 200 resumes, and you’re simply looking for 5 or 10 viable candidates to interview… All you need to disqualify any single resume is one little thing… Don’t give them that one little thing. I can tell you from experience of being both on the hiring side and the hoping to be hired side, it does not take much to disqualify a resume.

The key at this point is for you to get the email that states, you’ve been found among the best qualified for XXX position. You’re resume has been for forwarded to the hiring official for consideration.

For example: I am hiring a person for my public affairs officer. I want a person with specific experiences in public affairs, but more importantly I want someone with expert level experience as a photographer, videographer and associated digital editing platforms.

So, the announcement may read: The incumbent plans, directs, and programmatically manages the medical center's Stakeholder Relations Service, which is inclusive of the public affairs, audiovisual/media services, patient-centered care, customer service, voluntary services, and patient advocacy programs.

I know as a someone who’s been in this particular world that this means I need to highlight quite a few things – audio/visual (shorthand for all things Adobe Creative Cloud, health care environments and customer service, etc. So, I think about what key terms I can use to reflect these different points.

Now, again, read your resume, not only do these exact words appear in your resume – “public affairs, audiovisual/media services, patient-centered care, customer service, voluntary services, and patient advocacy programs´- but then do you emphasize those points with short statements using industry terminology to support them? If not, re-write your resume. And be concise.

My resume for a senior public affairs position, I ensure I have key skills noted multiple times such as; story writing, editorial writing, photographic, photography, video editing, social media management, communication plans, communication planning, (and execution), stakeholder engagement (holding town halls and public speaking events), audience analysis, etc.

As the hiring manager, I don’t want to read the same line three times – that’s not what I’m trying to portray here. But, there’s more than one way to say the same thing.

“Vastly experienced public affairs professional with more than 10 years’ experience using industry standard digital media platforms to plan, execute and evaluate communication plans and their impact on key audiences in the health care environment.”

“Digital media professional, experienced in the creation and development of targeted digital media campaigns designed to improve customer awareness and improve patient experiences across large health care organizations.”

These two statements can be modified in specific position explanations to include other key terms such as photography, editing, web development, etc.

Once you’ve developed a successful resume, you shouldn’t have to change it a great deal from one position to the next, if you’re focusing on a specific job field. It took me several years to figure all this out, seven to be precise, but I did figure it out, and so can you.

The resume is simply to get the hiring manager to add your name to the interview list. Nothing more. You will not, or rarely, be hired off the resume itself. It simply doesn’t happen. So, the resume is simply to get the interview. Without the interview, you have no chance – so, do you think it’s worth some time invested to get the resume right? Of course, it is.

You can’t write a good resume for any one position with reading the job announcement thoroughly.

Another tip, go to LinkedIn and review profiles of persons with the positions you would want to apply for. Read their profiles, look at the key terms they use – make sure those terms are in your resume. Find people in the exact position you are applying for, in my case a Public Affairs Officer within the Veterans Health Administration. They got hired into that position – maybe their profile will lend some insights into what my resume must read like.

I hope this helps, and my next installment will be on the interview. How to prepare, how to practice, and what the interview is all about. It’s not what you think.