Of course! Here's a quick vocabulary lesson:

OPM: This stands for the Office of Personnel Management, and they function as HR for everyone in the Federal Government.

Occupational Series: This is how the Federal Government categorizes and classifies similar types of jobs. For example, there are Professional Occupations grouped into Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare (Series 0100-0199), Human Resources Management (Series 0200-0299), General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services (Series 0300-0399), and so on.

Positions are classified into Occupational Series based on the work performed, the level of difficulty, and the required qualifications. Positions within a series share similar subject matter, basic knowledge, and skill requirements.

You'll find Occupational Series linked on USAJobs announcements so you can find similar job openings quickly.

Pay Grade: The Federal Government also categorizes jobs by pay grade. The General Schedule (GS) pay scale is the most common.

The GS pay grade listed on a job announcement directly relates to the education level and experience required to qualify for that job.

Specialized Experience vs KSAs vs Competencies: OPM sets qualification standards to make sure federal employees can successfully and safely perform the work of the job.

Minimal qualifications may include your work experience, accomplishments, education, training, and overall qualifications. To qualify for higher grade levels (GS-7 or equivalent level and higher, for example), you must have Specialized Experience.

Specialized Experience: At least 1 year of specific work history that must be equivalent to the next lower grade level. Don't worry, the job announcement will tell you exactly what needs to be on your resume to count.

KSAs: This stands for Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities and they are non-negotiable requirements. These will be assessed both on your resume and application questionnaire (if there is one). These are pretty straight forward: Knowledge of x, y, and z. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. Ability to x, y, and z.

Competencies: These are defined as "measurable patterns" of KSAs, behaviors, or characteristics that are the "how" behind performing job tasks. Common competencies are broad skills like attention to detail, decision-making, and customer service.

Best qualified: Meeting the minimum qualifications won't be enough to land an interview. Think of your application as a 100-point test, and both your resume and application questionnaire will be graded. If you meet the minimum qualifications, you'll likely get a 70% on this "test."

HR Specialists will look for your level of experience, and the details you give to provide context (scope, challenges, outcomes, etc.) will earn you more points. Those who get a 90% or higher will be most likely to be referred to hiring decision-makers to be considered for interviews. These are best qualified applicants.

If you're creating a federal resume for the first time, using the USAJobs Resume Builder can help you make sure you include all of the required compliance details and organize all of the details needed for a federal resume correctly. However, HR Specialists have shared that the Resume Builder resumes are difficult to read on their end (small font sizes, narrow margins, etc.) and prefer uploaded documents.

The federal resume templates I've designed are formatted to be easy on human eyes without heavy design elements (minimalistic is best for the public sector). They're available as Google Docs or Microsoft Word Douments so their also easy to edit, download, and upload to USAJobs or agency website. They were designed to be easy to fill in the blanks so you don't miss any of the required compliance details and you have a straightforward example of how to organize your experience.

Fix Your Federal Resume is a self-paced course organized into four, easy-to-digest lessons that you can binge-watch in about an hour. Since the homework is time-intensive, I highly recommend stretching the lessons over two days to prevent burnout or overwhelm.

If you're one of the many job seekers juggling far too many responsibilities during the workweek, this course is perfect for completing over a weekend.

When you purchase the Fix Your Federal Resume Course, you have lifetime access! That means that ALL of the templates and worksheets are downloadable, and you’ll be able to access the recorded lessons as long as you’d like.

You’ll also be notified whenever templates, worksheets, and best practices shared have been updated to keep you up to date with emerging hiring trends and technologies.

Since you get instant access to the course materials digitally upon receipt of payment, no refunds are available once the course is purchased.

Maybe you've signed up for programs like this in the past and they haven’t worked. I don't offer any guarantees because there are simply too many factors involved in a job search. Results will vary based on:

• How active you are in the job search process,
• Whether or not you're applying for positions you are eligible and qualified for,
• If you use your resume as advised, and
• Forces in the economy that are outside of your control

I’m confident that you will gain the resume writing skills that will get you the results my clients have seen, but I realize that you may have special circumstances that require additional assistance.

If after 60 days of purchase you can show that you’ve implemented the strategies recommended in the course but you haven't landed any interviews, I'll get on a free 30-minute video consultation with you so we can take a peek at your resume together, chat about your job search woes, and get to the bottom of it!