Student's Federal Career Guide: Students, Recent Graduates, Veterans- Learn How to Write a Competitive Federal Resume for a Pathways Internship for USAJOBS Federal Careers Paperback – February 15, 2014

I ordered the Student's Federal Career Guide, 3rd Edition, to view sample federal resumes for recent graduates. I was looking for methods to expand my two-page resume. I especially liked the technical skills list for the Anne Crane federal resume. It was so impressive that she featured her statistical and computer skill at the top of the resume, before the Work Experience. And she got hired as a GS 11, Health Insurance Specialist with Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services with her first federal resume. That's an amazing story and makes me hopeful as my educational background is very similar. I will make my resume look like Anne Crane's resume in the book. The sample LinkedIn profile was also tremendously helpful. I would highly encourage upcoming graduates, recent graduates, or anyone helping them to find federal jobs, to purchase this book. It really does break down the process in a very easy-to-follow manner.

I got my bachelor's in Political Science and even did an internship in D.C. But I had no idea how to find federal jobs after I graduated! My dad works for TSA and got me this book. It shows how to look for jobs online and gives samples of resumes... which are REALLY different for government jobs. For example, the resume had to have the addresses of all the places I worked in the past and the name and phone number of my supervisors. Also, it turned out WAY longer than my original resume. Anyway, I got a job! So it definitely deserves 5 stars.

There was so much to learn! I'll itemize it into list format!1. Add my small business: Cartoonist, to my resume (which was 8 years). I thought it wasn't relevant, so I was going to leave it off.2. Add my small family business experience to the resume. I thought that wasn't relevant, also.3. Put education at the top: since I just finished my MBA4. That Veteran's Preference for 30% or more Disabled is AWESOME and it WORKS!5. That the resume can be 5 pages!6. I needed to add my university courses to my resume, so managers could see all of my budget and finance projects.7. I needed to mention budget and account work in my family small business8. That I needed interview preparation and practice with someone, since I got out of the military 13 years ago and I needed the practice9. To get a coach, if you need one: for federal jobs or private sector. Knowing rebuttals to interview questions makes a difference!10. To be patient and persevering: I had a total of 33 referrals, 7 interviews; 3 offers (2 of them at the same time). It will all turn out GREAT - for me I'm hired. It took a total of 7 months from the time I met Kathryn Troutman. I landed Budget Analyst, GS 9. I am thrilled! My career is on a roll now.

The federal hiring system is substantially different from the private sector, and hence can be very intimidating to newcomers. That’s a shame, because there are always federal vacancies. In today’s difficult job market, it would be foolish to leave these abundant job opportunities on the table. Yet without some help, well-qualified job candidates can be overlooked simply because they didn't put their applications together correctly. I know this because I've written federal resumes for clients, applied for dozens of federal jobs myself, and now write federal vacancies and evaluate candidates as part of my job.This book is a guide to applying for federal jobs specifically written for students just entering the workforce. It contains both the basic information needed to understand the federal hiring system, and step-by-step instructions to finding and applying for jobs. Divided into ten steps, from researching opportunities to interviewing, the book is comprehensive, logically organized, and easy to follow. About a third of the book consists of successful resumes and cover letters for those who learn best by following examples. It is written for students of any subject, but contains information specific to particular subject areas. For example, the “Find your federal job chart” lists federal job titles that match college majors, and is five pages long.The guide uses a direct style free from distracting or superfluous text. The authors wisely placed the foreword, preface, and acknowledgements at the back so that readers can dive straight into useful information from the start. I was happy to see a full index, although future editions would benefit from the addition of a glossary. Information is well-organized and easy to locate such that the book can serve as a reference long after it is initially used. Expect to write notes in the margin, flag pages, and highlight information especially relevant to your personal circumstances.The information is comprehensive; including: deciphering the terms used in federal vacancy announcements, specific sources of vacancy announcements for students, salary levels, information for veterans, how to search for vacancies, how to network, how to analyze vacancy announcements, how to write your resume, how to handle federal questionnaires, how to write cover letters, how to submit your application, how to follow-up, and how to interview.I know that the system described in this book works, because I used it to get the three federal jobs I've had. And now, having suffered through reading poorly written federal applications, I can tell you that following the advice in the book will make my job evaluating your application easier. That means that following this advice will prevent you, as a qualified applicant, from being overlooked because I could not tell that you were, in fact, qualified. If you are a student looking for a job, you owe it to yourself to get this book and follow it.

Not working with federal employment in my day-to-day, this book is my go-to for all things hiring. I work with college students and recent graduates and every time I help them with their resumes, I brush up on my knowledge by referring to this resource. I honestly don't know what I would do without it. I know that the advice I have given to my students based on Kathryn's book helped to land a federal internship.To be honest, all of Kathryn Troutman's resources are phenomenal. They're clear and easy to follow, well laid out and aesthetically-pleasing!