Seven Reasons Not to Give Up on Your Job Search During the Holidays!

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Conventional wisdom has it that no one hires during the holidays. While most of us would agree that hiring certainly slows down during the period between Thanksgiving and the New Year, work does not come to a complete halt. In fact, some people argue that the holidays is a great time to look for a job. Here are 7 reasons to consider:

  1. Oftentimes employers are looking to fill positions before the end of the year so people can start in early January.

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10 Ways to Improve How you Network

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We have all heard that networking is important but most of us would rather not do it. Here are 10 easy things to make networking easier

  1. Attend conferences and meetings that really interest you. This way you’re more likely to interact with people who have similar interests which will make it easier to talk to people.
  2. Organize your thoughts first. How will you answer questions about your interests? What specific talents, skills, and connections can you bring to the table? Practice saying those things out loud.
  3. Help others. Once you listen to what others have to say, you may begin to see how someone you know may be able to help that person. Be a connector!
  4. Follow up and follow through. Do what you said you would do; if you told someone you would be in touch, do it. If you said you would introduce people, do it. Send people you meet LinkedIn connection requests (with a customized invite, of course).
  5. Be approachable. Smile and be pleasant. To everyone. Enough said.
  6. Listen more than you talk. Everyone likes to be listened to. Listen actively, while looking at the person talking and not over their shoulder. Ask questions. Put your phone away.
  7. Always have business cards. If your organization won’t give them to you for free, buy them yourself—they’re not expensive. If you meet someone, offer your card and tell them that they are welcome to follow up. You’re likely to get one in return. Follow up on LinkedIn.
  8. Use people’s names. When you meet them, as you are separating, and throughout the conversation as appropriate. This helps make your connection more personal and you’re more likely to remember them if you run into them again.
  9. Network in different ways. These include casual contacts at official network events, professional associations, and online networks. Each serve their purpose and you’ll be more effective (and get to know more people) if you explore different networking venues. Be visible.
  10. If you’re still not sure, check out these resources (and of course, there are many more available as well): How to Work a Room, Susan RoAne; Never Eat Alone, Keith Ferrazzi, and Networking Like a Pro, Dr. Ivan Misner.

BONUS: Networking doesn’t have to be a special event. Any conversation you have has the potential to be a networking opportunity! Its about establishing and maintaining connections with people, not just meeting them.

Do These 10 Things to Get that Federal Job You Want

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As we get closer to the holidays, everyone gets busy and distracted on personal matters. However, you can take advantage of the slowdown to up your government job search game.

Here are 10 easy things to do that won’t take much time but will pay dividends!

  1. Double-check your USAJOBS Profile. Make sure it is up-to-date in terms of your contact information, your eligibilities, etc. Veterans, this is especially important as you want to ensure that your eligibilities count.
  2. Understand your eligibilities. Do you have veterans’ preference? Do you have status? Are you eligible for reinstatement? Are you Schedule A eligible? A military spouse? Understanding your eligibilities and what they mean will help ensure you apply for jobs for which you are eligible.
  3. Turn on the feature that automatically notifies you when the status of your application changes. Under what was known as “hiring reform,” agencies are supposed to notify via email: A) when your application was received; B) whether you were rated qualified or unqualified; C) whether your application was sent to the hiring manager; and D) when a selection is made. While it is true that agencies don’t always take these steps (or the steps aren’t always taken in a timely manner), you still want to sign up for this feature.
  4. Create a search agent on USAJOBS to automatically send you job postings that meet your criteria.
  5. Make sure your resume is up-to-date so that you’re ready to apply for the job postings which have quick close dates.
  6. Add accomplishments to your resume, at least for your current job. You should include at least one achievement for each year in your current job. If you’ve been in your current job less than one, apply the concept your prior job.
  7. Get rid of jobs on your resume that are more than 10 years old. Employers want to know what you have done recently and be assured that you’re not resting on your laurels. If you were the hiring manager, would you want to pick someone who had not done the job in 20 years or someone who is doing it now?
  8. Apply for jobs for which you are qualified for. This is more than having time-in-grade; you need to have the specialized experience too.
  9. Review the questionnaires associated with each job posting before deciding whether or not to apply. You can review the questionnaires without applying; most postings have a link to view the questionnaire. If you cannot provide the highest and best answer to the vast majority of questions, you may not be rated as best qualified.
  10. Make sure you use key words from the job posting in your resume; make it easy for the HR people to see that you’re qualified.

BONUS: Still not sure you know what to do? There are many free training sessions offered on using USAJOBS and applying for a government job. Bookmark: https://www.usajobs.gov/Notification/Events/ and keep checking!

10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

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I am constantly surprised about the pushback I still get about LinkedIn. While it is certainly true that the private sector uses LinkedIn more than the government, in my experience, government agencies are getting onboard. In fact, at one agency where I recently conducted training, I was told that people who didn’t have LinkedIn Profiles didn’t get interviews—even internal candidates! Whether that is right or wrong, good or bad, is not the point. If you don’t have a LinkedIn Profile you need one; if you do have one, it can probably be better. So, here are 10 things you can do right now; keeping with our theme for the month, together these should take less than 30 minutes:

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Writing Your Executive Core Qualifications (ECQ), Part 2/2

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Your ECQs should be well written narratives that provide information about your strategic, executive achievements in the language of the ECQ and its relevant sub-competencies. When writing your ECQ narratives, OPM recommends using the Challenge-Context-Action-Result (CCAR) Model.

An ECQ narrative may include one or two examples (not more than two) of relevant experience that matches the ECQ (and sub-competency) definitions. Keep in mind that your ultimate audience is the Qualification Review Board (QRB) (again, no one from your agency may sit on your QRB) so your stories must stand on their own. The QRB is looking for specific challenges, actions and results, rather than expressions of your philosophy or technical expertise.

Here is OPM’s definition of CCAR to use when writing your ECQs (along with some edits):

Challenge. Describe a specific problem that needed to be solved. Remember to think as holistically as possible. The QRB is interested in the large-scale, if you have suitable examples. And, it should be something where you had to get others behind you (this is not about your sole contributions but your leadership of others).

Context. Describe the individuals and groups you worked with, and/or the environment in which you worked, to address a particular challenge (e.g., complexity, co-workers, members of Congress, shrinking budget, low morale, impossibly short deadlines). Make sure this is at the executive level—not an example where you were asked to implement someone else’s idea. Think about examples where you were the initiator of an idea that had enterprise-wide impact.

Action. Discuss the specific actions YOU took to address a challenge. Use “I” not “we” even if you were part of a team. The QRB wants to see your personal contributions.

Result. Give specific examples of measures/outcomes that had some impact on the organization. These accomplishments demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your leadership skills. Metrics always help support your results. If your result was qualitative, how can you show it was substantial? Perhaps a quotation from an award recommendation or performance evaluation, or a comparison to a prior situation.

Before you can begin writing your ECQs, you need to identify your examples. Your examples must be from the past 10 years (the past five years is even better—you don’t want anyone to think your best days are behind you!) and exhibit your strategic thinking, rather than transactional activities. You are limited to two examples per ECQ; each example must be a fully developed CCAR.

How can you identify your examples? Think back over the past five to seven years of your career. What do you consider to be your major achievements? What would your supervisor think was most impressive? Look back over your award citations, performance evaluations, and accomplishment reports—you may get some ideas from those documents. Talk to your colleagues; conversations may prompt your memory for good examples. Don’t forget to think about things outside of work that might show your executive level experience.

Other things to keep in mind:

  • You should not repeat examples in multiple ECQs. However, if you have a large complex story, you can use different parts of the story in different ECQs.
  • Even if your example is highly technical, be sure to simplify it in the telling and focus on your leadership of that issue. Your ECQs are not the place to show off your technical prowess; instead, wow the reader with your leadership savvy.
  • For some, it may be easier to identify examples and then match them to the ECQs; for others, trying to identify a specific story for each ECQ might be more effective.
  • The ECQs are not about your philosophy but rather your demonstration of the ECQs and sub-competencies in specific work situations. Do not include statements along the lines of, “I believe…” or use quotations from famous leaders.
  • You should use “I” throughout your ECQs. Even if the example that you are using is from your work as part of a team, the QRB is interested in your personal contributions. And yes, you can take credit for work done by your subordinates (after all, your leader is taking credit for your work, right? That’s just how it works folks.)
  • Do not refer the reader to earlier ECQs or your resume; each ECQ should stand on its own.
  • Sometimes an example can fit more than one ECQ; in that case, be sure to use the example where it best fits the ECQ definition.
  • Spell out acronyms and keep your stories simple—remember KISS.

10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your Resume

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Most of us are looking for quick and easy things to improve our resumes without a lot of work or time. Here are 10 things you can do; all totaled, these should take less than 30 minutes:

  1. Is your education listed first? If so, move it to the end unless you have no work experience. Most employers value your work experience more than your education. EXCEPTION: if you are an academic and presenting a formal CV.
  2. Are there tables embedded in your resume? If so, remove them.
  3. Does your resume go back more than 10 years or so? If so, eliminate your earlier work experience; employers want to know what you have done lately.
  4. Do the dates and jobs on your resume match the dates and jobs on your LinkedIn Profile? If not, make them match.
  5. Does your resume include a Hobbies section? A Personal section? Something similar? Delete them; everything on your resume should be focused on your target job.
  6. Does your resume include references? Or the statement, “references available upon request”? If so, delete this; all employers know that you will provide references if asked.
  7. Do you still have your college graduation date? And it was more than 10 years ago? Delete it.
  8. Is your private sector resume more than 2 pages? It shouldn’t be. Likewise, if your federal resume is ONLY 2 pages, more content is needed. A typical federal resume is 4-6 pages.
  9. Do you have an objective statement? If so, get rid of it; your objective is to get the job! Which is implied by applying for it.
  10. Does your resume have typos or grammatical errors? Not sure? Ask someone else to read it and fix them.

BONUS: Does your resume contain key words for the positions you’re targeting? If not, add them. It’s not about knowing that you can do the job but proving that you already have!