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New Year’s Resolutions for your Career

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Only one third of federal employees reported being satisfied with the opportunity to get a better job within their organizations on the most recent Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. Are you or should you be looking to make a move in 2018? Regardless, here are some 2018 career resolutions as another year gets underway.

  • Should you be looking for a job? Is your network up-to-date? If you are even only vaguely thinking about looking for a new job, you need to start reaching out to your contacts – and it’s best to do this before you need them or call on them.
  • Does your LinkedIn Profile reflect who you are? Do you have a personalized headline? A picture? A Profile Summary that is key-word rich? Yes, I know I harp on the importance of LinkedIn; it does really matter—especially in seeking private sector employment. Its importance is growing in the federal realm as well.
  • Are you convinced that should stay (or leave) your current position? Is this a thought-out decision or a “knee-jerk” reaction?
  • Is your resume up-to-date? Even if you’re not looking for a job right this minute, you should be prepared with an updated document in case someone asks to see your resume.
  • Does your resume reflect your achievements? And do your achievements reflect the “so what?”—how you added value / made a difference to your employer?
  • Does your resume include metrics to give your work context? Without metrics, readers of your resume don’t know how large your budget is, how many people your teams have, how many customers your support, or how many transactions you process in a month.
  • Does your resume include the key words for the positions you’re thinking about (and currently in)? Applicant Trackign Software (ATS) is rampant in the private sector; most resumes are screened for key words—if you don’t have them, your resume likely won’t be read. If you’re pursuing federal employment, reviewers are resume (humans, not machines) are looking for the key words too.
  • Are your skills up-to-date? If not, what are you doing to close your skills gaps?
  • Is your assessment of your value consistent with those of supervisors and colleagues? Talk to trusted colleagues, carefully review your performance rating, or think about using a 360 feedback tool to get some candid advice about where you excel and where more work might be needed.

The new year should be an opportunity for self-reflection and forward movement. What do you want in 2018?

Career Tools for DIYers

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There are lots of tools out there for people who want to take charge of their own careers. Here are some of my favorites:

Tools to Find Key Words

Wordle: www.wordle.net. Copy and paste job descriptions to create a word cloud

O*Net: www.onetonline.org. Search your occupation to find common keywords

Manage Your Job Search

Jibber Jobber: www.jibberjobber.com. A free online database to help manage your job search

Grammar & Spelling Tools

Grammarly: www.grammarly.com/ Create a free account; Grammarly was launched in 2009 and it instantly eliminates grammatical errors and enhances your writing.

Personal Branding Books

Ditch. Dare. Do!: 3D Personal Branding for Executives by William Arruda and Deb Dib

Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand by William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson

Resume Writing Classic

Resume Magic: Trade Secrets of a Professional Resume Writer by Susan Britton Whitcomb. This book tells you the how’s and why’s of private sector resume writing.

Tools to Help You Answer the Question: What Do I Want to Do?

What Color is Your Parachute? By Richard Bolles

O*Net Interest Profiler: https://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip. This free online assessment measures your interests and shows how they relate to different careers. At the end of the Interest Profiler, you are presented with a list of careers that match your interests and preparation level.

And of course, FEDweek’s handbooks:

The Complete Guide to Completing a Federal Resume, http://www.fedweek.com/store/the-complete-guide-to-writing-a-federal-resume-3rd-ed/

The Complete Guide to Interviewing for a Federal Job, http://www.fedweek.com/store/complete-guide-interviewing-federal-job/

The Complete Guide to Federal Career Transitions, http://www.fedweek.com/store/complete-guide-federal-career-transitions/

Take some time during the holiday season to review these resources and let us know what you think. If you have favorites, please share them. Best to you and your loved ones for the season!

– Nancy

12 Easy Things to do to Get Your LinkedIn Ready for the New Year

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While things are slowing down at work, you can use your time to get your LinkedIn Profile ready for 2018! Here are 12 simple ideas you can use to freshen up your LinkedIn profile, and to take advantage of LinkedIn’s latest changes.

  1. Profile images are now displayed in a circle. Check that yours looks good and adjust it, if necessary. Use the LinkedIn Photo Editor function to zoom, crop, and/or straighten — and, if desired, apply filters.
  2. Create a new background image for your profile page. The size should be 1536 x 768 pixels – Canva.com has templates that you can use.
  3. Double-check your privacy settings. Go to “Privacy & Settings,” then click on “Privacy” and check each setting.
  4. Re-populate any information that may have been removed with the change to the “new look” — for example, putting your contact information at the bottom of the Summary section, or adding information to the “Volunteer Experience” section.
  5. Check the first 2-3 sentences of your Summary. Are they attention-getting? Would they entice someone to read further?
  6. Review your Work Experience section. Do you want to re-arrange what is showing up as your current position?
  7. Get familiar with where you can find your “Groups” now — either bookmark http://www.linkedin.com/Groups or explore the “Work” tab on the main navigation menu.
  8. Try the “new look” LinkedIn search function on the main navigation menu. Type in a person’s name, company, or Group and explore the filter functions.
  9. Visit the Notification area and update your connections. It’s much easier to manage now.
  10. Familiarize yourself with the Messaging function. Respond to messages with a personal response, instead of a “canned” reply.
  11. Proofread your entire LinkedIn profile carefully!!
  12. Make a point of visiting LinkedIn and using your account on a regular basis.

BONUS: Take a minute right now and backup your LinkedIn Profile (both “Save to PDF” and creating a full data archive). You want to make sure you have a copy of all your hard work!

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!

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.