Army FASCLASS Federal Resume

This is a new way to write federal resumes for Army civilian employees (yay!) - and also works great for any federal resume (Department of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and so forth).

If the resume writing guidance seems a little different, it was developed in an Army Job Hunt Group at an overseas US military Community Activity Center (CAC), and is a combination of official FASCLASS Position Descriptions (PDs), and personal accomplishments.

Of all the ways to write federal resumes - this is the fastest way to get a quality resume online - so you can start applying for federal jobs right away.

Long-story-short:

• Go to FASCLASS (you may have to download Mozilla Firefox browser to get to the FASCLASS web site - Internet Explorer and Google Chrome often will not let you see the site).
• Search in the Position Descriptions section of FASCLASS for a job that you have done in the past. For example, if you are a civilian realtor who would like to switch to federal employment - type in the term "real property" (which is the Army's term for real estate) - to display actual Position Description (PD) text for Army Real Property Managers around the globe (you will see descriptions from regions in the United Statues, as well as from overseas locations).
• Find a PD that is as close as possible to work that you have actually performed in the past.
• Localize it with information about you and the place on the planet that you did the work - and with with your particular expertise.
• In other words, use the key words contained in the PD, revising slightly using synonyms and semantics, if necessary - so that it states factual information about the duties and responsibilities you actually performed.

The most important part:

• Add real accomplishments (you have some, trust me).
• The resume that makes you stands out to the point that you receive a phone call for an interview - is the one that communicates to an employer that you have real-world work experience in which you did above-and-beyond things on your own initiative (things that were not required, that you thought of on your own).
• If you don't have any accomplishments - go get some - which means you may have to take a look at your work environment to determine where improvement is needed - and start solving problems with your brain, know-how, work experience, and maybe a little managerial elbow grease.

Realistically, you probably already have a number of accomplishments - you just need to spend time thinking about things you are doing - or that you have done in the past.

Sample:

To illustrate, here's a Work Experience sample from an employee who worked at a Hospital "Distribution Center" (the mailroom) at a base in Japan (you know the type - one of those little "Radar"-like dudes (from M*A*S*H) who push the little mail cart through the building, handing people their daily mail and distribution.

This sample below is written in the first person "I," as is the norm these days:

Duties: I managed the Camp Zama Hospital Distribution Center for three years, overseeing two annual budgets (Official Mail and Reproduction; $20K, and $10K, respectively). I reviewed DOD and Army official mail policies and regulations to improve office operations by establishing or eliminating processes; requisitioning equipment and supplies to improve efficiencies; and studying workflow to ensure competent mail delivery and receipt. I enforced positive accountability with a combination of postage metering equipment and mail consolidations to effect cost reductions. I conducted periodic internal and external surveys to enforce regulatory guidance.

Accomplishments:

• By working alone in the Distribution Center for the majority of the time in this position, I literally performed the duties of two (2) employees, saving the Army a Wage Grade 5 $35K salary per annum.
• I consistently asked for additional responsibility, initially assuming responsibility for Mass Reproduction for the camp; eventually acquiring administrative areas that included Records Management, Copier Management, and Office Symbol Management (Administrative Services Division chief responsibilities).
• I implemented an installation-wide mail delivery system, and automated accountable mail by requisitioning bar code scanners.
• I created a paper forms library to ensure smooth office operations in the event of computer connectivity loss.
• I authored a Business Recovery Plan, Standard Operating Procedures and Policy Memorandums.

That's it. FASCLASS and accomplishments. Woo hoo!

General update on Army and other federal job sites:

• Nearly all DoD Military Services and Federal Agencies have consolidated their job listings at USAJOBS over the last few years. (Don't forget to check out the brand spanking new USAJOBS Facebook Page, too; lots of good feedback being generated there ... wow.)
• Over the same period of years, there have been major upgrades to the USAJOBS web site, the most important of which is that you can synchronize your log-on and password between USAJOBS and Application Manager to smooth the application process (no need to log on twice).
• Yes, you should also pay attention to individual DoD Military Service and Federal Agency job sites - of which there are still many - but your major efforts should be at USAJOBS - because that's where the majority of jobs are.
• The hardest part of applying for jobs at USAJOBS, by the way - which you will notice when you start applying for jobs - is that they often require you to fill out question-and-answer worksheets to supplement your resume. Some are short - some are 90-questions long - and all are Gov 2.0 in the sense that the onus is on you the job-seeker to correctly answer the questions - because you know what facts describe your capabilities. This process actually becomes part of the interview process, because you can actually eliminate yourself from being called for an interview depending on how you answer the questions.
• Final note for Army federal employees: They recently opened a new Army Civilian Jobs Site that links only to Army jobs in the USAJOBS database - cool, huh?.