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HELPFULTIPS &TRICKSFORUSA JOBS

TECHNICAL SUPPORT For support with the website please contact the customer supportdesk, by clicking the “Contact Us” link at the bottom of theUSAJOBS webpage. This document was created as a helpful tool for new users and isnot a product of USAJOBS. The USAJOBS website containsnumerous How-To’s and FAQ’s that may also be of aid topotential applicants.35

OVERVIEW Creatinga User Account Reviewing “My Profile” Creating Your Resume Creating Job Search Agents & “Saving Jobs” Reviewing “Application Status” Uploading Supporting Documents to “SavedDocuments” Basic Tips & Tricks3

CREATING A USER ACCOUNT Startwith an easy to remember e-mailaddress as your log-in name. Your password must have a combination ofupper & lower characters, numbers & specialcharacters. Whatever your password, be sure to writeit down OR make sure that you canremember it.4

CREATING A USER ACCOUNT There are now drop down menus to assist inaccessing the different sections of your user account.5

YOUR PROFILE – PERSONAL INFORMATION PersonalInformation:which will be insertedinto each USA Jobsformatted resume. USA Jobswill not letyou continueif you haveleft a‘* - required’field empty.6

YOUR PROFILE - ELIGIBILITY InQuestion #3, ifyou answer ‘yes’ toany of the possibleanswers. A set ofadditionalquestions willappear. You will needto completethisinformation.7

YOUR PROFILE - PREFERENCES Yourpreferencesregarding: Travel Type ofWork WorkSchedule Worklocations8

YOUR PROFILE - DEMOGRAPHICS DemographicInformation: You do NOTneed tocomplete thisinformation ifyou do NOTwant to.9

YOUR PROFILE – ACCOUNT INFORMATION User Nameand security(includingyourpassword). NotificationSettings.10

CREATING YOUR RESUME Youcan create up to 5 differentresumes. You can have now have 5‘uploaded’ resumes, within thegrand total of 5 resumes. Utilize the Resume Builder withinUSA Jobs – it’s a simple step-by-stepguide to creating a resume.10

WORK EXPERIENCE ON YOUR RESUMEThis is your employment history. In the “Duties,Accomplishments, and RelatedSkills” field, include Major Duties from yourcurrent position description. Awards you have received. Skills you have learned ordeveloped. There is a 5,000 character limitper field. Use the Spell check. Once you ‘save experience’, youcan continue entering additionalwork experience.11

EDUCATION ON YOUR RESUME List all of theeducational institutionsyou have attended in theEducation Section. Provided that theyare accreditedinstitutionsrecognized by theU.S. Department ofEducation. Report any “RelevantCoursework, Licensures,and Certifications”. There is a limitation of2,000 characters in thisfield.12

OTHER: JOB TRAINING ON YOUR RESUME JobRelated trainingincludes all types oftraining you haveparticipated in. DOILearn courses USDA GraduateSchool courses SupervisoryChallenge Maxof 5,000character count.13

OTHER: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON YOUR RESUMEAdditional Language Skills Organizations and/orAffiliations Professional Publications Additional Information 14

REFERENCES ON YOUR RESUME Supply at least three (3) references – two(2) professional and one (1) personal. You can supply more references if youwant to make sure that they are ‘up-todate’.15

PREVIEW & FINISH YOUR RESUME Here is your chance to previewyour resume prior tocompleting the resume builder. If everything looksgood – then just click‘finish’.16

RESUME MENU Your ResumeMenu within yourUSA Jobs accountwill tell you howmany resumes youhave active, aswell as whether ornot you havemade them‘searchable’ .17

UPLOADED RESUME TIPS If you are going to use your ‘own’ upload resume. Make sure that your resume contains completeinformation, such as: Month(s)/Year(s) This is important when HR is determining whether or not you have the 1 year of specializedexperience (if that is part of the qualification requirements). Full/Part Time employmentThis is important when HR is determining whether or not you have the 1 year of specializedexperience (if that is part of the qualification requirements), as the part time hours canreduce the total number of months/years of employment. Complete of employmentdescription of workBe thorough in your description of job duties for each position on your resume. HR canNOT ‘guess’ or ‘assume’ or ‘give you the benefit of doubt’ that you have theknowledge/skill/ability to do the job that is being advertised. In reviewing the basicqualifications and the job description – if you do NOT have similar types of duties, whichmake use of similar knowledge/skill/ability then you will not be considered for the position. Honesty Be honest on your resume – if an offer is made, and then later it is determined that youembellished your work history (month(s)/year(s), full/part-time, job description); you couldsee the offer of employment rescinded.18

CREATING JOB SEARCH AGENTS You can have up to 10different Search Agentsworking for you at the sametime.You decide how frequentlyyou want ‘e-mail’ remindersfrom each search agent youcreate. This saves YOU time! You don’t have to log ontoUSA Jobs every day andsearch manually throughall of the differentpostings.Search Agents will continue tosearch until YOU delete them.19

Creating Job Search Agents Search agents can be as generic or as specificas you want.You can select any combination of thefollowing search criteria: Job Locations Job Categories Occupational Series Agencies Salary Range OR Pay Grade Senior Executive Student Jobs Nationwide Jobs Jobs Open Longer than 30 days Work Schedule Tenure Student Jobs – Appointment Term Jobs in DemandYou can select how frequently you want toreceive email alerts.21

CREATING JOB SEARCH AGENTS Be aware of this Applicant Eligibilityquestion/section. [Selecting the‘wrong’ answer here will hamper thevacancy announcements you can viewand you could miss vacancies youwant to apply for.] If you select ‘No’, the defaultanswer, then the only vacanciesyou will be able to view/apply forwill be the ‘DEU’ – DelegatedExamining Unit vacancies {whichare open the any U.S. Citizen.} If you can answer ‘Yes’ to any ofthe questions listed in this section,then you need to ‘click’ the ‘Yes’button. Then you will be able toapply for all ‘DEU’ and ‘MP’ –Merit Promotion vacancyannouncements.21

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY This is also set up inyour Profile section. If every time youlog into USA Jobsprior to doing anysearch, the systemautomaticallyremembers youreligibility.So, no more lettersinforming you that youare ‘NOT’ eligible forthe position. (which is not thesame asqualifications).22

SEARCH ‘OPTIONS’ Search Optionscan make it easierfor you to searchin the following. Agency Location(radius fromcity, state orzip code) Occupation Many others 23

REVIEWING “APPLICATION STATUS” Watch “ApplicationStatus.”This feature allowsyou to track thedifferentapplications thatyou have submitted,it also provides‘notificationsettings’.24

REVIEWING “APPLICATION STATUS” Select the Job Title you want toreview from within “ApplicationStatus.” You will be able to review thevacancy announcement for thatposition. If you will not have easy access toyour USA Jobs account, print thevacancy announcement out priorto the closing date of theannouncement in the event youare contacted for an interview you can ask ‘insightful’ questions.25

SAVED JOBS If you are loggedinto your USAJobs account, youcan ‘save’ jobs toyour account toapply for later 26

UPLOADING TO “SAVED DOCUMENTS” Upload any and all SupportingDocuments in “My Portfolio”. Transcripts DD-214 OF-306 SF-50 SF-15Not All Department or Agencieshave the ability to receive any ofthe above supporting documentsvia their USA Jobs account.Read the vacancy announcement you may need to e-mail, fax, and/ormail these documents to the agencylisting the vacancy announcement.*Note: Some documents may notapply to you – only thosedocuments that apply to you andare required should be uploaded.Limit to 10 documents.No document can be greater than 3Mb27

YOUR ‘NEW’ ACCOUNT HOME PAGE This is what your‘new’ account homepage will look likeonce you have gonethrough all of thedifferent sections.28

THE “RESOURCE CENTER” The Info Center provides advice and specialinformation about working for the FederalGovernment, including some basic FAQ’s.29

BASIC TIPS & TRICKS Print out the Vacancy Announcement Highlight important items, such as, submission ofsupporting documents, deadlines, closing date, contactinformation in the event you have questions.Remember to do the “Time Conversion” so that you are applyingfor the position prior to the closing date/time of the announcements{Make sure you are reading the announcement carefully.} Most announcements close at 12:00 Midnight (ESTEastern Standard Time). So, if you live in Colorado(Mountain Standard Time) you really only have until10:00 pm MST to COMPLETE the entire applicationand submit any required supporting documents thatmust be submitted by the closing date/time of thevacancy announcement.33

BASIC TIPS & TRICKS Read the Announcement Carefully! Pay attention to howsupporting documents can/should be submitted. Be aware of any limitations placed upon the size of the applicantpool – this will be in the announcement.Go to the Qualifications Section in the vacancy announcement. Atthe bottom of the page you can ‘preview’ thevacancy announcement questions, prior to applyingfor the position. Select the appropriate answer to each question prior to applyingNote – The 2010 Hiring Reform isstreamlining the recruitment process, and as suchthe ‘essay’ style questions are being eliminatedfrom the initial recruitment (job) announcement. Special34

CONCLUSION Utilizing these basic tips& tricks will help ensurethat your resume is readyfor any and all vacancyannouncements that youplan to apply for.Don’t hesitate to contactUSA Jobs Service SupportDesk (help desk) via the‘Contact Us’ link at theUSA Jobs website.35

TECHNICAL SUPPORT For support with the website please contact the customer supportdesk, by clicking the “Contact Us” link at the bottom of theUSAJOBS webpage. This document was created as a helpful tool for new users and isnot a product of USAJOBS. The USAJOBS website containsnumerous How-To’s and FAQ’s that may also be of aid topotential applicants.35

resumes. You can have now have 5 ‘uploaded’ resumes, within the grand total of 5 resumes. Utilize