How To Make a Federal Resume

The purpose of a resume is to summarize and align yourself with the position you are seeking. With only a few exceptions, resumes at the undergraduate level should be a one page long document, organized by relevance, highlighting your qualifications and strengths. However, a federal resume provides in greater depth your experiences, typically running two-five pages in length at the entry-level.

In an effort not to reinvent the wheel/rewrite already clear instructions, I have linked great websites below.

When working to build your federal resume, there are two very helpful resources:

1. Section by section instructions for what to include, both required and optional: http://gogovernment.org/how_to_apply/write_your_federal_resume/create_your_resume.php
2. ‘Resume Builder’ through your USAJOBS account (Homepage -> Documents -> Resume Section -> “Build Resume”): https://www.usajobs.gov/

The second source will allow you to easily insert your education, experiences, skills, accomplishments, etc., and will produce a correctly formatted resume. Make sure once you are complete to save the document to your computer for easy future editing.

Any questions? Email the Peer Advisors at cdcpeeradvisors17@wpi.edu or stop in to the CDC for drop in hours from 10AM-4PM. I strongly encourage everyone to get their resume critiqued before applying to jobs. Thanks for reading!