Federal Career Consultation
RP / ConsultationDo you want to consult with an expert on your Federal or Private Industry Resume?
Order a one-hour working session with a certified Resume Place consultant, federal or private industry.
- We read your resume against a real job announcement
- Name the keywords it screens for
- Find the accomplishments and mark up the page
- Leave you with a plan you can act on
Your next career move is worth a second opinion from an expert resume writer.
Talk to a consultant for an expert review of your resume before you submit.
Your career objective is important, whether it is a critical job in your same agency / program; an important promotional opportunity; your favorite job opportunity; possible new position. Get an expert opinion of how your resume looks. This can TOTALLY make the difference between Best Qualified and Not Eligible. Get a review for $210 or $260 for executive resume reviews. Worth every penny.
First Hour
- A discussion by phone, zoom or written - about your current resume and your target announcement: format, content, keywords, organization, length, accomplishments. THIS IS CRITICAL
- One real or sample job announcement to review the Specialized Experience and compare to your resume
- We create a list of keywords from the announcement and check to see if the resume includes at least half of these
- Critical recommendations on length, dates, titles, and organization of categories
- Send you a marked-up resume with recommendations for new content, reorganized resume sections, and keyword mark-up for you to use to improve the resume.
- This is our all-important ONE HOUR Consultation. From here, we can quote writing / editing services to help you implement our recommendations.
Second Hour
- If you want a 2nd review of your improvements and additional content, we can review again for another hour.
- We will talk more about accomplishments with specifics and the keyword visibility
- How to use AI well on any part of the resume
- More comments and recommendations targeting your job announcement
- Another mark-up of your resume with any additional comments and recommendations targeting your next career move
- Quote for professional writing and editing to complete the resume rewrite.
Professional Editing and Writing
- Want more help with writing and editing? A professional writer can write your two-page resume for you - get it done
- Expert writers who know how to target a job announcement or occupational series
- Either format: Federal or private industry, or the move between them
- Extreme editing if you have the 5-page or longer Federal resume
GET STARTED
Order your $210 or $260 consultation.
Tell us about your goals and your target job, share your current resume, and get an invaluable review of your resume before you submit. A Certified Federal Resume Writer will communicate in writing and by virtual meeting to discuss the resume, the announcement, and recommendations to improve your ability to get Best Qualified, Referred and Interviewed. The $260 rate is for executive reviews, targeting GS-14 and includes Senior Executive Service.
Questions first? Write to our Contact Us form.
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FEDERAL JOB SEARCH IS COMPLICATED
Federal hiring on USAJOBS is complex, but doable.
Federal hiring on USAJOBS is complex, but doable. Our one-hour consultation can cover the resume and tips for managing USAJOBS, the profile and the application.
OPM has mandated that HR will be using AI in hiring, which means your resume has to match
The AI software will search for candidates with keywords. Make sure your resume matches the keywords from the requirements and the Specialized Experience.
The human reviewer reads fast
A human HR staffing specialist will receive your resume if you have the keywords, the education, and the documents required. Make sure the resume matches the announcement.
The federal resume is 2 pages
We will edit the resume to 2 pages, feature the last ten years, and add keywords and accomplishments. This consultation is critical.
The Certified Federal Resume Writer will find the keywords for your resume.
Bring the job you actually want. We surface the keywords the announcement screens for, score your resume against them, and hand it back to you marked up. Pick a track to see it.
Program Analyst
- acquisitionmatched
- stakeholder engagementmatched
- risk managementmatched
- performance metricsadd this
- OMB Circular A-123add this
- FMP certificationmatched
FEDERAL RESUME SAMPLES
See real 2-page federal resume samples.
See how we copyfit two pages of content onto 2 pages. Profile, Professional Experience, Education, Certification, Licenses - all on two pages. Usually we use 10 or 11 point type; .5 margins; 14 point headings; Times or Arial (or your choice); average 700 to 800 words total. Samples of the announcement and the 2-page resume with the keywords highlighted in red.
The announcement
The posting we target. Every keyword the screen scores comes from this.
Federal resume · p.1
The two-page OPM format, with the announcement’s language placed where a reviewer reads first.
Federal resume · p.2
Challenge, Context, Action, Result. The outcome lands early and quantified.
Private industry
The federal expertise translates: one page, the result up top, for the private market.
Work from the same playbook yourself with the books, or schedule a consultation and we build it with you against your announcement.
Samples drawn from The Resume Place published guidance · details changed for privacy
ADD-ON · $210 / HOUR
Turn duties into accomplishments that get read.
A separate one-hour session, on your accomplishments alone. We pull the real wins out of your history and rebuild them as evidence a reviewer can score, in the CCAR format the agencies expect.
- Achievement extraction: the high-impact work you already did, named and surfaced
- CCAR stories: Challenge, Context, Action, Result, the structure federal reviewers score
- Numbers that hold up, even when the job never handed you obvious ones
- A before-and-after of your own bullets, edited with you on the call
- Accomplishments retargeted for federal or private industry
You leave with a marked-up before-and-after document and an extraction worksheet to keep using. It pairs with the resume consultation for a complete package. Turnaround is 3 to 5 business days.
One hour can change your federal job search results with an improved federal resume.
Reserve your session
Tell us your objective and reserve the consultation by phone or video, before anything else happens.
Bring one real announcement
The federal or private job you actually want. We review your resume against that posting, not a generic template.
Get the keywords and plan
The exact terms the announcement screens for, how a reviewer reads you, and the changes that matter most. You leave with a plan.
Get professional writing services to get the resume rewritten
This is your career. You need to get promoted and advance. The federal resume is the key to your success. Get professional writing services.
Certified Federal Job Search Trainers, Certified Federal Career Coaches and Writers.
Thousands of employment specialists trained in the Resume Place federal resume method worldwide since 2002.
Ten Steps to a Federal Job is the licensed curriculum taught at military bases and government agencies worldwide. It covers the 2-page federal resume, USAJOBS, and hiring authorities.
- 1973
- The original federal resume service
- Thousands
- Federal careers advised, and counting
- Worldwide
- Classes at agencies and on military bases
An offer the next day.
“I submitted my academic resume to Resume Place staff person Emily. We discussed and reworked it, also developing a suitable cover letter to accompany it. I sent it out to four potential employers, and I was amazed to receive an outstanding offer the next day. True story, and I am grateful to Resume Place for the exceptional result.”
A federal resume in under a week.
“I highly recommend Rita Chambers of The Resume Place for anyone interested in working for and earning promotions in the federal government. Rita dedicated herself to understanding my concerns with my old resume. She asked challenging questions which ensured my resume stood out from other applicants. In under a week, she took my federal employment history with its disparate collection of duties and accomplishments and helped me craft an easy-to-read professional resume.”
Ready for an SES interview.
“A close friend referenced me to The Resume Place before I was to attend a key agency Senior Executive Service (SES) interview. After a preliminary discussion Kathryn was able to efficiently design an interview simulation, application, and post-op review. Her no-nonsense observations, guidance and follow-up provided me with lifelong tips sharpening the “Last 5 Percent” interview elements crucial to placement success. I could tell the positive difference made during the extensive agency interview that followed.”
PRACTICE FOR YOUR INTERVIEW
The federal interview is a test. Prepare and practice.
We practice your accomplishments with you and give feedback on your stories: the details, the challenges, the results. We listen to your answers and recommend changes and improvements.
We coach you to write “Tell Me About Yourself” and to prepare your accomplishment stories for the open-ended interview questions that decide federal and executive panels.
- Behavior-based interview preparation and practice · $595 for two 45-minute sessions
- Structured interview for the QRB, for SES applications · $780 for two 45-minute sessions
Common questions.
What happens in the first hour?
A consultant reviews your objectives and target jobs, gives a verbal resume review against one real job announcement, pulls the keywords that announcement screens for, and gives you straight recommendations on length, dates, titles, and what to feature, plus how the ATS reads you before a human does.
Why $210 or $260, and is it worth it?
One hour buys a real review of your resume against a real announcement, with the exact keywords it screens for. A single GS step is worth thousands a year, and another cycle of auto-rejections costs far more than the hour. We keep the entry low on purpose: most people need only the first hour to know what to change.
Is the second hour required?
No. It is optional but highly recommended. After you apply the first hour’s notes, the second hour reviews your next draft, goes deeper on accomplishments, metrics, and keywords, and covers how to use AI well on any part of the resume.
Can you write the resume for me?
Yes. After the consultation, a professional writer can build your two-page resume. The hourly rate is $210; we quote the time the writing needs up front, so you know the cost before we start.
Is this only for federal resumes?
No. The same consultation works for a two-page federal resume or a private-industry resume. Federal is the hardest resume there is, and that expertise translates directly to the private market.
Do you help with interviews?
Yes. We practice your accomplishment stories, give feedback on the details, challenges, and results, and coach you to answer “Tell me about yourself” and the open-ended behavioral questions.
WE WROTE THE BOOK
Federal Resume Guidebook, 8th Edition
Kathryn Troutman wrote the book on the two-page federal resume. Keyword sets, accomplishment stories, and real before-and-afters. The reference agencies still train on, now in its eighth edition.
WE WROTE THE BOOK · ORDER DIRECT
The shelf the field still trains on.
Jobseeker’s Guide, 10th Ed.
Ten Steps to a Federal Job®, the methodology agencies still train on, for military and spouses.
From$21.95
Federal Resume Guidebook, 8th Ed.
The book on the two-page federal resume. Keyword sets, accomplishment stories, real before-and-afters.
From$21.95
The Stars Are Lined Up for Military Spouses®
The federal job search for active-duty spouses: the four hiring paths and how to win on each.
From$15.95
Transitioning Your Federal Résumé
Moving between federal and private industry: how to convert the record so the other market reads it.
From$29.95