Top Government sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write a Government resume experience section
Government Resume’s Job Experience Checklist:
- Use 4-6 bullet points per job title;
- Don’t go further than a decade behind when describing your job history, unless you’re applying for an executive position;
- Combine job responsibilities as well as achievements with numbers in results when you describe your past work;
- Start each sentence with a power verb and avoid overused buzzwords;
- Use either C-A-R or S-T-A-R methodology, when describing your experience.
The work experience samples below come from real Government resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- Achieved more than $220M in federal high cost funding for broadband infrastructure and network maintenance for the next 5 to 6 years.
- Created the Regulatory Compliance Division that assures company wide regulatory compliance and timely filings with regulatory entyties.
- Negotiated a 5 year Interconection Agreement until 2018 that preserves a 35% increase in UNE's, practically eliminated Sec. 254 arbitrations and saved $millions on attorney fees.
- Provided executive support and administrative management for the Integration Group (senior members of the key Ministries/Games Partners and BEGOC Executives) of the Games.
- Assisted to plan and implement external Integration Group, providing accountability and administration to established joint working groups and resolving senior operational multi-domain issues.
- Managed confidential correspondence, prepared and maintained the accuracy of all senior management-level documentation including agenda, meeting minutes and BEGOC reports.
- Assisted in the redaction of briefing material, scene-setters and talking points for meetings.
- Suggested ad-hoc analyses and scenarios on Donor countries.
- Supported the team in high-level meetings (including two Executive Boards).
- Prepared the weekly newsletter of the team.
- Manage and lead weekly meetings with executive board officers and senators
- Empower student leaders of the instituion
- Create a collaborative campus community
- Planing and organizing Department
- Overlook sale teams including: performance, sales target...
- Implement strategies, establish standards to all staves and sales target distribution...
- Lead the Government & Public Policy sector for IZEA responsible for generating over $550,000 in annual revenue.
- Developed and maintained relationships with accounts like CDC, AARP, USDA, USPS, U.S. Army, Teach for America and Disabled American Veterans (DAV), among others.
- Managed all pro bono work on behalf non-profits and clients like the UN and the National Institutes of Health.
- Led two-year legislative and regulatory campaign to increase federal contracts to small businesses, led to $750 million+ awarded to date
- Recognized in Congressional Record as key advocate for entrepreneurial organizations
- Expertise in healthcare, procurement, IP, and cybersecurity policy
- Led preparation of MOD Latvia coordinated tender for ISAF/NATO Europe countries containerized cargo delivery to Afghanistan via port of Riga.
- Organized and coordinated service for ISAF/NATO returned containerized cargo reciept and washing services in port of Klaipeda; service for transfer and containerization from Riga Airport to port of Riga.
- Successefull career in AP Moller Maersk built on earned reputation
- Relationship management with key government officials
- Identifying new government incentives to benefit company
- Ensuring all government requirement is met for projects under YTL Land & Development
- Monitored EU activities to identify possible alliances & potential risks
- Managed the design of an industry infographic to be presented in the EU Parliament and EU Commission
- Coordinated the information exchange between 28 national associations
PRO TIP
The person reading your Government resume will be busy, make sure you never waste their time with fluff.
Action Verbs for your Government Resume
Recommended reads:
Government Resume Skills’ Tips & Tricks to Impress Recruiters
Resume Skills Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Skills for your Government resume
Oracle HRMS
people Soft
Delphi payroll
pay 2 pro, Adreline S/W
Mena HR/ Pay
Cloud
Hybrid IT
Digital Transformation
Enterprise Application Integration
Communication
Confidentiality
Decisiveness
Organisation
Empathy and compassion
Negotiation and debate
Diplomacy
Trust and integrity
Conflict resolution
PRO TIP
When describing your experience, don’t go too far from its terminology. Recruiters use ATS systems to filter resumes based on them having certain keywords, so make sure you use at least a few keywords mentioned in the job description.
Government Resume Header: Tips, Red Flags, and Best Practices
CHECKLIST For Your Government Resume Header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Government resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
Government Resume Summary Best Practices
Checklist: What to include in your Government resume summary:
- Years of experience;
- Highlight top 3 skills and proficiencies;
- One big professional accomplishment you’re most proud of, that you can tie with the aforementioned skills;
- Use short, direct sentences - but no more than three - to keep the HRs interested.
Resume Summary Formula:
PRO TIP
You’re not going to get hired simply because of a good summary or objective. However, your recruiter can bump you up in front of similarly experienced candidates who didn’t demonstrate such passion and drive.
Recommended reads:
Listing Your Education, Certifications and Courses
Resume Education Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Certifications for your Government resume
Learn Federal Government Contracting From An Expert
A comprehensive guide to Register, Search Opportunities, GSA, Certifications, Accounting, Bonding & Bidding to the feds
The Constitution and American Government
History, Government, and Civics in the United States
Governmental Accounting 100
Fund accounting-governmental accounting-General Fund & government-wide activity transactions-modified accrual method
Winning Government Contracts for Dummies
Learn how to build, grow and expand your business with military and FEMA contracts
Government Contracting for Everyone
How to sell your products or services to the Government
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PRO TIP
If you hold a certain major and a minor, your majors should be mentioned first.
Government Resume: Additional Writing & Formatting Tips
There are three basic resume formats you can choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional resume format;
- Hybrid (or Combination) resume format;
The most optimal format for your particular case will depend on your years of experience, as well as whether you’re switching industries or not.
Reverse chronological resumes are best suited for experienced individuals who are sticking to their industry. The experience section takes a central place, and its bullets contain your responsibilities and achievements, coupled with numbers and results.
Functional resumes are used by less experienced jobseekers or career changers. Note that it’s not a format that recruiters prefer, as most are used to the classic chronological alignment. Instead of a list of job titles, functional resumes focus on your skills, and through what experiences you gained them.
Hybrid resumes are great for both experienced and entry-level candidates, as well as career changers. They combine the best of both worlds - most often in a double column format, where one side of the content is focused on your experience, whereas the other - on your skills, strengths, and proudest moments.
Government Resume Summary best practices
Here are more resume tips regarding your layout and style:
- Clear and legible 12p resume font size;
- Use 10’’ resume margins - that’s default for a great resume design;
- Use a one-page template resume length if you’ve got less than 10 years of experience; otherwise, opt for a two-page resume;
- Save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiter.
To take it a step further, check out how your resume can stand out without leaning too much on the creative side.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Sometimes you’ll want to go after a job which requires more experience than you have. Instead of using a typical Government resume layout, you can use a creative layout. Getting noticed is the most important challenge and a creative resume layout might help you get invited for an interview as most of other accountants have boring resume designs.
Other sections to include in your resume
Depending on the type of company (corporation or start-up; innovative or traditional), job seniority level and your location, you may want to include more sections to your Government resume:
Government Resume: How to Make Yours More Creative & Stand Out
When you send your resume to a potential employer, chances are it's the fiftieth one they've seen that day. That's why you need to make your Government resume stand out for the right reasons. That means showing your personality, not just your professional experience. Employers are far more likely to remember a candidate who seems like a genuine person and not a robot. Do this by including your passions (which is also a great place to demonstrate skills on a resume), share your favorite books, or even what your usual day looks like.
What Makes a Great Government Resume: Key Takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
