How to Know What Documents to Use When Applying to Government Jobs

Merit Promotion (See How to Know the Difference between Which Government Job to Apply for article)

There are many documents that are required by government agencies for applications. It is important you understand the difference in required documents for a Merit announcement you are applying to, and a DEU announcement.

I have listed the required documents:
– If you are applying for consideration as a Veteran under the Veterans’ Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) or Veterans’ Recruitment Appointment (VRA), you MUST submit evidence of eligibility, such as: DD-214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or Standard Form 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and the proof requested on the form.
– If you are applying for consideration under a special hiring authority such as a person with a disability, Peace Corp or Vista volunteer, you MUST submit the appropriate supporting documentation to be considered by the closing date of this vacancy announcement; e.g. “certification” statement (contact your Vocational Rehabilitation Office) that identifies you as a person with a disability and that describes your ability to perform the essential duties of this position, Standard Form-50, etc.
– If you applying for consideration as a Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) eligible, you MUST submit the appropriate supporting documentation as proof of program eligibility.
– If you are applying and are a current or former federal employee with Career or Career-Conditional status, submit your most recent SF-50, “Notification of Personnel Action”, (NOT an award SF-50) which shows your status.
– If you are qualifying with education, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts.
– If the position you are applying for requires specific NWCG red card qualifications or training, you must provide a copy of your IQCS report.

Delegating Examining Unit: (See How to Know the Difference between Which Government Job to Apply for article)
– If you are applying for Veteran Preference, you MUST submit evidence of eligibility, such as; DD-214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or Standard Form 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and the proof requested on the form. You must clearly identify your claim for veterans preference on your application. For more information on Veteran Preference, please go to OPMs website at: http://www.opm.gov/veterans/index.asp
– If you are qualifying with education, you must submit your college transcripts.

KEEP IN MIND: ANSWERS TO YOUR JOB QUESTIONS MUST BE SUPPORTED IN YOUR RESUME. If your answer(s) are not supported in your resume, or you fail to follow the instructions for the question(s), agencies will lower your answer(s) to reflect what was provided, for failure to follow instructions. Stay motivated and GO GET YOUR GOVERNMENT JOB.
Dr. Jaye

What to Expect from Start to Finish – Government Applications

There are standard practices that you will need to complete once you finally get your government position.  Most of the requirements are standard and some are agency specific.  Make sure to review your career contract and job announcement and contact your human resources representative for further questions.

When you are selected for the position, you WILL be subject to complete a favorable background investigation.  You may be able to start working once your finger prints clear and may continue continue to work once your entire background is cleared.  In some agencies, you may or may not be allowed to start working with the agency until your investigation paperwork has been initiated and your FBI fingerprint check cleared.  You need to read the agency requirements to ensure your hiring procedures.  In most cases, it takes a minimum of 2 weeks to clear a background, but can take longer in some cases.  The key is to be honest and fully answer all background questions.  Most agencies use an online electronic background system called eQuip to complete this process.

With most if not all government announcement applicants, you MUST be a United States citizen.  Under Executive Order 11935, only United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island) may compete for civil service jobs.  Agencies are permitted to hire non-citizens only in very limited circumstances where there are no qualified citizens available for the position.  Again, review and research the agency you are completing an application for.

In some, if not all government agencies before being hired you will be required to sign and certify the accuracy of the information in your resume.  You will receive a Position Description of what job duties you will be required to perform and If you make a false statement in any part of your resume you may not be hired or in some cases fired.  The key is to ensure that your resume directly reflects your actual job skills, knowledge and abilities.

This whole process from selection, tentative job offer and completion of the background investigation normally takes 4 – 6 weeks.  But, depending on the position you are hired on for you may start working as soon as two weeks.  Meaning, a selectee may start working once their finger prints clear.  Over all, if you have your professional and personal history for the past 10 years articulated in some form it will be easier to complete this process than if you have to do research on this information.  Be patience and this process will fly by.  Keep in constant contact with your point of contact, and you will be working in no time at all.

Jenice

SPC Veteran’s Career Fair Event

There are times in your life where you must make choice that will affect your future.  Choosing to join the military and earn my education was one of those times in my life.  Joining the military at the at 17 years old enabled me to learn about selflessly serve to my country, grow my knowledge and learn who I wanted to be “when I grew up.”  Being asked to speak about my experiences, I love to sharing these defining moments in my life.  It was my pleasure to speak at the SPC Veteran’s Career Fair Event. You can watch the short speak of Dr. Jenice Armstead.

Enjoy,

Dr. Jenice Armstead

Click here for: Dr. Jenice Armstead SPC Veteran Career Fair Talk

 

How to Know How Long It Takes to Get a Government Job

For all of those thousands of people that wonder about the government hiring process, I am here to give you the “ins and outs” of how it all happens – from the government hiring process perspective. It’s not secret – in fact its public information.

The government has a set process – for the most part. Most applicants apply for either Merit (Status) announcements or DEU (Delegating Unit) announcements. I have said it over and over in previous articles I have written before MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHICH ANNOUCEMENT YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR. Don’t waste your time or energy if you know that you are not eligible for a job announcement. You will only become frustrated when you get an email letter or letter in the mail that says “You were found ineligible because you do not meet the minimum eligibility factors or qualifications for the job announcement which you applied.”

REMEMBER – Merit is for Status applicants, this means former, current, displaced, eligible veterans or other special hiring authority applicants.

DEU is for public to apply for – anyone.

Now that we have covered that, once an announcement closes (the close date on the announcement) go back to www.USAJOBS.GOV and check to see if the announcement was Extended, Cancelled or has any Cut Off Dates (Cut Off Dates that are used to create job applicant listings and sometimes a job announcement can be filled from a Cut Off Date – so ensure your resume is updated and you get your application in before any Cut Off Date).

The closing of an job announcement, starts your “count- down clock – until hire ticking”, once it closes it takes the Human Resources Departments about 30 – 45 days to review and process all applicants and make a determination on whom is actually qualified and whom isn’t.

After the qualification process is completed, a list of Competitive or Non-Competitive applicants is sent to the selecting official. Competitive applicants are applicants whom have status, and Non-Competitive applicants are those who don’t have status. The selecting official normally has a 30 day time period to review all the applicants whom are found qualified by HR Dept. If the selecting official needs to conduct interviews, they will do so at this time period. Sometimes selecting officials request a 30 day extension to ensure they are hiring the right person for the position.

Once the hiring official has selected a person(s) for the position(s) the announcement point of contact will make a job offer to the selected applicant and the selected will be given a time period to “think” about accepting the job offer. If the job is rejected, the process of “going down the list” of second and third choices will follow, per the selecting official decision.

When a job offer is accepted, all other applicants are notified either by email or mail of the selection and why they were not selected. You are entitled to know why you were not selected, I suggest phoning the point of contact for more clarification on how you could improve your hiring changes in the future.

The total process can take up to 90 days from the closing of the announcement, all things being constant and going within the time periods accordingly. Any change can increase or decrease the time of selection by a fluctuation of 30 – 60 day, plus or minus the 90 days.

Jenice

Million Women Mentors Guest Speaker

I would like to thank Vivian Clinton, Department of Veteran Affair for inviting me to speak at the Million Women Mentors Program. I spoke to the group about “Human Capital Worth and Scientific Management,” the session focused on understanding management of business management.

Million Women Mentors is a national movement that supports women and girls to pursue and succeed in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and health care careers through mentoring. Million Women Mentors is working to provide a million STEM mentors by 2019 to girls and women across the nation.

Million Women Mentors aims to increase the number of girls and women planning to pursue an education in STEM. MWM also aims to increase the number of girls and women to obtain bachelor’s degrees in STEM, as well as increase retention of women within STEM fields post-graduation.

About the HCPS Mentoring Program
Hillsborough County Public Schools has registered 100 schools that need a minimum of one mentor per site who is willing to meet regularly with up to five selected female students in grades 5-12 throughout the 2015-2016 school year. The program requires 20 hours of mentorship for each student and/or group. This equates to approximately two hours per month.

You can learn more about MWM at MillionWomenMentors.org

Vivian Clinton Dr. Jenice Armstead Million Women Mentor Event

Vivian Clinton & Dr. Jenice Armstead
         Million Women Mentor Event

 

All the Best,
Dr. Jenice Armstead
United States Navy Veteran

How to Understand Government Job/Career Pay Scales

Many people know that government jobs pay well, but most people don’t know much more than that. The truth is government jobs pay includes “Locational Pay.” With most government positions, there is a increase in pay for where you are geographically located. Government agencies have different pay scales i.e. GS (General Schedule) positions.

The key to selecting a government agency to apply to is to research and find out as much as possible. You must research the agency and the pay scales of the agencies. Find out about the locality pay, hazard pay, or any other positional pays that may be associated with the desired position.

We all know that pay is an important aspect of any career selection. There are benefits to earning a position with the government. It is not so different than any other position you may have applied for in the past. There are a few exceptions…the government has great benefits that no other civilian company may or may not be able to match.

Where people get confused is with the General Schedule Step grades, GS pay scales for the Office of Personnel has pay grades within the pay grade are called STEPs. Meaning, there are “STEPS” to earning promotion within the pay grade. When you review the GS Pay scale on OPM website you will see basic, locality and then there is also a pay scale that combines basic pay and locality depending on the location of the position. Among the pay scale are the STEPS of the pay. Steps are normally given to the pay grade employee depending on “time in grade” the normal promotional time period is 1 year per pay scale and STEP.

Here is a web site for the Office of Personnel Management that will give you more insight on how this agency categorizes its pay grades and locality pay. For more information click on: Government Pay Scales

Happy Government Job Hunting,
Jenice

Barnes and Noble Book Signing Event: May 21st at Wiregrass the Shoppes

Location: Barnes and Noble, at Wiregrass the Shoppes
Date: May 21st
Time: 2pm – 4pm

Jenice Armstead will be having a “Book Signing” event at Barnes and Noble for their annual “Local Author Event” on May 21st, from 2pm – 4pm at the Barnes and Noble Wiregrass the Shoppes. The Complete “Pep Talks Book Series” consists of 5 practical books which display a new way of interviewing and obtaining a job in today’s competitive market. The Pep Talks Book Series is all about giving the reader an advantage over their competitors when working toward the goal of gaining more knowledge and understanding in this new job market.

This new job market is all out unconventional ways of obtaining knowledge while gaining employment. The Pep Talks Book Series explains how the new Job market knowledge and understanding how to better improve the chances of being “individually recognized” as a professional are vital.

Mark your calendars for May 21st, from 2pm – 4pm to come out and meet and ask Jenice Armstead your employment questions and get your copy of “Pep Talks” the series.

Pep Talks Vol 5

Pep Talks Vol 5

Pep Talks Vol 4

Pep Talks Vol 4

Pep Talks Vol 3

Pep Talks Vol 3

Pep Talks Vol 2

Pep Talks Vol 2

Pep Talks Vol 1

Pep Talks Vol 1

How to Get Updates on Your Application after Applying for a Government Job

Once you have submitted your government application on www.usajob.gov there are specific ways to keep up with your application status. Many applicants don’t realize the tools they can utilize on www.usajobs.gov. There are a few ways to get the status of your government application and you should check the status at least weekly.

After you have submitted your government application wait until the job announcement closes to check the status of your application. Log into your www.usajobs.gov profile and click on the title “Application Status” on the left hand side. Then find the announcement you wish to check on. Go to the “application status” which is a blue underlined word and click this hyperlink. Some government agencies don’t link the application status to this hyperlink and some agencies do. If the agency does use this hyperlink, you will be redirected to the agency website where you submitted your original application. You will be able to view the status of your application here.

If the agency does not use this hyperlink, it will say “no application status available” this is okay. Don’t be discouraged. Click on the job announcement title and a second window will open up. Scroll down to the bottom of the job announcement and find the point of contact. You will see contact phone number or an email address. Contact this person and request the “Applicant Status.” Sometimes, you may get a HR Specialist whom doesn’t want to talk or gives you a vague answer.

If this happens, ask a more specific question like “Has the selecting official received the list of applicant’s resumes that have been referred and qualified for the position?” This will ensure you get a more detailed answer. I recommend always contacting the point of contact via email; this will ensure you have written documentation in case you have any issues with this job announcement in the future.

 

All the best to you, and if you have any questions – you know where to find me.

Dr. Jaye

Dr Jaye

How to Write Government KSAs for USA JOBS Applications

Your government application will be evaluated by a Human Resources Specialist and they will be reviewing your on-line or mailed in resume and your responses to the User Information, Core Questions, and Vacancy Questions. The Job Specific questions will relate to the following knowledge, skills and abilities required to do the work of this position. Many people don’t realize that many applications are “thrown out” because of a lack of KSAs being addressed by the applicant.

IMPORTANT NOTE: ALL federal positions are advertised on www.usajobs.gov. Many people don’t realize this, DON’T be fooled by “other” websites that promise to advertise federal jobs. Many of these “other” websites charge applicants to view federal positions and re-route their job links, but rest assure that these “other” websites are “pulling” information from www.usajobs.gov to get their information about advertised federal positions.
No matter what agency you are applying to, the advertised job will have KSAs or Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. You need to read the entire job announcement because some federal agencies require applicants to submit addition information on a separate piece of paper about how they feel they meet those exact KSAs and some agencies don’t require KSAs to be answered at all. (You can press the PRINT PREVIEW button to see the entire announcement located at the bottom of the announcement.)

Overall, KSAs are important because this is how you WILL be evaluated on the position you have applied for. If your resume or applicant doesn’t contain the listed KSAs your application will not be found “NOT qualified” and your application will be put in the NOT Qualified stack of applications. The Key to writing government KSAs in your resume is to put the EXACT KSAs which are found in the job announcement in your resume or application WORD-FOR-WORD.

So if these KSAs are in a job announcement:
Ability to evaluate and process realty applications and proposals and conduct compliance examinations on authorized actions.
Knowledge of the laws and regulations governing the realty program and the ability to use sound professional judgment to resolve conflicts with other resources.
– Ability to communicate with the public, the applicant, and other agencies regarding realty related matters.
Copy and paste, or type these exact KSAs into you online resume/application or type them into your resume/application. After you do this make sure you give examples of how you meet the KSAs. Ensure your resume and applicant look exactly alike.

Keep in mind this statement is ALWAYS in ALL Federal job announcement:
ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS MUST BE SUPPORTED IN YOUR RESUME. If your answer(s) are not supported in your resume, or you fail to follow the instructions for the question(s), you will have your answer(s) adjusted to reflect what is provided, for failure to follow instructions.
This means that if your resume doesn’t match the supplemental questions or application you answered in the online application or written application, the agency can change your application score. You need to remember: SCORES are from 100 points to 70 points. The applicant résumés with the highest scores are reviewed first. Your goal is to receive as many points as possible.

You have been empowered, now go and get your federal job.

Dr. Jenice Armstead aka Dr. Jaye

Dr Jaye

Simple Academic Overview: Scientific Management

As a professional, scientific management is vital for the development of managerial practices. I wrote “Simple Academic Overview: Scientific Management” to provide a historical overview of the development of management principles during the Scientific Management Era.  Including key scholars, principles, and insights, as well as notable critiques of scientific management.  Human resources managers today, explain principles of scientific management as the topics are related to organizational policy, organizational development and also promote organizational growth.
For more information click here: Simple Academic Overview: Scientific Management

Here for your success,
Dr. Jaye