About Jenice Armstead

Dr. Jenice Armstead is a military veteran, author, motivational speaker, Professor and Academic Business Department Chair with over 17 years professional experience in the public and private sector. Jenice’s expertise covers human resources, business management, the federal hiring process and government hiring policy. She understands the significance of human capital value for organizational development. She has an exceptional aptitude for teaching difficult topics with practical approaches. Jenice has a MBA with a Concentration in Human Resources from Saint Leo University and a Doctorate of Business Administration from Jones International University.

Forgiveness Friday: Words

Today’s Forgiveness Friday focuses on “Words.” Have you ever noticed that after you said something aloud that it came to be true in your life at one time or another? We have a tendency to speak without thinking. We complain without thought and gossip without recalling facts. We give opinions when not asked for, or give information without revelation. Then in the same instance have the audacity to be offended when our “words” are not taken in a manner suitable to us. My point is, it is time for forgive yourself for mindless words. There is nothing wrong with having a good time with friends and family, but when our words start to become hurtful or unwarranted it is time to press the pause button on the mouth. Words become things, so if we say mindless words we are in retrospect hurting ourselves. Being mindful of words is a matter of thinking about what you are saying, as you are saying it. Forgive yourself for mindless words and choose to come up higher in your ability to use your words for higher purposes.

Thankful Thursday – New Beginnings

Today’s “Thankful Thursday” focuses on finding and being thankful for new beginnings. New beginnings are the birth of brand-new things that manifest in your life. With new beginnings comes the realization of understanding the efforts of hard work and self-motivation paying off. New beginnings are a time for celebration and reflection. With every new beginning something else must end. The optimistic mind focuses on new beginnings as a plateau for new adventures, new journeys and new relationships. Instead of focusing on the past, focus on new beginnings of your the future.

Hillsborough County Public Library: Adult Program

Excited to announce my program has been officially added to the Hillsborough County Public Library:

Title: Smarter Not Harder HR: Resume and Interview Tips

Description: Local human resources expert, Jenice Armistead, will provide necessary and innovative tips and tricks for individuals looking for resume help, government job application assistance, and interview preparation.

Length of Program: 45-60 minutes

For more information and request to speak contact your local Hillsborough County Public Library: http://www.hcplc.org/hcplc/locations/

All the Best,
Jenice Armstead

Prof. Jenice Armstead

Forgiveness Friday – Choosing to Come Up Higher

Today’s Forgiveness Friday focuses on “choosing to come up higher.” Life events require us to adjust our eyes to the levels of deficiency within a difficult situation. The levels of deficiency provide us the ability to choose to come up higher, and make a different choice. When you choose to come up higher, you’re choosing to connect with the essence of your true self. Your true self speaks to the stillness of clarity that comes with then. It is in the stillness where we find our true faith, empowerment and beliefs. Choose to come up higher and allow the grace of goodness to submerge your life with abundance. When choosing to come up higher, you must make a choice to understand that fear is a wasted emotion unless you choose to learn to grow from it. Forgive yourself and choose to come up higher. Allow yourself to be empowered to think for yourself and choose to connect with the essence of your trueness.

How to Convert Military Experience into a Civilian Resume

Military personnel have many jobs while on active and reserve duty. Military personnel are often discharged from the military with little to no information on the process of converting military experience into civilian sector terminology. Military experience is not easily understood by the civilian sector. There are easy ways to convert military experience into civilian verbiage using job description templates found on the Internet.

It is important for military personnel to write out experience as it relates to civilian jobs. This is done utilizing job descriptions sites such as O*Net, Indeed and Career Builder. These sites provide job description information civilian sectors are using to hire applicants. Job experience should be broken down into bullets, which is the basic resume structure. A helpful book when completing this task is “Job Search, Marketing Your Military Experience By David G. Henderson.” This book provides excellent information on how to convert your military experience into civilian experience. It is an easy to understand book that provides examples and tips for converting military experience and is useful for all military forces.

Do some research on military specialties, then get detailed about what the specialty entails. Explain the experience in layman terms, and remember to keep it simple. Conduct Internet searches on “Job Descriptions” to find examples of pre-written job descriptions. Copy and paste the desired job description example and use it as a template to assist with converting military experience into civilian experience.

Create 3 resumes, a short, medium and long resume. The short resume provides a brief overview of position held and tasks. The medium adds tools and technologies of the positions. Finally, the long resume is a combination of all of experience from the first position held to present position. This includes job summary, tasks, knowledge, skills and abilities, tools and technologies of the position. Remember to create the long resume first, use the long resume to create the medium and the short resume.

Happy job hunting,

Jenice

How to Get Updates on Government Job Applications

Once you have submitted your government application on www.usajob.gov there are specific ways to keep up with your application status. There are free tools that can be utilized 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.” Find the announcement you wish to check on. Some government agencies link the application status the agency site. If so, 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 (if supplied). Contact this person and request the “Applicant Status.”

There are times the contact gives you a vague answer about the job announcement status. If this happens, ask a more specific question like “Has their been a selection for the position? Or Have I been found qualified for the position?” This will ensure you get a more detailed answer. I recommend always contacting the point of contact via email to ensure you have written documentation in case you have any issues with the job announcement in the future.

Happy Job Hunting,

Jenice

Tips for Writing a Government Resume

First, you need to create a word document and type your “basic” resume in your desired format. Once you have your basic resume, make a folder for other more specific resumes you may need to create for job announcements you apply for. Now that you have your basic resume completed you will be able to edit the basic resume and tailor it toward government job announcements based on your qualifications and KSAs.

Second, tailor your resume. Copy and paste the “major duties” section of the job announcement into your basic resume and explain in detail how you meet the “minimum qualifications” of the job announcement. You can do this in bullet format, or in a standard resume format. Either way, you need to custom your resume. Often, applicant’s whom are selected for an interview have the qualifications posted verbatim from the job announcements.

Often, federal applications are reviewed using a “data mining” human resources information system, which assists human resources specialists with large application workload. Job announcements may have a contact number or an email address, this is public information for you to use to ensure your application was received and submitted successfully.

Custom your resume toward the job announcement in order to ensure your application receives the attention it deserves. Keep in mind, if you over state your qualifications your application can be discarded. Be honest, detailed and exact.

Happy Job Hunting,
Jenice

How to Write Government Application KSAs (Knowledge, Skill and Ability’s)

Federal government applications evaluated by a human resources specialists. They will review your responses to the User Information, Core Questions, and Vacancy Questions. The job specific questions will relate to the knowledge, skills and abilities required of the position. Many applications are “thrown out” because of a lack of KSAs addressed by the applicant.

IMPORTANT NOTE: ALL federal positions are advertised on www.usajobs.gov. DON’T be fooled by “other” websites that promise to advertise federal jobs for a “small cost.” Many of these “other” websites charge applicants to view federal positions and merely re-route the job links, but rest assure that these “other” websites are “pulling” information from www.usajobs.gov to get 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. At times, federal agencies require applicants to submit addition information about specific job announcement KSAs. (Go to the PRINT PREVIEW button to view the entire announcement requirements)

Example job announcement KSAs:
• Knowledge of the laws and regulations governing the realty program and the ability to use sound professional judgment to resolve conflicts with other resources.
• Skilled in understanding laws and regulation and analyzing realty programs
• Ability to evaluate and process realty applications and proposals and conduct compliance examinations on authorized actions.

This statement is ALWAYS in federal job announcements:
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 if your resume does not “match” the required KSAs within the advertised job announcement, the agency may manually lower your application score. Federal applications are scored from 0 points to 100 points. Your goal is to receive as many points as possible. Human resources specialists review applications with the highest scores first.

Overall, KSAs are important and you will be evaluated based the information submitted to the job announcement. The key to writing government KSAs is to put the EXACT KSAs which are found in the job announcement within your resume or application WORD-FOR-WORD. Then go into detail about how your qualifications meet the KSAs.

Happy Job Hunting,
Jenice

Monday Morning Mindset – Happy New Year

Happy New Year and now it is time to focus on your New Year’s Resolutions. There is only one problem – is your New Year Resolution realistic? Is it something that will better your life? Or only give you a quick fix? Will it sustain you? Or will you only be sustained by merely obtaining the goal itself? The key is to stay realistic. Do you want to loose weight? Instead of focusing on losing the weight, focus on eating better. Do you want better relationships? Focus on having a better relationship with yourself. Either way, a New Year brings new hope. Keep your hope, keep your focus and keep your motivation through out this New Year. Know and understand that there will be times when you won’t want to focus, that is when you need to focus on the feelings of achieving and believe that your goals are happening one day at a time – just as this new year happens.

How to Apply for Government Jobs

There are many benefits to applying and earning a government position. In this economy people are looking for job stability and benefits. The government has job security, benefits and more.

In this economy, the government sector is hiring all types of positions. Many government agencies are still receiving stimulus money to create new jobs in all career fields. Government agencies are having problems finding the people to apply for the positions. That’s right, agencies are having problems finding people, because the public isn’t applying for government jobs as they did in the past. There are positions that need to be filled such as: Grounds Keepers, Administration Assistants, Administrative Secretaries, Engineers, Forest Rangers, Information Technicians, Clerks, Legal Assistants and the list goes on and on and on and on.

There are some keys factors to completing government job applications. First of all, you need to create or update a personal profile on the main free government website: www.usajobs.gov. This is a “free” website that all government jobs are posted on, no matter what government department it is. There are a ton of scams that “say” they need a payment in order for you to gain access to federal positions. This is false! It is completely FREE to search and apply for government jobs. Although, many federal agencies fill jobs using private sector personnel, USAJOBs allows applicants looking for specific positions to “searches” tailored to the seeking candidates needs.

One of the main factors is to review “eligible and qualified” factors of a job announcement you want to apply for. This part can be a bit tricky; the key is to go to the “Who May Apply” and “Requirements” tab at the top of the job announcement. Review the information. There is where the details of “Who May Apply” for the position and what the “Requirements” are for the position. If you feel you meet the requirements move on to the next step and “Apply” for the position.

Remember, when using USAJOBS your profile information is “attached” to your application when you submit it. Make sure to complete your USAJOBS profile before applying for any positions on USAJOBS. Supplemental documents are also “attached” to any application you submit via USAJOBS. Make sure that all your documents i.e. DD214, SF 50, unofficial transcripts, cover letter or training certifications are all attached to the document section of your profile.

Happy USAJOB Hunting
Jenice

Forgiveness Friday – Understanding Humility

This week focuses on understanding humility. Humility is something we normally don’t think of as an attribute. But, humility is something that we must all obtain in order to learn more about others and ourselves. A humble mine is able to learn and grow, it also ensures the ability to commit one self to further and deeper understandings for richer relationships. Humility is not a weakness; it is something that takes strength. We must try to consciously be aware of humility when having a conversation or interacting with others. When you’re humble you’re able to come up higher and gain a deeper understanding of self. A humble mine doesn’t always have to be right, or be the one to call out someone else’s flaws. Today forgive yourself or others for not practicing humility as much as they should. Take a moment to think of ways that you could practice more humility in your everyday life. This will help you be more aware of areas where growth and development are possible. Remember, humility gives way to a richer and deeper understanding of oneself and others.

How to Answer Key Interview Questions: Education

We all know that education is vital in today’s job market. The fact is education comes in all arrays of quality and may be obtain in a variety of ways. You don’t have to have a degree to be considered educated, but you do have to have proof that you completed an educational program for which you are claiming you acquired the knowledge from.

During your interviews selecting officials may want to know: What courses you liked most while attending school? What courses did you like least? These questions are steered toward the selecting official finding out more about you and what types topics interests you. This could be a mode of examining your personality traits or rating your ability to be trained on the job you are interviewing for.

The next possible question: Why did you choose your course of study? This question is geared toward the selecting official gaining a deeper understanding of your professional agenda. This question is asked with the intentions of understanding the applicant’s passion for the field. Be honest and be short. Don’t give a long answer; the selecting official doesn’t want to know your entire educational background, only what pertains to the position you are applying for. Keep it short and sweet unless asked additional questions. Examples of experiences with training programs should show what you learned and how you applied the knowledge.

Selecting officials want to know if you prepared for the interview. Make sure to practice answering these questions on your own or with a friend. It is helpful to use an audio device for you to review and critique yourself. This will improve you interviewing skills.

Happy Job Hunting,
Jenice

How to Answer Key Interview Questions: Training Information

Training and education are core elements of the job force. Without training and education work experience will only get you so far. With training, education and experience you will practically be handed more opportunities than you will know what to do with. But, inflating education and training accomplishments on your resume will hurt you in the long run. Be honest and factual with what you have been trained on and what you need training in. Always include On the Job Training (OJT), this is as valuable as formal education.

Some questions you will be asked: What training have you had including grade school or college? Many applicants are finding that they need additional education and training, but experience goes hand and hand with education and training. With this question you need to elaborate on any certifications you many have as well as any courses online you have taken as well. Online courses from an accredited school are important to discuss. There are ways of obtain knowledge if you have not obtained formal education

Interviewers will also ask you: What workshops, OJT or other training do you have? This is an open-ended question targeted toward learning more about ability to be trained. If you are human resources professional, they will want to know if you have been to any staffing or employee relations workshops. If you are information technology professional they will want to know if you have been to any fiber optic, customer service or trouble shooting workshops. If you haven’t been to any workshops or OJT, state that and also state your interest in developing your skills for the benefit of the company. The new job market wants to understand your ability to want to learn and grow as well has your past training background.

One of the last questions you WILL be asked is: Do you have any skills that are not listed on your resume or in your application? This is a great opportunity for you to “talk yourself up.” This means that you have an opportunity to talk as much about you and your skills and how unique you are. This is your time to shine, so don’t put every single detail on your resume. Give yourself some “room” to talk about yourself.

Happy Job Hunting
Jenice

How to Answer Key Interview Questions: Work Experience

We all have had an interview at one time or another in our professional careers. Interviews are hard enough as it is with getting through the first cuts of other qualified applicants, now that you have the interview all set up there are some questions that will be asked of you during the interview. The key to an interview is not one single thing, yet many items that you will be evaluated on.

Work Experience

Your work experience will be the first items up for “conversation” after the small talk with a selecting official. They will want to know: Why are you interested in the job? This isn’t a trick question; it’s a question the selecting official really wants to know. Are you looking for a career change? Are you looking for a new position because you were laid off? The key to answering this question is to be honest, don’t give your whole life story – but be honest.
Many government agencies like to know that the applicants have done some research on the organization. So, the next question will likely be: Why are you interested in working for this organization? This is an open ended question that can be short and sweet. You should make some kind of reference to the research you have done on the organization. For example, if you are interviewing for a Fire Fighter position – you could answer with something to the reference of “I am interested in working for this organization because I agree with the mission statement of saving lives and preserving the wild life.” Yes, it is cheesy, but if it’s true you should say it. Again, you need to be as professionally honest as possible. This will also come into handy with the next question: What do you know about the company? You will be able to elaborate on the previous answer you gave about the previous question.

The next question is vitally important: What do you feel you can contribute to this organization? This is a question that you MUST answer with YOU in mind for what YOU can contribute to the company. For many selecting officials this question is a “make or break” factor. If an applicant starts with what they feel they need from a company instead of what they CAN and WILL contribute to a company, the interview will be cut short. The key is to stay focused on what YOU can BRING to the COMPANY, not what you want from the company.

There are a series of questions that are often asked in conjunction with each other: Why did you leave you last job? What would your last employer say about you? Would your last employer re-hire you? And Give me an example of a situation where you had to make a decision? What was the situation? What was the decision? And what was the result? Now, these questions are called “character questions.” These are designed to “weed out” the real applicants from those whom have not been so honest during the interview. The best advice I can give is to be honest, have professional examples in mind before the interview and take your time answering the questions. You can ask the selecting official to re-state the questions, you can write the questions down and you have all the time in the world. REMEMBER: YOU are there because they saw something in your resume, phone interview or overall application that they liked.

Happy Job Hunting,

Jenice Armstead

Monday Morning Mindset – Keeping a Positive Attitude

This week focuses on keeping a positive attitude. Your attitude is the one thing that nobody or nothing can change without your permission. You have ultimate control over the attitude that you have within any given situation. If somebody cuts you off while driving, you have an opportunity to keep a positive attitude and ensure that you pay attention to the traffic ahead instead of getting road rage. Ultimately, there’s nothing you can do about anybody else’s attitude, but you do have control over your own attitude in relation to dealing with people, situations, and adverse events. It’s important to do a attitude check when you feel yourself getting angry or frustrated. Ask yourself “why am I frustrated” or “what is causing my negative attitude change.” Once you’re able to understand what you trigger points are, you’re able to figure out ways to stay positive with in those situations. It’s important to promote a “positive self-talk” attitude. Thinking of an accomplishment or a happy memory assist with improving your attitude almost immediately. Overall, it’s important to remember that you and you alone have the power to change your attitude for the better within any situation.

Forgiveness Friday – Finding Your Purpose

This week focuses on Finding Your Purpose. We often have a mixture of finding a purpose and pursuing our goals in our lives. Finding your purpose is apart of pursuing your goals. These both are among the same entities, but applying different attributes of your life determines what you do with opportunities you are aware of. Finding your purpose allows you to become more connected to your natural gifts and abilities. This also makes you more aware of your overall purpose in life. Pursuing your goals is a fundamental aspect of our human ability to feel successful. When you combined finding your purpose with achieving your growth goals, you end up matching your personality to your purpose. Too often, we don’t match our personality to our purpose; rather we receive and accept mediocrity as our ultimate achievement. Finding your purpose does not guarantee riches or fame, but you will receive a treasure of knowing exactly who you are and what your purpose is for your life. Everybody has a dream, whether it is to achieve success with an organization or to your own business. Although success comes in many different forms for different people, it’s important to respect the abilities of yourself and embrace the adversity of challenges. Your destiny is beckoning you to achieve your full purpose of understanding your natural abilities and matching your personality with your purpose. Forgive yourself today for the lack of awareness and choose to be more aware of opportunities that you may have otherwise missed in the pursuit of your goals.

Monday Morning Mindset – Motivating Yourself

This week focuses on Motivating yourself. Motivation is more than getting a pep talk from friends or family members. Motivation truly comes when you decide to do something when you don’t have the feelings of wanting to do it. When you decide to do something, it takes motivation to keep doing it. It is important find ways of motivating yourself. Often we have a support system or family members encouraging us to do better and strive for more. There will be times where you will need to find the courage within yourself to “self-motivate.” Instead of depending on others to motivate you, make a list of motivational factors to remind you of your end goal and how close you are to achieving your goal.

Forgiveness Friday – True Self

This week focuses on the true self. Being true to your self requires many things. First, there must be an awareness of not being true to oneself. Second, there must be acceptance for past behaviors. Finally, there must be a plan for awareness. Being true to oneself means that you realize that you have the ability to be and do more in your life. Self-respect is an attribute for becoming more aware and the plan for receiving more awareness requires attention. You become more aware of your actions when you choice to not react to a situation from mere emotions. When you realize that feelings are fickle, you begin to go deeper and come up to your true self.

Monday Morning Mindset – Human Capital Worth

This week focuses on knowing and understanding your human capital worth. In this difficult job economy, it’s important to understand and notate your knowledge, skills and abilities to your field of development. You are your best marketing manager. You have the ability to annotate everything that you “bring to the table.” Without you, an organization or company would be crippled in the ability to be successful. Make sure to notate all the projects, collateral duties and other contributions you make throughout the year. Employees are typically reviewed on an annual basis. The annual evaluation process is a form of documenting your human capital worth within the organization. The annual evaluation displays what you “brought to the table” for the entire year. It is your responsibility to dictate and annotate all contributing factors, which shows your human capital worth within the organization. When you start keeping track of your professional significance, your professional productivity will show your actual annual growth. The growth may come from personal accomplishments or professional accomplishments. Either way you will grow your human capital worth.

Thankful Thursday – Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. This week’s Thankful Thursday focuses on giving thanks. Today is a day of Thanksgiving and we all can find something to be thankful for. Being thankful is a state of mind and involves direct thought towards an awareness of thankfulness. Being thankful is something that we can do in our everyday lives in small or large ways in order to acknowledge the goodness in our lives. It’s important to have intended thought and understanding for how your thankfulness may grown. Many people are thankful to be alive and others are thankful that they survived a tragic event. In the Bible it discusses many ways to show and give thanks. In the Word, it says to give thanks in all circumstances for God is good all the time and all the time God is good. In Psalms 107:1 it says “oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love indoors forever.” In Ephesians 5:20 says “giving thanks always for everything to God the father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” and in Colossians 3:15 – 17 it says and “let the peace of Christ rule your hearts, to which indeed you are called and one body and be thankful.” It has been entrenched in history and in our very being to give and show thanks at all times. Reflect on this Thanksgiving Day for what you are thankful for and how you can give thanks in your everyday life.