Embarrassing question: I have worked for the federal government for over 20 years, and I am completely out of touch with the new systems and means of finding a civilian job, writing resumes, cover letters (are they used anymore?) and I have never used LinkedIn, other job apps, AI or chatgpt.

19 Comments

1. AnonymousFebruary 1,2025 at 7:07PM UTC

   Joan Williams just posted an excellent response on another post that starts "I was just laid off from my workplace of 15.5 years where I was a Vice President." Definitely take a look at that. Also check out Ask A Manager. She provides tons of useful advice on the site. It's a scary time to be in public service right now. My role is a couple of steps separated, but still impacted by decisions at the federal level and potentially at risk if everything descends into the chaos being permitted at the moment. May G-d help us all.

2. AnonymousFebruary 2,2025 at 8:05PM UTC

   Thank you for this information! I'm sorry you are impacted also, I didn't serve my country for it to end up like this.

3. NatalieFebruary 1,2025 at 9:05PM UTC

   Hi there, I feel your frustration. Best advice on where to start would be your local library. They often have "free" workshops that offer these services. It's a good place to start. Other than that, I would join some workshops also on Eventbrite-here are some possible things to search: AI or Chatgpt job search, personal branding, interviewing, & resume writing. Most of these are free, however, offer addtl. services at the end of the call for a fee. Other than that, I would start singling out places you want to work, try reaching out to people apart of the department or org and ask if they would give you 10-15 min to ask about the job. Or you can try professional orgs and start networking. all the best!

4. AnonymousFebruary 2,2025 at 8:01PM UTC

   Hi Natalie, thank you for this information - the library is a great idea, and I do need to get familiar with AI and chatgpt.

5. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistFebruary 2,2025 at 4:55AM UTC

   Well then it's time for you to get with the program.

   I've been a recruiter for a long time, but I can only speak from my own experience. You could ask 5 different people those questions and get 5 different answers. YMMV. The answer with a lot of things in the jobsearch process is "it depends".

   I'll try to take your questions in order - cover letters. As a recruiter, I don't read cover letters nor do I require applicants to do them. Cover letters are opinion pieces, resumes should be factual documents. I'm interested in facts. A cover letter is never going to make someone who's not a fit for one of my positions be a fit

   Some companies do require them and if you're going to apply there, you should do one. When I was in my own last jobsearch, I refused to do them 99% of the time. Especially those "tell us why you're just dying to work here" ones. I haven't interviewed with your company yet, I haven't spoken with anyone on the team yet - I don't know if I'm dying to work there or not - nor do I have the time nor inclination to blow smoke up you butt.

   Even experienced jobseekers are easy targets for scams and fake jobs - so please be careful. The scammers have become increasingly sophiscated - creating fake identities, sometimes entire fake companies. If you have a question about whether or not a job or recruiter is real, try to contact the company.

   You wrote: ". Where do I start, when there is too much information and opinions on what a resume should look like"

   Please see another comment that I wrote last night on another post regarding what a resume should look like and how to please please please use your critical thinking skills when considering "advice". There are a lot of dimfluencers out there preying on vulnerable jobseekers.

   You wrote: "how to rewrite everything over and over again"

   Unless you are applying for wildly different positions, I see no need to rewrite your resume over and over again. Your experience is your experience. How much can you change the resume. And who has that kind of time - not me. If you

   do need to keep rewriting your resume, then you probably need to narrow your search.

   You wrote: "to get the keywords correct to bypass the HR apps"

   That is not how it works. I'll warn you right now - you will hear tons of lies about this particular issue. Most of the dimfluencer "experts" spouting off about this topic have never worked in an ATS a day in their life. I have been using them since they became commercially available.

   I have experience with 8 or 9 different ATS and with different configurations of those systems.

   What an ATS does is right there in the name - Applicant TRACKING System. It's where you apply to positions.

   The ATS is basically an electronic filing cabinet that stores resumes, allows recruiters to manage and track candidates through the interview process, it’s where offer letters are generated.

   There typically is no sorting involved with the application process – and sorting is where keywords come in.

   Here's what happens (on all the systems I've ever used) when a candidate applies to one of my open requisitions:

   I click on their name in the list of new applicants for that requisition. Their resume has not been ranked. It has not been sorted for keywords. It has not been "scored". It has not been filtered.

   I click "download resume". It downloads in whatever format - Word doc or PDF - the candidate uploaded it. I look at their resume. With my eyeballs. Every one.

   There's no need for me to search or sort by keywords - or anything else - for new applicants because you're sitting right there in the list of new applicants.

   Searching happens if I want to search the database for previous applicants, and is completely separate from the application process.

   Keywords are just skills or experience that we use in our search strings to find candidates (which is different than applying). Ideally, they should just be an organic part of a resume. Loading your resume up with words you think recruiter or hiring managers want to see may get someone to click on your resume, but if the experience isn't there, it doesn't matter how many "key words" you stuff your resume with.

   Probably the single biggest complaint recruiters get from hiring managers is "this resume is stuffed with keywords but doesn't tell me anything about the person's actual experience".

   And no matter how many times those dimfluencers tell you otherwise, the ATS is not making decisions about applicants.

   I know most candidates don't seem to want to hear this, but when you're being rejected, you're being rejected by a human.

   I'm the bot.

   There is an entire industry that has grown up around trying to separate jobseekers from their money. Many try to use fear - if you don't pay for me to re-write your resume or pay $5,000 for my secret sauce coaching course, you'll never find a job.

   Many of these dimfluencers have zero qualifications to be dishing out jobsearch advice. They have no recent recruiting experience, no experience as a hiring manager. Are there good job coaches and resume writers - yes, but most people don't need a job coach and most people can write their own resume. There is tons of FREE content out there - resume template, interview help, etc.

   I recommend you follow people like Amy Miller and Kristen Fife on LinkedIn - they're both long time, experienced recruiters. Amy has a YouTube channel with tons of free content and Kristen has published over 100 articles for jobseekers - also all free.

   You wrote: "or is now what I heard on a broadcast, that resumes and apps no longer work, that you must have friends and colleagues in a company to get a job now, that only connections work?"

   Also not true. Networking is great. Referrals are awesome. You should definitely be networking and asking for referrrals. But applying absolutely works too.

   The vast majority of the positions I've filled in the last 3 1/2 yrs have been from people who either applied or who I sourced.

   A small percentage were from networking or referrals. Every company had a referral bonus program in place and I also ask for referrals. The number of referrals that were hires throughout a 20+ year recruiting career is also very small.

   If companies were able to fill the majority of their positions by networking, they would not need to employ the teams of recruiters and sourcers and outside agencies who spend all day, every day working to fill their positions.

   Not to use you as an example, Anonymous - but FGBers - please don't put yourself in this position. The best job security you can have is an up-to-date resume and a well-tended network.

   Please let me know if you have any questions. I know this is a really scary time to be a Federal employee and all my good thoughts are going your way.

   Good Luck on your journey!!

6. AnonymousFebruary 2,2025 at 7:37PM UTC

   Thank you Joan, for a well written and professional response to my question. I do have work to do - I would not have been as concerned if I was back in my home town of many years, but when I earned my MSW in '22 I was able to be hired in a special program for new federal social workers that is only offered in three locations, and despite moving alone to a new state and taking a chance, the offer was worth it for the new career development and the ability to receive paid for mandatory clinical supervision hours; a set number of hourly clinical supervision meetings are required for taking the clinical license exam, and many social workers have to pay another social worker to receive those hours - if their organization does not provide supervision. As a veteran, I enjoy helping senior veterans and families, and I am going to stick around as long as I can because the Vietnam veterans are in their mid 70s and need many services and resources - before the government dries them up. At the same time, I need to develop the civilian side of my career. Thank you again.

7. AnonymousFebruary 6,2025 at 4:57PM UTC

   To add to this about the resume. I have what I call my "master resume". I have all of my experience and all of my skills on it. The experience is separated by job and I have a blurb about my responsibilities and as many bullets as I can think of of the projects I did/do with metrics. When I apply for a job I cherry pick the information from the master resume to create a resume for it. What you will find, is that your resumes will start to look similar and you'll end up just swapping out a couple of bullets or skills.

   One thing I would definitely do is talk about your job and responsibilities with someone else and have them write everything down. This will help you with your resume. I did this with a resume writer and was shocked at the items that they found important to include in the resume that I didn't think were a big deal because it was just "part of my daily job". Ultimately, I didn't like the format they created for the resume and I redid it, but the conversations I had with them were extremely helpful and resulted in the creation of my master resume.

   Make sure that you are doing it in bite sized chunks too. Not everything has to be done at the same time. Figure out which things can be done once and then applied to other things. For example, the information on your resume and LinkedIn page will be pretty similar, so the heavy lifting you have to do to gather information will only need to be done once. It's definitely an overwhelming process but you've got this!

8. MelanieFebruary 2,2025 at 7:13PM UTC

   The top tips I can offer on avoiding scams:

   1 - Don't have your full address on your resume (not necessary anymore - city & state at most) and I highly suggest signing up for a Google Voice number to use as your voicemail for your resume / job apps. Most employers don't call first anymore anyway (email is usually the first contact), and if they do, they are fine leaving a voicemail. This limits the personal information you're sharing upfront and limits your exposure if your resume gets shared with scammers (which it will if you post on Indeed).

   2 - Keep track of where you've applied. If you hear from any company that you did not apply for yourself, be EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA cautious. Very rare to hear from real employers first anymore (it's been 10 years or more since that's happened to me in tech) and the majority of those are scams.

   3 - If you're at all interested in remote gigs: Real remote companies do NOT do interviews on WhatsApp or Microsoft Teams through chat or texting. A REAL remote company will want to do a video chat with you at first, and they will be on video. Make sure that the domain on any email you get (the part of the email that's after the @ symbol) is the same as the company's website. If it's ANYTHING ELSE be suspicious. Ex: if the company you're applying to is https://www.company.com and you get an email from something@company.info or something@anything-company.com etc -- ANYTHING that isn't .com exactly matching the website -- it's more likely than not a scam. Try reaching out to the company via phone to verify. Go to their website and look for the job listing there. Be CAUTIOUS.

   4 - If they send you a check to "buy equipment" - it's a scam. No real employer does this. Anything that asks you to pay for something first, it's a scam.

   5 - If it's too good to be true, it's a scam. No one pays $35/hour or more for data entry part time. MLMs are scams. Envelope stuffing isn't a real job. DO NOT GIVE OUT YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER until you have thouroughly vetted the company and received a REAL offer.

   6 - If you feel uneasy about it at ALL, trust your gut. There are so many more scams out there than you might imagine, have your guard up!

9. AnonymousFebruary 2,2025 at 7:56PM UTC

   Thank you very much for the scam tips! I had one of my elderly patients get pulled into a "love" scam, and she would not listen to her family or friends, he was texting her 24/7, alleviated her loneliness and boredom, he was the love of her life, and when she sent him enough money to buy his way over, he was going to come be with her any day now, forever. The only thing that finally stopped this scam was a younger coworker, who was determined to figure this out, discovered that the photos the scammer was using were of a man who died a few years ago, in another state, awful car accident. We gently provided her the information, the news story, the photos, and told her that a terrible person was using a deceased person's identity to rob people. She still didn't quite understand everything, but she did accept the death as real, that he was now "gone", which was enough for the daughter to move the patient in with her, and manage the finances and the phone.

10. MelanieFebruary 4,2025 at 9:36PM UTC

    Yep and scams are only going to get worse with AI. Even though I fancy myself well informed and tech savvy, they’re getting better and better.

11. AnonymousFebruary 2,2025 at 7:35PM UTC

    The medical world hires social workers. You might look at Healthcare systems in your area, look at this job or career sites.

    Good luck! I know it's hard to look for a job.

12. AnonymousFebruary 2,2025 at 7:40PM UTC

    Thank you very much for this information!

13. AnonymousFebruary 2,2025 at 7:59PM UTC

    Thank you very much Tahlora for the information and the offer to connect - I would be interested in connecting with you, I hope that your husband is doing okay with all of the wild things going on.

14. AnonymousFebruary 3,2025 at 1:30AM UTC

    Former recruiter here and still in the biz within higher ed to put students to work. Use simple templates online. Tons out there. Your goal is first what type of job do you seek? Second, do you have the skills and can show that in your resume? You also list them in a skill section. Your summary at the top of the page is in lieu of the traditional cover letter. Google that too. Whatever you apply to your resume must have the skills to show for it and within the job descriptions. Keep your resume at 1-2 pages. I’ve worked in tons of CRM /ATS systems. Recruiters like me could pull the resumes loaded by applicants based on my skill search. Then they are reviewed. Those who met the requirements received a call. Seek work at VA Hospitals, doctor offices, oncologists seek social workers to help families. My mother’s doc had one. You have skills, you will find work. Go to occupational outlook handbook and research jobs with your skills. Very useful tool!

15. AnonymousFebruary 4,2025 at 1:43PM UTC

    There are quite a few large companies that have veteran programs that can help you transition into a civilian job and recruiters that can help translate your experience to relevant needs of the job. I would start with some of those if they fit your interest!

16. AnonymousFebruary 8,2025 at 1:15PM UTC

    You have made great career moves so far so don’t sell yourself short. Focus on getting your clinical license. That will be worth gold because those folks are experiencing a workforce shortage. Most people have a résumé and cover letter in a format like word where you can change it to more closely align with keywords in the job posting. However, your new credentials, you might be able to bypass all of that by looking around to community mental health centers in your area and pick the one that sounds the best. Email your resume and a cover letter to their HR department. For avoiding scams, always know what company you are applying to (not some vague intermediary) and look the company up before you apply. Be sure the job opening is posted on their website and the role the general description of the company from their website. If you can work for 2 yrs in community mental health you will have lots of options while helping people who really need you.

17. AnonymousFebruary 17,2025 at 5:10PM UTC

    First sorry for the need to look for work after serving the government for so many years. It is definitely a rough time for Federal employees. Take the skills you have and use them to craft a resume that shows your soft skills and also tech skills. If you have leadership skills and have managed or hired others showcase that too. Anything you have done that saves money or helps others should be highlighted too. Write it up in a list and then use that list to update the last resume you had. Show progression. Yes, do write a cover note. Tell them why you fit. Yes use your network and on linkedin share tidbits of knowledge and interest with regularity so that you show up in peoples feeds and news. It will be a long path as in this current market many folks are seeing 6-9 month searches. Apply to any and everything that might come close to what you want and need. Lastly, good luck.

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