Government Resume Examples

How to pick the best format for your experience level

Although there are three standard resume formats, government jobs may require a unique format known as the federal resume. A federal resume follows this format:

1. Job opening information: Add the job announcement number, job title and job grade from the advertisement.
2. Contact information: Add your full name, mailing address, phone number and email. Include your citizenship status and birth nation if you are not a U.S. citizen.
3. Special hiring authorities: Veterans, Peace Corps volunteers, AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers and candidates with disabilities receive preferential consideration with proper documentation.
4. Education: Add relevant degrees, training programs or military experience.
5. Work experience: List your past jobs in reverse-chronological order. Specify if you were part- or full-time and add the average weekly hours.
6. References: Include your current supervisor’s name and contact information if they’re open to being contacted. Consider having a separate reference list in case additional checks are needed.
7. Skills: Focus on job-relevant skills and create a skills section with six to eight essential skills.
8. Check the job announcement — hiring managers will specify if you must submit a specially formatted federal resume. If there’s no formatting request, you may submit one of the standard resume formats: chronological, combination or functional.

Use government-related skills

Local, state and federal government jobs range across multiple career fields. Customize your resume to showcase job-relevant skills, but don’t forget to include some of these resume-friendly skills:

• Analytical skills
• Budgeting and financial planning
• Communication
• Critical thinking
• Data management
• Interpersonal collaboration
• Legal knowledge
• Policy analysis
• Project management
• Research and investigation

Use a professional template

Professional resume templates help you organize your qualifications logically, making it easier for hiring managers to scan and identify key information.

Resume templates are helpful tools but require customization to reflect your previous civil service experience accurately. Try our award-winning Resume Builder to write a customized draft quickly.