I know I’ve talked about keywords before, but I think it’s important we cover some more aspects, specifically how to extract them and what to do with them afterwards.

I recently read a comment on Facebook that basically said “Keywords don’t matter”. The person who wrote that was referring to taking keywords from the USAjobs announcements and placing them on your resume.

HE WAS WRONG.

Keywords: the key to being “qualified” for Federal jobs

Federal job announcements are very detailed and this is terrific for you—the applicants. Why? Because you can extract plenty of relevant keywords from these announcements and place them into your resume as well as in your knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) responses. Without the proper keywords in your resume, you could find it hard to secure an interview.

There are many, many reasons why you need these keywords in your resume and KSAs / Job Elements. Here are just a couple:

  • They are in the announcement for a reason. The announcements are put together with the help of the supervisor who is seeking to hire someone.
  • That means they are actually telling applicants what they are looking for.
  • They are given to you on a silver platter – use them! They are easily copied and pasted into your resume directly from the announcement.
  • It lets the HR Specialist, who reviews the resumes, know that you are actually qualified for the job. Rather than using your own words and job titles, you can customize your resume to ‘speak to’ the announcement and therefore to the HR Specialist.
  • Keywords allow you to customize your resume and KSAs to every single job you’re applying for.
  • Keyword scanners will be on the lookout. While it’s a myth that USAJOBs uses electronic keyword scanners, some Agencies have their own application systems that DO have keyword scanners.
  • Without the proper keywords, your resume can fail you as soon as you apply!

NOTE: The goal here is to extract individual keywords—not complete sentences. Do not copy and paste entire sentences from the announcement into your resume!

Where can you get keywords from?

USAJOBs Duties Section. This is the mail description of what duties the position is responsible for performing.

Example of some keywords that could be harvested and deployed in your resume and KSAs:

1. Duties Section.

Here’s an example: The incumbent will serve as the Medical Support Assistant.

The Medical Support Assistant will perform administrative functions and provide advice and assistance to an administrative staff and clinical professionals.

The duties for this position include, but are not limited to, providing written material, reference materials, supplies and information as needed, collecting and maintaining all medical records, monitoring the schedules of appointments, and acting as the receptionist to the clinic; greeting patients, providing clinic orientation, receiving telephone calls and visitors.

The Medical Support Assistant is also responsible for electronically checking-in and checking out the patients using computer programs, interpreting doctors’ orders, preparing forms, scheduling appointments, collecting data, and ensuring that the work area has the appropriate quantity of supplies.

2. USAjobs Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) section.

This section tells you what specifically the supervisor is seeking in applicants. These are the infamous essay-style questions. Contrary to popular myth, they have NOT gone away and you DO need to address them.

Example:

  • Knowledge of medical terminology.
  • Ability to communicate orally and in writing with staff, patients and families.
  • Ability to apply rules and regulations as they apply to medical treatment.
  • Ability to perform a wide variety of administrative task associated with maintaining and supporting the work performed within the Healthcare Group.

3. USAjobs Specialized Experience Section.

Not all announcements offer this section but be on the lookout for it because it communicates what experience you need to highlight in your resume and KSAs.

Some examples:

  • Interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines.
  • Scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient’s appointments and/or consults.
  • Entering no-show information.
  • Monitoring the electronic wait list.
  • Preparing for clinic visits.
  • Monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments for areas of responsibility, verifying and updating demographics and insurance information.
  • Processing all emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals.

4. USAjobs Occupational Questionnaire.

This is the questionnaire that you will have to respond to once you are inside the application manager and you are actively applying.

Example:

  • Maintaining pertinent information related to the assigned program regarding statistical information that may include but not be limited to clinic/program use, patient show/no-show rates, and patient satisfaction.
  • Meeting all data entry deadlines and assuring all data is accurate to maximize reimbursement requirements.
  • Establishing and maintaining manual and computerized databases needed to prepare various reports in related work sites.
  • Uses word processing software and printing equipment to create, copy, edit, store, retrieve and format a variety of reports and correspondence.
  • Transmitting, receiving and acknowledging electronic mail and printing hard copies.

5. Consider also pulling keywords out of other announcements with the same job title as you want to apply for!

If the duties section in the announcement you are applying for doesn’t have much detail, you can always do searches for a similar job on other announcements and then extract keywords from those identical announcements.

6. OPM Classification Standards

The majority of position classification standards are developed by OPM and are applicable to occupations common to many or all Federal agencies. Here, you can review different occupations and corresponding information relating to duties.

www.onetonline.org – a full-access, online version of the occupational network database published by the U.S. Department of Labor. Enter the job titles you have held and it can give you the keywords relating to that occupation. You can also search the job title for the job you are applying for and pull keywords out of your resume.

A special note on KSAs

There are a lot of rumors floating around about KSAs. Many people mistakenly believe that they are no longer used in Federal job applications. This is FALSE. They never went away. Don’t believe me? Go over the USAjobs.gov right now and scroll through a few jobs. You WILL see KSAs in the announcement. And you ARE expected to respond to them – if you want an interview, that is.

KSAs never went away! Their name might be different, but they are as important as ever.

You MUST respond to them or your resume may not go forward!

To keep the discussion going and get more answers to your questions, please join our Vets 2 Fed Gov Jobs Facebook group.

Make sure to visit the FILES section of our Facebook group for tons of valuable resources.

Apply well! Apply Often. Can’t Stop! Won’t stop!