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Preparing an Effective Resume
for Electronic Analysis and Evaluation

The guide which follows is intended to directly support the efforts of individuals who are interested in applying for consideration for Federal employment in accounting or financial management positions through the Defense Finance and Accounting Service Delegated Examining Unit (DFAS DEU).

The instructions in this guide are designed to help you display your experience, education and training in the best possible manner. This will insure that you are able to maximize the opportunity for your resume to receive full and proper consideration. The resume preparation suggestions and tips found in this guide have been formulated by the DEU staff based on experience gained in reviewing and correcting literally thousands of electronic and hard copy resume submissions. You should read and study this information carefully (perhaps several times) BEFORE developing your resume, and you should attempt to incorporate these "lessons learned" in the written content of your resume. Remember, there will be a direct correlation between the level of effort you invest in developing your resume and its ultimate effectiveness in accurately portraying your background.

Hopefully, this material will give each of you confidence in your ability to develop the best possible resume and confidence in the ability of the DEU automated resume analysis system to accurately read, interpret and evaluate the skills in your background.

A separate set of instructions focused more specifically on the format of your resume, technical characteristics of the content, required data information elements and how to actually submit your resume is described in the DEU Job Kit (PDF - 962KB).

Contents of this guide include:

Adapting to a Changing Environment

How Does the DEU Automated Resume Processing System Work?

Using a Resume to Best Display Your Talent

Describing "Soft" Skills in Your Resume

More About Resume Preparation: Expanded Detail and Information

Sample Resumes and Resume Analysis

Adapting to a Changing Environment

The key to your ability to learn how to write an effective resume will be your willingness to accept and adjust to change. The best resume is one that is focused, concise and includes only significant skills, knowledge and abilities from your background. Everything of note in your work experience, education and training must be thoughtfully and briefly described in the equivalent of only three typewritten pages. Preparing a resume like this does require an investment of effort, and it requires thought and preparation before the easy part ­­ putting words on a page ­­ ever begins. Most of all, however, your success will depend upon a willingness to not only accept these characteristics and constraints, but to understand how they actually improve staffing processes and benefit us all.

How Does the DEU Automated Resume Processing System Work?

The DEU uses an integrated set of software and hardware components, which enable standard applicant resumes to be processed in an automated manner. The system is "knowledge based", and it has the ability to read an applicant’s job application (or resume) in context. As such, the system does not rely on "keywords" to interpret an applicant’s background and to determine what significant skills, knowledge, and abilities are reflected in the resume narrative. Instead, the system analyzes a candidate’s overall background to decide whether or not the individual possesses all of the primary knowledge, skills, and abilities normally associated with each of the distinct financial management and accounting occupations and positions filled by the DEU. Based on its findings, the automated system assigns a rating to each application.

Using a Resume to Best Display Your Talent

(The Basics)
Preparing a short, substantive resume is a radical departure for many of us, who, for years have frequently had the luxury of submitting lengthy, immensely detailed "life histories" of our prior working background. Prepare now to totally change your thought processes and the mind set you bring to the task of preparing an employment application. To facilitate your transition to the world of concise resume preparation, we offer the following, very basic "pointers":

• Focus your resume. Decide upon the two or three positions you would most like to have during the next 6-12 months. Compose your resume to address the knowledge and skills you possess which might be compatible with those of the positions in which you are interested.
   
• Be realistic. Rationally and objectively assess your own skills background, as well as your strengths and weaknesses. See if the conclusions you reach are a match with the expectations you established in accordance with the job choices previously identified.
   
• Be concise. Avoid crowding your resume with unnecessary details or descriptions of skills or training, which are not significant in nature or directly related to the qualifications for, or success in, the positions for which you desire consideration.
   
• Write your resume as though you are submitting it for review by someone who has no technical understanding of the kind of work done in positions you may have previously held. Imagine that you are explaining what you have done and the skills you have used to a friend or a next door neighbor who has never worked in the same kinds of jobs as you. Minimize the use of acronyms in your resume narrative. If you must use them, explain what they represent, what processes or systems they describe, and how you have used the knowledge, skills or abilities associated with them.
   
• Concentrate on describing only specific and significant knowledge and skills in your background. Be sure they are related to the positions you would like to hold.
   
• Describe the knowledge and skills you possess and the duties you have performed using words or terminology which are common to the general occupational field. In other words, describe skills and experience in universally accepted terms that could be readily understood in both the public and private sectors.
   

Describing “Soft” Skills in Your Resume

The DEU automated system is knowledge-based, and it uses a relational database to “read” and evaluate applicant resumes. As a result, the software does an excellent job of identifying and crediting skills related to recognized occupational categories and functions. These “hard” skills (e.g., accounting, information technology, civilian pay, secretary, etc.) lend themselves to ready analysis because of the direct, unmistakable relationship between major, core tasks associated with the occupations in which they are embodied and the skills needed to perform these tasks.

The task of enabling the software to “see” so-called “soft” skills in a resume requires greater attention and effort by the applicant. Soft skills can be generally described as intangible personal characteristics or attributes that are more generic in nature and are not identifiable with any particular occupation. Conversely, many soft skills are useful and desirable in the performance of tasks and functions found in a wide variety of jobs. Examples of soft skills include traits such as analytical ability, communication skills, creativity, being customer oriented, leadership and other, similar, intangible skills. When applying for a position, applicants must consider whether or not any soft skills are integral to successful performance in the job. If the answer is “yes”, applicants must plan on addressing appropriate soft skills in their resume submissions. For maximum effectiveness, the possession of these characteristics should be highlighted in two ways. First, applicants must make a substantive effort to include examples in the narrative resume content that describe and demonstrate instances in which the soft skill(s) has been employed in performing tasks related to the position for which application is being made. Equally as important, applicants should use the “Skills” section of the resume format in the most advantageous manner by listing specific, significant soft skills in it. The “Skills” section of the resume is purposely designed to function as a “second chance” safety net to provide the automated software with an opportunity to “catch” any skills it might have failed to identify when initially evaluating the narrative content of a resume. Since soft skills are inherently generic and “fuzzy” in nature, they are more difficult to clearly describe in a narrative fashion. As previously stated, the relational database feature incorporated in the software evaluation system is unlikely to automatically associate a soft skill with any occupation-specific task or function. Given these human and system limitations, it only makes common sense to use this two step process to exploit the presence of relevant soft skills in an applicant’s background and experience.

More About Resume Preparation

(Expanded Detail and Information)

1. Focus Your Resume
    
   Have you ever watched a championship-boxing match? If you have, think about the times that you saw a fighter launch a "roundhouse" right hook at his opponent. How often did one of those "broad swipe" punches ever do any damage? Hardly ever. In fact, in most cases, the fighter was lucky if the punch even landed on his opponent. This analogy is directly applicable to the design of your resume. If your objective is simply to get any job that you can, and if you prepare a very general "one size fits all" resume, you will probably not be satisfied with the results. In all likelihood, you will be found minimally qualified for many jobs and highly qualified for none. There is another reason why you should focus your resume. Most of us cannot qualify for more than two, or at the most, three different occupational fields. If the truth were known, most of us are bona fide experts in only one or two distinct specialties within all of the occupations for which we are minimally qualified. The objective of submitting a resume to the DFAS DEU is to obtain the highest possible rating so that your resume is within reach to be referred for consideration for a vacant position. The preparation of a "shotgun" resume almost certainly insures a low rating and negates any effort devoted to the development of a DEU application package.
    
   Narrowing the scope of your resume to support legitimate career objectives provides the opportunity to highlight those areas of your background in which you possess in-depth knowledge and experience, and coincidentally, those general occupational areas in which you are most likely to be successful in obtaining another position. Enough said. Although not mandatory, it is strongly suggested that you compile a resume which will directly support the attainment of your near term career goals. Doing so can only enhance your chances of success.
    
2. Be Concise
    
   Remember the following "golden rule" of resume development:
    
   Include in your resume ONLY those items of experience, education and training which DIRECTLY SUPPORT your qualifications for the positions for which you are submitting an application to the DEU.
    
   The importance of following this particular piece of advice cannot be overstated.
    
   Think about it. If you are applying for a position as a GS-12 budget analyst, your previous experience as an insurance claims processor or as a salesperson for a major electronic outlet is not directly related to the budget analysis field. It will not support your qualifications (or a high rating) for a budget analyst job. While this conclusion may be fairly apparent, it is also based on the nature of Federal qualification standards that will be applied by the DEU to determine your basic eligibility for further rating and placement on a valid register of job applicants. For every position in the Government at the GS-5 level or above, candidates must demonstrate in their applications that they possess:
    
   
   1. at least one year of specialized experience directly related to the duties of the position for which they seek consideration, and also appropriate.
       
   2. quality of experience equivalent to a position comparable to that of the next lowest grade of the position for which an application is being submitted.
       
   Let’s look at another example. If you are preparing a resume to respond to a vacancy announcement for a GS-7 accounting technician position, experience you gained in a prior position as a general administrative clerk will not help you qualify for the accounting technician job because it will not demonstrate possession of specialized experience directly related to the primary duties of an accounting technician.
    
   There are other ways of insuring that your resume is concise, but meaningful. For example, if you want to apply for a secretarial position, it is not necessary to specifically name and describe four previous and distinct word processing systems you have used. All you need to say in your resume is that you have a substantive knowledge of and have used word processing skills and systems. Don’t be repetitive; just get to the point. This same basic principle applies to education and training. If your objective is to obtain a GS-12 position, the fact that you took a one-half day seminar on business writing six years ago will be of no significant value in determining your overall rating. You can leave this fact off of your resume.
    
   One final tip for achieving brevity is in order. Don’t use "flowery" language to describe your experience. Avoid adjectives and adverbs like the "plague". You could say, " I was responsible for the processing of a wide variety of extremely complex financial transactions using two technically advanced automated accounting systems". You will receive no additional points on your rating for the descriptive terms, but you will expend scarce space on your limited three-page resume. It would be more productive to simply and clearly state the facts: "I was responsible for the processing of a variety of financial transactions using two automated accounting systems". You will have said the same thing, but much more succinctly.
    
   In summary, your resume should be completely free of unneeded detail that does not MATERIALLY CONTRIBUTE to your overall occupational qualifications.
    
   REMEMBER:
    
   
   • For any position at the GS-5 level or above, you must have at least one year of specialized experience in the duties of the position to be filled, or in a position the duties of which are directly related to those of the position to be filled.
      
   • For any position at the GS-5 level or above, there is also a quality of experience requirement. This means that in order to be creditable for qualification purposes, any specialized experience that you possess must have been gained in a position equivalent to that of the next lower grade of the position for which you are seeking consideration.
      
   With these points in mind, it should be clear that if you were interested in being considered for any position at the GS-5 level or above, much of your prior experience, education and training would not have to be included on your resume. The reason is that it will have no bearing and will in no way support your qualifications for the positions you are seeking. This same logic is also basically applicable to awards and honors. If the award or honor was received far in the past, or if it was received in a position which cannot be used to support your qualifications, there is no good and substantive reason to include the award or honor in your resume. For the same reasons, minor or outdated training received in the past should not be listed on your resume.
    
3. Use Plain English
    
   Write your resume as though you are submitting it for review by someone who has no technical understanding of the kind of work you do or have done in the past. Let’s look at several examples of how NOT to describe experience and the ways in which "technical goulash" can be translated into something understandable for both the automated resume processing system and DEU personnel staffing specialists:
    
   
   • WRONG:
     I use IATS to process travel vouchers.
      
     BETTER:
     I use an automated financial system, IATS, to compute and process travel reimbursements for transportation, meals, lodging and similar entitlements.
      
   • WRONG:
     I process vouchers and issue a variety of disbursements using SRD1.
      
     BETTER:
     Using knowledge of disbursing principles and procedures, I examine requests for payments to individual military and civilian employees, private sector vendors, and other public agencies. I perform a quality control review to insure that these requests are in order, assign appropriate accounting classifications and prepare checks or electronic transfer payments. I use an automated disbursing system, SRD1, to accomplish these actions.
      
     (NOTE: This straightforward three-sentence paragraph might well be sufficient to describe all of the MAJOR duties performed by a disbursing clerk or technician position).
      
   • WRONG:
     I assist functionals in writing SCRs. I develop interfaces and am the POC for all EC initiatives.
      
     BETTER:
     I work with functional users of automated financial and accounting systems to help identify needed changes and to write system change requests (SCRs). I write computer programs to enable automated systems to interface and to communicate with each other. I am the primary contact for automated electronic commerce (EC) systems and improvements.
      
   The point is that descriptions of duties performed, and knowledge and skills applied in accomplishing those duties should be simple and straightforward, but descriptive and reduced to only essential information. When you have finished writing a paragraph, it is helpful to stop and ask yourself the following questions:
    
   
   • Would a third party not familiar with my occupational background understand the kind of work that I do?
      
   • Is there any nonessential information (nice to have, but not helpful in meeting mandatory qualification requirements) included in what I have written?
      
   • Have I omitted any unique, but RELEVANT special experience or skills that I possess that might serve to distinguish me from other candidates if my resume reaches the desk of a selecting official?
      
   • Have I adequately described those MAJOR characteristics of my occupation or background and skills that are MOST COMMON to my occupation and/or field?
      
4. Paint a Picture
    
   If you are applying for an accountant GS-12 position, and you have prior, relevant experience as an accountant, think BEFORE you begin to write. What are the PRIMARY characteristics of professional accounting work, processes and procedures? What MAJOR skills, knowledge or abilities are GENERALLY ACCEPTED as necessary in the performance of this work? What portions of your working background best demonstrate that you have performed recognized accounting tasks using recognized accounting skills? When these questions have been answered, you are ready to develop your resume narrative. Be sure to construct your narrative in a logical manner, adding each descriptive "piece" until you have painted a full picture of ­­ an accountant. The process can be compared with putting together a puzzle. A reference to one skill or a single job task is incomplete and may not lend itself to an obvious conclusion as to the occupation being described. As additional commonly recognized tasks or skills are added, the picture becomes clearer. Finally, at some point, a knowledgeable observer will be in a position to hazard an educated guess as to the end product being described. Insure that you provide sufficient "pieces of the puzzle" so as to leave no reasonable doubt about the occupational or job profile you are building, and about your demonstrated possession of and ability to use the skills and competencies commonly associated with that occupation.