The Human - To - Human Approach To Landing A Job

If you were sitting on a Federal screening panel, how do you think it would feel to wade through hundreds of 612’s and Federal resumes? Do you think you’d be looking forward to reading stacks of application documents?

Now, suppose that each of these applications contained accurately and properly worded descriptions of each applicant’s job functions, but told you nothing personal about the job applicants themselves? I ask you, wouldn’t all this paperwork soon start to turn into a blur? Of course it would. And that’s exactly what happens to people on the Federal screening panels. They get mentally exhausted from reading the same verbal mush over and over and over. They’re just human, after all.

It’s All About You

But now, suppose you came across a few resumes or 612’s that focused your attention on actual evidence: times when these people’s professional skills produced solid results? Wouldn’t these documents be more convincing? Well, if you want to get hired—or at least called for interviews—guess what you have to do? You have to make your document about YOU and what YOU did in these jobs—not about your job descriptions. In other words make your job descriptions about the human being you, so that the human beings on the screening panel can identify with them.

This is a simple point, yet people mistake what they need to do to sell themselves on paper. They approach these forms as though this is a test. It’s not a test. It’s a sales document, like a professional billboard. You’ve got to sell your skills on it. If not, if you just fill out all the blanks accurately, but don’t sell anything, then guess what? (Nobody will buy—that’s what.)

A Puzzle Reveals a Portrait

A resume, 612 or 171 is not a full-length biography—but it’s not a diary entry, either. It needs to do more than just contain little cryptic sentences that are unsupported by any evidence, examples, or factual narratives that give the screening panel a sense of how you do what you do professionally, and that you’re effective at what you do.

An effective resume or Federal job application is built detail by detail, so that the screening panels will form a vivid impression of your professional abilities, rather than making a snap judgment. You want them to take time with your document, don’t you? Well, that’s how you’re going to have to write it. Patiently. Carefully. On a human scale.

And how do you do that? Well, Ernest Hemingway used to say that when he didn’t know what to write, he would write the first true thing that came into his mind.

That would lead to other true statements, and soon he’d be mining a vein of true feelings or observations about human beings that would lead to a satisfying story. You might do what Hemingway did: start writing down true and important facts about your career. At first, you can just write them down in no particular order. You can give them a sense of order later. First get the facts down on paper–-especially the ones that matter most. Then make sure that the results you’ve produced are presented clearly. Point them out:

Show the Evidence

RESULT: Saved $X for the office by streamlining the purchasing process.

If you begin to build a pattern of professional effectiveness into your application document, screening panels will start to catch on. They’re looking for someone who can get the job done. Most jobs are about solving problems. If you can demonstrate in your resume, 612 or 171 that you understand this and have responded effectively on previous jobs, the screening panels will begin to feel you’re savvy enough for the job they’re trying to fill.

In writing your resume, 612 or 171, you need to respect your achievements and to let people know about them. This isn’t bragging; it’s just reporting the evidence of your professional effectiveness. Unfortunately, many people settle for just filling up the page with jargon, rather than describing actual facts that can speak for them as a human being with achievement.

For example, which of these statements makes a deeper impact, in your judgment:

"I saved significant Congressionally appropriated funding for a multi-leveled aviation organization through vigilant financial controls and adherance to strict protocols." or:

"My audit findings saved $15 Million for US Air Force Headquarters."

The first version sounds pumped up, whereas the second sounds like it’s probably true. Impressions like this add up in the screening panel’s mind. Evidence makes your document believable, and that’s often the difference between getting hired and being passed over.

Let’s try this again. Which of these statements do you believe:

"I am an absolutely wonderful public speaker. I’m constantly in demand. I deliver many fascinating lectures of keen interest to nationally recognized business leaders." or:

"Last year, I was keynote speaker at nine Chamber of Commerce regional conferences and a featured panelist at the Chamber’s annual convention in Washington."

The first statement has more "power words," but the second carries more punch. Tell your story. Don’t sell yourself short, but don’t inflate the facts. Federal screening panels have to make decisions about real jobs, for real people. They’re human beings too. Write them an application they can relate to.

Since 1981, Gabriel Heilig has assisted more than 3,800 people in advancing their careers. He has been Director of a career counseling center as well as a personnel recruiter and an editor to executives at MCI, The White House, and other corporate and government clients. His work recently won an international prize for the US Agency for International Development. To review your material or to receive an estimate, send your material to P.O. Box 46569, The Pentagon, Washington, DC 20050. Or call him at 703-979-8203.