How can you persuasively sell yourself to hiring managers without sounding self-serving and egocentric? By factually describing your achievements, their importance, and how they improved your employer’s operations. And by not offering baseless descriptions of how valuable you are, predicting how impressed hiring managers will be with you, or otherwise describing yourself in unqualified grandiose terms. Remember: Bombast usually bombs. In your résumé and job applications and during your interviews, back up descriptions of your results with concrete examples, hard data and objective validation of your results. In short, present yourself in factual, specific terms. By doing so, you show your high value…

I am frequently asked, “What is the most common mistake that job-seekers make on their résumés and application essays?” My answer: Virtually all of the thousands of job applications that I have reviewed — no matter how much expertise is offered by the job-seekers they represent — are dominated by unimpressive statements from job descriptions instead of specific, achievement-oriented descriptions of successes. They fail to convey the importance of the job-seeker’s accomplishments. Therefore, they fail to show how the job seeker could improve his target employer’s operations. I was recently consulted by the communications director of one of the most powerful members…

Here’s a sample of tried-and-true job application tips that have helped many of my federal clients advance. *Remember that employers don’t hire people; they hire applications. No matter how impressive your credentials are, they won’t help you land your next job if they are not conveyed in clear and compelling terms on your application. *Get a second opinion. To objectively evaluate how well your application comes across to others, show it to others and ask for their opinions. *Even if your hiring managers know you, assume they have no prior knowledge of your work. Even if you are the “inside” applicant,…

As the saying goes, “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” One way to create your future is to plan and prepare for your long-term career moves. How? Search USAJOBS.gov and agency Web sites for announcements for the types of jobs you would eventually like to land; identify gaps in your background that might thwart your pursuit; and work now to eliminate those gaps. If you have set your sights on the Senior Executive Service, start working now to gain experience in any SES executive core qualifications (ECQs) in which you are lacking. The Office of Personnel Management outlines…

If you’re a fed aiming to advance, here are your main options: *Get a grade increase. If your job has promotion potential, you are eligible for a grade increase on the first anniversary of starting federal service or on the first anniversary of your most recent grade increase. When you receive a grade increase under the GS system, you should receive a pay increase equal to two steps above your current grade and step. If your job doesn’t have promotion potential, your boss may give you a grade increase through an “accretion of duties” that must be approved by your…

Some job seekers see a federal job application and fear they’ll be hit by the full force of the government’s punitive power — including armed marshals and IRS audits — if their application provides anything less than a full confession of all of their professional deficiencies and liabilities. But remember: As long as your answers to application questions are honest, you are within your rights and well advised to keep your faults to yourself and to evaluate your credentials liberally and leniently. As I wrote in my March 30 column, your application will likely first have to impress a computer.…

When you apply for your next federal job, your application will likely first have to impress a computer. Before a human resources professional or selecting official decides whether to call you in for an interview, a computer scores your responses to short-answer questions to determine whether you have, in government lingo, “made the cert.” Your answers to these questions — which will be formatted as true-false, check-the-boxes and tiered-response answers — may make or break your application. Here’s why: Each potential response has a certain point value; the more types of experience and the more advanced experience each answer represents,…

How not to respond when professional or social contacts ask you about your job: “I am a press secretary. I write news releases and develop media strategies. I am looking for a new job because my boss is a pain in the neck.” To be ready when asked about your career and your career goals, you need what I call an elevator speech — an energetic summary of your achievements, a description of your target job if you are job hunting and any relevant credentials. Most important, your speech needs to be concise — short enough to deliver during an elevator…

In recruitment, the principle “garbage in, garbage out” applies. That is, if you carelessly churn out vacancy announcements that are poorly written and do not reflect the true demands of your office’s openings, your selection process is unlikely to be efficient or produce a successful hire. By contrast, if you carefully craft a reader-friendly vacancy announcement that accurately and comprehensively conveys the demands of the opening, the selection process is likely to be easier and more successful. This principle is demonstrated by two efforts that were used to recruit a manager of a federal communications department who would supervise more than…

President Barack Obama rapidly filled many Cabinet-level political positions. Still, thousands of influential but less prominent political positions remain to be filled in the coming months and years. These positions cover many specialties and career levels, with annual salaries ranging from about $30,000 to under $200,000. Some tips if you are considering applying for a political appointment: *If you are a career civil servant, consider whether you are willing to sacrifice your unparalleled job security for the prestige, power and networking advantages — as well as the pressures and long working hours — of a political position. On average, a political…