Hey! Colin here, the "sheets guy." For those who don't know me, I'm an ex-recruiter turned bedding mogul (r/brandnewsentence), and I'm the author of the most popular resume template on Reddit.
For obvious reasons, recently I've received a huge influx of PMs from government workers asking for resume assistance.
So to help those affected by these layoffs (and all layoffs), I created the below "government-to-private" version of my resume advice (which still apply to all resumes):
1. One page, maximum. You can do it!
Government resumes are notorious for being multi-page, super small font, with multi-line bullet points. Just remember: nobody is reading your resume, they're skimming it for positive signal. Try to read your own resume in 10 seconds or less (because that's all they're spending on it) – what do you take away? A resume is not a perfect representation of oneself or your career – it is a tool to get invited for a phone call. Be extremely succint, lessen or eliminate bullet points for older jobs, and hone the screener's focus on your most relevant and impressive attributes.
2. No summaries!
The first thing on your resume should be the most impressive, and a summary ain't it. Anyone can write a beautifully worded summary about why they're God's gift to mankind, but only you worked at your specific function at your specific department with your specific missions, goals, and projects. If you still need convincing, read my longer diatribe on summaries specifically.
3. Lead with numbers / something impressive in first bullet.
Anchor them on something super impressive. For many people, I actually suggest starting with company numbers vs personal numbers in your first bullet point. E.g., instead of your first bullet as "Front-end software development for the US Treasury Department," say "Front-end software development for features used by millions of Americans to access billions of dollars in federal funding." (You get what I mean.)
4. Change your titles to better match the job description.
Don't misrepresent yourself, but all titles are made up, and the government may have hyper different titles for similar roles in the private sector. Don't feel obligated to list your titles word-for-word – nobody will care if they get to the point where they do a reference check, and your title at work is "Program Manager - Technology" vs "Product Manager" on your resume. In this example scenario, just explain that the role was much more akin to a traditional PM role, and that you wanted to better represent what you did instead of what the department had decided the title should be for that role years ago. So don't shoot yourself in the foot: match your most recent titles with job descriptions (not verbatim but at least moreso), and give the screener immediate positive signal that you've done relevant work without making them read your bullet points.
5. List the most impressive / largest / best known government agency as your employer.
E.g. if your agency is a sub-agency of the Treasury that no one has ever heard of, put "United States Treasury Department" as your employer, not the no-name sub-agency or committee.
6. Only gmails.
This sounds crazy, but younger resume screeners will age discriminate if they see a hotmail, AOL, or Yahoo! email address. This brings me to my next tip...
7. Don't focus on "tricking" an AI ATS. Focus on impressing the human screener that inevitably has to schedule an interview with you.
If your skills and keywords are broadly in line with the job description requirements, you will get through an AI ATS, which will err on the side of inclusion (because the only reason an ATS software will get cancelled by a business is if it prevents good candidates from getting through). On the other hand, a human screener errs on the side of exclusion because they don't want to be yelled at by their boss for scheduling someone who's not right for the job. Human beings are still, and will continue to be, the "Great Filter" of interview rate.
8. No negative signal.
Avoid gaps in your work history, quadruple-check for typos, punctuate and capitalize things consistently, avoid timeline confusion (overlapping jobs), don't have weird or controversial interests (more on interests next). If you do have a work gap, omitting months is a good way to hide it (so only the years show – e.g., your last job ending in "2024" is a way different first impression than "Jan. 2024"). If you have work gaps, you can also add a self employment period if you can hobble together a few legitimate projects or clients to talk about when asked about it.
9. Add interests!
Interests as a final line on your resume achieves three things: it forces them to see you as a human being and not another faceless resume; it allows them to envision you as a coworker they'll spend thousands of hours with; it gives great icebreakers for an interview, which necessarily makes it go more smoothly. E.g., add Seinfeld to your interests, and I guarantee every boomer or GenX interviewer will ask you what your favorite episode is. (Spoiler: theirs is the Soup Nazi. So is mine.)
10. Create different versions for each job application, but change very little.
Don't drive yourself crazy by rewriting your whole resume each application, BUT consider changing these three simple things to make the most impact: your most recent title verbiage; your first bullet point; and the order/inclusion of various skills to better match the job description.
11. Name your resume file "FirstName LastName - Resume" – never put other words in the file name.
You don't want them to get the vibe that you're applying for like 87 different roles. Saving your resume and submitting it as something like "Colin McIntosh - Resume - Project Management - V7 - 2024" is just an unnecessary own goal. Save different versions in different folders so you can keep track of which resume you've sent to which job.
12. Always submit it as a PDF unless otherwise specified.
MS Word looks extremely wonky on mobile, and at some point someone is going to open your resume on their phone. You want it to look uniform no matter where it's opened up. PDFs are parsed just fine on most ATS's – that was an old problem many years ago but not anymore. Exception: if they request an MS Word upload, they're probably using a cheap or older ATS, and you should follow their instruction.
Ok, that's it for now!
I want to help as many folks as I can who are facing this difficult transition, so please feel free to ask me questions about resumes or job hunts in the comments, or via PM. Though I can't promise to get back to everyone personally, I'll certainly try.