No matter how many resumes you've prepared during the course of your career, your Senior Executive Service (SES) resume will be the trickiest--but perhaps the most important. This resume is unlike any other because SES jobs are some of the most elite and competitive in the country. Your resume must combine the outstanding qualifications needed to secure an executive job with the unique qualifications needed to obtain a government job. Those doing the hiring are looking for proven leaders who can interact successfully with the loftiest members of the federal government. And your first step into that world is a great resume.
- Forget what you learned in college. About resumes, that is. You were probably advised to keep bullet points to one or two lines and to limit your resume to one page in length (more on that below). But you need to remember that you're in line for an executive position at the federal level, so the rules that apply to an entry-level accountant don't apply to you. You've probably been out of college for more decades than you care to think about, so your "education" section should be near the end. Your resume needs to be focused on the hard-core, get-it-done examples that will win you this next lucrative gig. And if you use bullet points, make them as long as necessary to adequately illustrate the people, places, and circumstances that have made up your career and prepared you for this next challenge.
- Go long. It's normal--even expected--that your SES resume will be three pages long. Being qualified for an SES position means that you will have extensive experience, and your resume needs to outline that experience. That takes up some space! But if you're looking at a resume that's more than four pages, you need to consider a different way to get your points across. If you simply can't condense any copy without losing impact, attach a separate list of your projects after your resume. A long resume is fine--a document that rivals War and Peace is not....
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Author: Jason Kay