Career Advice

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Last updated August 26, 2026

How to Write a Resume for a Government Job

TL;DR: Government applications, especially federal ones, follow much more detailed and specific formatting conventions than private-sector resumes.

Expect much greater length and detail

Federal resumes in particular often run 3-5 pages, with detailed duty descriptions tied to specific GS-level requirements.

Match language to the job announcement precisely

Government hiring systems frequently score applications against exact keyword matches from the posting — precision matters even more here than in private-sector ATS systems.

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