Joe's Story

Joe served as a Lieutenant in the Navy. When he decided to pursue federal civil service, he went at it hard. He built eighteen resumes on Best Military Resume between January and June, fifteen of them federal, each one tailored to a specific announcement.

Then he did the one thing most applicants skip. He made his federal resume searchable on USAJobs.

He posted that resume in March 2026. He never applied to the job he ended up taking. In June, hiring officials at a federal agency found it and contacted him directly about an opening in his technical field. By his own count it was roughly three months from putting the resume up to getting that call.

The offer came in at the upper tier of the ZP-4 pay band, comparable to the GS-14 level.

What stuck with Joe was what one of the hiring officials told him afterward. They had reviewed his resume, and they selected him based on it.

His advice to other veterans chasing federal work is to take federal hiring and USAJobs training before you get out, and to take it more than once. Of everything he has sat through, he rates the Veteran and Military Spouse Talent Engagement Program through the VA as the best.