How can I decide which work or educational experiences are relevant to the position I am applying for? Should I over-include, when in doubt, or exclude from my resume?

If the position has an education requirement or you are qualifying on the basis of education, you need to list your education history including the type of degree and your major of study. If the position requires a certain number of credit hours, you are strongly encouraged to list the relevant courses in your resume. Unless specified in the announcement, ATF typically does not require transcripts at the time of application, but you are encouraged to provide unofficial copies as it can help with your determination.

Your resume must thoroughly describe how your skills and experiences align to the criteria defined in the qualifications section of the job announcement and support your responses to the assessment questionnaire. Over including is generally not an issue but elaborating on irrelevant experience may distract reviewers and hurt your chances. Avoid adding information just to make your resume longer. Our reviewers at ATF are very experienced. Adding filler or buzz words without providing any context (who, where, what, when, why and how) will not help your chances. Our reviewers are trained to not consider this type of experience qualifying.

Do not include a photograph or video of yourself, or any sensitive information (age, date of birth, marital status, protected health information, religious affiliation, social security number, etc.) on your resume or cover letter or anywhere in your application package. We will not access web pages linked on your resume or cover letter to determine your qualifications. If you have information on a web page you want us to review, copy and paste it into a cover letter and submit it with your application.

Please do not submit any other supplementary documentation that is not requested of you in the announcement. To protect your personal information, we will only send your resume and cover letter to the selecting official or hiring manager.

Last Reviewed February 29, 2024