Ashley Harris Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist aharris@esd.wa.gov Applying for State Jobs: Tips regarding the application process, your resume/cover letter and interviewing Ashley Harris Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist aharris@esd.wa.gov

Before you Apply Think about what you want to do next. How does your past experience fit in with your goals and what are some of the gaps? Once gaps are identified, what next steps should you take to get you to that dream job? Do you have mentors in that field of work? Have you done any informational interviews to learn more about that career field?

Reading the Job Announcement As you review the job announcement, take a careful look at the Required Qualifications for the position. In most cases, in order for you to be considered for a position, you MUST meet or exceed the required qualifications. Your application, attachments and supplemental question responses will all be reviewed manually. If there’s no evidence that you meet or exceed the required qualifications, you will likely be screened out.

Reading the Job Announcement (Cont.) If you’re not sure whether you’ll meet the requirements or not, feel free to call the person listed at the bottom of the job posting before you apply.

Reading the Job Announcement (Duties) Once you’ve determined that you meet all of the required qualifications, spend some time reviewing the Duties for the position. Highlight any of the duties that you’ve had experience with in the past.

Tailoring your Resume Your resume should be tailored to each position you are applying for. Take a look at all of the areas you have highlighted on the duties section of the job posting. If you have a lot of experience highlighted, you may be a competitive candidate. Use the duties you’ve highlighted and the required qualifications to tailor your resume for the position. For example: if the required qualifications are two years of experience using spreadsheets, make sure your resume shows two years of experience using spreadsheets. Do not assume! Create a correlation between the position being recruited for and the qualifications and experience you possess. Include special knowledge that you possess (Example: Comprehensive knowledge of Washington State laws and regulations.) Be sure you back up your work experience in your application and cover letter. All of your materials will be reviewed to get the full picture of your work history.

Tailoring your Resume (Cont.) Remember that more does not necessarily mean better. Only include qualifications and experiences that are useful and specific to the position you’re applying for. You’ll want to avoid drowning out your specific experience with non-essential information. You could include a Summary of Qualifications section at the top of your resume that highlights any specific skills you possess. (Examples: typing 40 words per minute or three years of experience performing data entry).

How Should my Resume be Formatted? There are many formats of resumes and it can be quite subjective. Again, it is most important to tailor your resume for the position you’re applying for. Chronological order makes it easier for an employer to clearly follow your work history. Include your Job Title and dates of employment for each position. Use concise statements to explain the duties of that position (bulleted format is easy to read). Your resume should include your first and last name and contact information (phone, email, address). Include any education, certification or licenses. Choose a layout and font that emphasizes readability.

What is the Purpose of a Cover Letter/Letter of Interest? Cover Letters are used by employers to assess: Writing skills of applicants (while staying concise). Applicants ability to convey ideas in a logical and coherent manner. Applicants ability to follow directions. Specific qualifications or accomplishments the applicants possess and how it relates to the position they’re applying for. One size fits all letters are easily detectable and show a lack of interest and motivation. Many hiring managers say the cover letter is as important, or sometimes even more important than the resume itself.

What should I Write about in my Cover Letter? The cover letter gives you the opportunity to describe why you’re interested in the position, what your passions and goals are to grow in this career field and what drew you to applying in the first place. Address the required and desired qualifications and how you meet them. Make sure your resume supports these claims. Talk about your work history and how it relates to the duties and qualifications listed in the announcement. Address any skills, accomplishments, special projects or value you could add to the organization you’re applying for. If possible, address the hiring manager in your letter, or the recruiter. Proof read your letter and have someone else review it if possible. Typos and grammatical errors lead hiring managers to believe you lack attention to detail.

What Should be Included in my Application Materials? The Supplemental Information section will tell you what is required. Employers may screen out candidates that do not follow application instructions. This includes providing all of the requested materials. Be sure to pay close attention to the application instructions. Often times following directions will be the first screening method an employer will use.

Supplemental Questions The supplemental questions are commonly written around the required and desired qualifications. Pay close attention to how you respond to these questions as they are typically used to screen applicants for required and desired qualifications. For supplemental questions that require a text response, you may want to copy the question and paste it into a Word document before applying. That way you can take your time with responding to the question and check for any spelling errors. Once you’re ready to apply, simply copy and paste what you’ve written into your application.

Preparing for the Interview If you are being called in for an interview, that usually means your application was done well and you have a strong resume and cover letter. Now the agency wants to learn more about you and assess if you’d be a good fit for their team. If you do not make it to the interview phase, you may want to follow up with the agency to see where you were screened out for future reference. Refer back to the job posting for the position so you can remind yourself what the duties were as well as the mission and values of the agency. Ask if you can obtain a copy of the Position Description and/or the Organizational Chart from the agency. This will give you more in-depth information regarding the duties of the position and who you will be reporting to within the agency. Visit the agency’s website and become familiar with the services they provide. What are their goals for the year; details regarding their vision for the year can typically be found in their Strategic Plan. Scope out the location of the agency and any parking restrictions.

Preparing for the Interview (Cont) Review common interview questions online, or ask people you know for sample questions. Many agencies are using “Performance Based” interview questions that are designed to learn more about your past behaviors in specific work situations. How you have behaved in certain situations in the past will give them clues on how you’ll behave in those same situations when working for them in the future. Practice responding to the questions with a friend or writing out detailed responses to each question. Write down a few specific events from your work history (major career accomplishments, projects that you were challenged by, mistakes you have made and what you learned from them, etc.) The interview is a two-way street. Have a few sample questions ready for the interview panel as well. At the end of most interviews, the panel will ask if you have any questions for them. This is your opportunity to learn more about the specifics of the job, what challenges you might face in this new role, what some of the top priorities will be, the agency culture, or expand on anything you may have forgotten to cover during the interview.

Interview Tips On the day of your interview, give yourself plenty of time to find the agency, deal with parking and avoid being stuck in traffic. You’ll want to feel prepared, not rushed on the day of your interview. Your interview starts the moment you arrive. When checking in with the front desk, treat staff with professionalism. Typically, state agencies will conduct both a first and a second round interview. For your first round, it will usually consist of an interview panel of 3 to 5 people. If possible, as you enter the room, ensure you shake the hands of each panel member. Some agencies will provide you with a copy of the interview questions on the table. If they don’t, you may want to jot down notes as the question is being asked to ensure you fully understand the question. Panel members will usually take turns asking you the interview questions. Make eye contact with everyone on the panel when responding, not just to the person that asked the question. Use the STAR technique to stay on task when responding to questions. Describe the Situation/Task that you needed to accomplish, the Action you took, and the Results that you achieved.

After the Interview If you progress to a second round interview, follow the same tips as the first round interview. Reference and/or background checks are usually conducted on second round applicants. Let your references know they may be contacted. Provide them with the name of the agency you interviewed with and the type of position it is. If you would like, feel free to send a thank you email to the interview panel or the HR department. If you are not selected for the position, ask for feedback so that you can identify areas of improvement for future interviews.