1. WRITING COMPETENCY NARRATIVES

2. “Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals, and charge after them in an unstoppable manner.” -Les brown

3. OBJECTIVES  Write an effective resume  Write Technical Competencies

4. “Opportunities don’t often come along. So, when they do, you have to grab them.” -Audrey Hepburn

5. BEFORE STARTING YOUR RESUME  Know what you are applying for  Research the position  Review the Business Unit website  Review the Vacancy announcement  Description of Duties and Qualifications  Position description  Knowledge, Skills, Abilities  Technical Competencies

6. PREPARE YOUR RESUME  Consider a Cover Letter  Include your position title, series/grade, start and end dates of each position held  State your qualifications and experience  Be clear and concise when stating your technical expertise  Relevant to the position you are applying for

7. RESUME  Qualifications  Duties/Experience  Technical Expertise  Specialized Experience  Responsibilities  Powerful words – (accomplished, managed, developed, led, organized, resolved, coordinated)

8. USE CAUTION  Don’t be vague  Don’t be fancy  Don’t repeat yourself  Don’t use useless words or phrases  Don’t include scanned copies of experience or certificates with your application

9. MAKE MATERIALS EASY TO READ  Include all relevant information in the narrative  Proof read to ensure there are no typographical or grammatical errors  Use paragraphs to separate items  Narratives should be neat and clean  Use common words and expressions instead of bureaucratic language  Avoid acronyms (unless you spell them out in the narrative)

10. TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES  Narratives should include examples of your experiences  Demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your performance/leadership  CAR Model (Challenge, Action, Result)

11. SAMPLE NARRATIVE - ORIGINAL I have excellent inventory skills. As a tax technician, I researched IDRS and AIMS to monitor my weekly and monthly listings which resulted in minimal overage correspondence and high cycle time cases and eliminated the possibility for any barred statutes within my inventory.

12. SAMPLE NARRATIVE - REVISED Our team’s inventory consisted of 58% overage correspondence. My manager asked me to share my inventory management efficiencies with my peers as the correspondence overage in my inventory has been less than 25% for two years. I developed job aids and prepared a training session specific to sharing my processes. After my presentation, the team’s overall age was reduced from 58% to 8% in less than 2 months, contributing to the Operation achieving our 11% aged goal.

13. “HAVE I DONE THE BEST I CAN DO?”  Will the hiring manager understand what I do?  Did I omit any unique or relevant skills that would distinguish me from others?  Have I adequately described my background and skills for the job I am applying for?  Have I described accomplishments in a clear and concise manner?  Have I related my experience to the technical competencies?

14. “ READY, SET, GO”  Ask a mentor to review and provide feedback  Value and make good use of the feedback received  Make changes as appropriate  Ask for additional reviews once you make changes  Once you’re satisfied - submit your application Tips:  Narratives demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your performance/leadership through specific accomplishments with clear outcomes  Avoid a “laundry list” of activities without context, actions, impact or accomplishments

15. GET STARTED! “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” - George Eliot

16. HELPFUL LINKS Cover letter tips: http://www.jobs.irs.gov/downloads/CoverLetterTips.pdf Resume tips: http://www.jobs.irs.gov/downloads/ResumeTips.pdf IRS Competency Database: http://hco.web.irs.gov/apps/competency/ PowerPoint on resume presentation: http://hco.web.irs.gov/apps/CCRC/documents/ResumeMarch2010.ppt Position Description (PD) Database Search: http://hco.web.irs.gov/posclass/positiondesc/

18. DID WE MEET OUR OBJECTIVES?  Write an effective resume  Write Technical Competencies

19. THE END