Federal career & résumé guidance, written by the people who wrote the book.
Fifty years of federal résumés. Now for every career move.
Fifty years inside the federal hiring system taught us how a résumé wins. That expertise now works across the whole field, from the first federal job to the senior executive panel, and out into the private market.
The federal résumé rules changed in 2026.
The 2026 guidance rewrites how a federal application is supposed to read. We have tracked every OPM format era since 1973, so when a rule moves we already know what it means for your page.
The two-page federal résumé
Agencies are moving off the old five-page outline to a tight two-page format. Every accomplishment now has to earn its line. We have written to this length since the day it was announced.
Federal essay résumés
Some announcements now ask for a short narrative in place of a duties list. It reads like a story and scores like a qualification. Most applicants have never written one. We have.
Plain-language applications
The new guidance pushes for skills-based, plain-language packages over jargon and acronyms. A clearer page that a human and an ATS both read the same way.
A certified writer writes your résumé, start to finish.
- 01Share
Hand us what you have
Drop your current résumé up top, or come as you are. We read your roles, dates, series and grade. No blank form to fight.
- 02Strategize
A certified writer reads it against a real posting
One hour with a consultant who measures your history against the announcement and names exactly what wins the referral.
- 03Delivered
We write your federal-format draft
You get a finished, OPM-correct résumé written to the current two-page format, not a template, not a wizard. Written for you.
The books the field still trains on.
Jobseeker’s Guide, 10th Ed.
Ten Steps to a Federal Job® — the methodology agencies still train on, for military and spouses.
From$21.95
Federal Resume Guidebook, 8th Ed.
The book on the two-page federal résumé. Keyword sets, accomplishment stories, real before-and-afters.
From$21.95
The Stars Are Lined Up for Military Spouses®
The federal job search for active-duty spouses: the four hiring paths and how to win on each.
From$15.95
Transitioning Your Federal Résumé
Moving between federal and private industry: how to convert the record so the other market reads it.
From$29.95Get certified to train others.
Since 2002 we have certified career counselors, workforce staff, and HR teams to teach federal résumé writing and the federal job search. A three-day program, train-the-trainer, with the books, the agenda, and the credential to run it yourself.
3-day certification · curriculum + license includedCertified Federal Job Search Trainer
For workforce, employment, and transition counselors who teach the federal job search.
Certified Federal Résumé Coach
For coaches and HR staff who write and review the federal résumé one-on-one.
In their words.
Kathryn Troutman, the owner of The Resume Place, literally wrote the book on federal resume writing. Her personalized feedback and coaching has been absolutely invaluable in helping me receive more than a half-dozen federal job offers (and still counting). Particularly in a few instances when I feel I’ve hit a wall, Kathryn always seems to know what I’m doing wrong and how to fix my mistake.
We discussed and reworked my résumé, also developing a suitable cover letter. I sent it out to four potential employers, and I was amazed to receive an outstanding offer the next day. True story, and I am grateful to Resume Place for the exceptional result.
Rita dedicated herself to understanding my concerns with my old resume. In under a week, she took my federal employment history with its disparate collection of duties and accomplishments and helped me craft an easy-to-read professional resume.
Before a key agency Senior Executive Service interview, Kathryn efficiently designed an interview simulation, application, and post-op review. Her no-nonsense guidance provided lifelong tips on the “Last 5 Percent” interview elements crucial to placement success. I could tell the positive difference during the extensive agency interview that followed.