amazonv @ 2019-04-22T15:53:00

2019-04-22T21:54:35Z

18F
Government job application notes

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EieurAPSdpCQT5jghv1RLrncELA0-AxdMZxy3alU_E4/edit

18F TTS Product Manager Application Experience

I applied as a Product Manager to https://join.tts.gsa.gov/join/product-manager/ on Feb 12 via a google form.

I promptly received confirmation from the form of the data I submitted.

Feb 19 I received email confirmation that my application was being reviewed.

Feb 19 I received by email a candidate experience survey.

March 14 I received an email that explained I had not made it past the first stage, qualification.

March 18 I was asked to talk about the application process in more detail. I considered this an odd request but wanted to find out more and accepted.

March 25, 2019

I had a meeting on March 25, 2019 talk about the process in detail, I am glad I did.

I made the following notes during the google hangout call, I hope that they will be useful to anyone applying for a government job or an 18F / TTS job in the future.

First, I got an overview of the (manual, human) process of reviewing applications.

Process

Applications are collected using google forms, as there is no approved ATS (Applicant Tracking System) for government use.
- We discussed the attack vectors this opens and potential mitigation. (If humans see these as “trusted” links and attachments, that is bad. Perhaps they should require humans to send links and attachments from unknown sites through scanners first.)
Qualification verification is done by humans who must check for exact combinations of required skills from the Qualifications of the job posting itself. If there is a combination qualification and you do it as two bullets, that does not count. All Qualifications must be done I a full time one-year minimum role. This is why putting hours in positions matters. If working 20 hours a week, and doing qualifying work, you would need to hold the role two years. Although a poor verbiage choice, candidates then pass or fail qualification. (Really they pass or fail clearly demonstrating the qualifications as asked for.)
- Feel free to copy paste from the job posting but then add/finish the statement with specifics about how.
- In some cases where time is available, they schedule calls with people who possibly should have passed stage 1 but didn’t to explain the process the government uses so in the future that candidate might match government needed specificity when applying.
After qualification stage, applications are passed to multiple SMEs who review the resume and all supporting materials that were submitted (LinkedIn, portfolio, blog, presentations, etc) and grades it against the “Evaluations” section in the job posting.
The next step is for the hiring manager to review the candidate pool. There are often many applicants for a few spots, and as a result, they will not be able to interview 100% of the pool. This is where the additional information (answering the Q / Q treated as a cover letter) you provided gives you the opportunity to differentiate yourself.
- In my specific application, the questions were
  - Why do you want to join this organization
  - Tell us why you're interested in the role you're applying for

General government resume notes based on my conversation

Government resumes, specifics specifics specifics!
- I am used to summarizing in the private sector, so really push yourself.
Explicitly include qualifications as stated
- My idea for next time, include a qualifications section at the top, and direct copy-paste the qualifications then add supporting data, then copy-paste them into the specific job position as well to make it easy and clear to get past stage qualifications.
Make sure to double check evaluation criteria and try and work them in as extras outside the resume for clarity.
- My idea for next time, since you can submit a portfolio, LinkedIn, blog post, etc - why not literally write a blog post on how you meet them all referencing specific jobs?
Do not worry about length, apparently, gov resumes can be as long as needed, keep everything.
Follow the government style guides
- https://join.tts.gsa.gov/hiring-process/#government-style-resumes
- https://join.tts.gsa.gov/resume/
- Which had me rework my resume a lot to match “key information for each position”

Qualification for this position

To qualify for this role, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is:

Experience leading interdisciplinary product teams in the research, design, development and delivery of digital products or services. This experience must include ALL of the following:
- Leading the development of multiple digital products or services, or leading the development of multiple features in large products
- Creating and managing the product vision based on user research & metrics
- Leading teams through the adoption of new tools, technologies or methodologies
Experience leading digital product or service development, from concept to delivery, within highly ambiguous or uncertain situations. This experience must include ONE of the following:
- Leading products with multiple dependencies requiring joint releases to achieve measurable and demonstrated business objectives
- Leading intrapreneurial efforts with measurable and demonstrated impact to the organization
Experience leading the development, delivery or integration of highly complex digital products or services. This experience must include ONE of the following:
- Developing new products or services for startups
- Developing products or services for legacy migrations
- Developing products or services for large integrations
- Developing products, services or features for large consumer products
Experience applying leading industry practices in the design, development and delivery of digital products or services. This experience must include ONE of the following:
- Developing digital products or services using experimentation based frameworks
- Developing digital products or services using iterative development methodologies
- Developing digital products or services using user-centered design and planning tools
- Developing digital products or services using continuous delivery methodologies

Evaluation for this position

Communication: Ability to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences to establish a shared vision and understanding of the project’s objectives and goals
Product Experience: Ability to deliver the right digital product using user-centered and agile-based methodologies
Leadership: Ability to effectively lead a cross-functional team to meet digital project/product objectives
Innovation: Ability to apply innovative tools and technologies and to help partners make strategic & tactical decisions toward innovation
18F Core Values Alignment: The ability to work with integrity, transparency and resiliency in civic minded or high impact environment

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amazonv @ 2019-04-22T15:53:00