careermatters.federaltimes.comCareer Matters — By Lily Whiteman

Management Acquisition IT & Networks Cyber Federal Oversight GovCon Your Career Thought Leadership Trending Introducing yourself with a perfect pitch Craft a résumé that has wow power 10 tips to boost your career Weighing pros and cons of a job offer Tips for negotiating federal salaries Strategies for increasing salary Cover letters that open doors Example cover letter with Your Needs/My Qualifications” table Introduce new employees with care More tips on checking references of job applicants Navigate Introducing yourself with a perfect pitch 0 By on August 28, 2017 Hiring You’ve probably been asked what you do for a living and where you work innumerable times during job interviews, meetings, varied professional events and social gatherings. But have you ever carefully prepared compelling answers? If not, consider doing so, because, no matter what your job is or who you discuss it with, describing your work in zesty, impressive terms may help you open professional and social doors, or at least spark interesting conversations. Read More Craft a résumé that has wow power 0 By on May 25, 2017 Hiring Getting the job is about getting noticed. Here are nine tips to make your résumé stand out: Read More 10 tips to boost your career 0 By on March 24, 2017 On The Job Here are 10 experience-based tips to help speed your career ascent: 1. Serve on hiring panels. A great way to learn how to impress hiring managers is to serve as a hiring manager yourself. You might be able to volunteer to help your supervisor screen applications and interview applicants. Read More Weighing pros and cons of a job offer 0 By on December 5, 2016 Hiring If you’re aching to leave your current job, you might be tempted to lunge at any seemingly reasonable job offer. But if you accept an offer without fully understanding its pros and cons, you might only end up jumping from the fire to the frying pan. Some questions to help you identify the advantages and disadvantages of a job offer: Do you really understand the opening? Many vacancy announcements for federal openings are written in vaguely generic terms that fail to specifically and realistically define the responsibilities of openings. And the demands and challenges of openings aren’t necessarily covered in… Read More Tips for negotiating federal salaries 0 By on November 21, 2016 Pay & Benefits One of the best kept secrets about federal careers is that salaries for many federal jobs are negotiable. Even a modest salary increase may exceed tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of a career. Read More Strategies for increasing salary 0 By on October 10, 2016 Pay & Benefits Have an itch to switch to a new job? If so, here is some information about federal salaries that may help you inform your move: Read More Cover letters that open doors 0 By on July 13, 2016 Hiring The next time you prepare a job application, don’t hastily dash off a generic, sloppy cover letter in the last minute like most of your competitors will. Instead, take the time and trouble to tailor a concise, error-free cover letter to your target job. Why? Because a great cover letter will probably make a great first impression to hiring managers and help you land an interview. One way to craft an A-plus cover letter is to include in it a fast-read table that proves that you meet the requirements of your target job. Here’s how to do so: Identify the… Read More Example cover letter with Your Needs/My Qualifications” table 0 By on July 13, 2016 Hiring 1234 Yellow Brick Road City, State Zip Code June 4, 2016 Mr. John Doe Personnel Specialist U.S. Mint 801 9th Street NW Washington DC 20220 Dear Mr. Doe: Subject: Marketing Manager Position (HR-503-78) As a Marketing Specialist at ABC Marketing Corps since, 2012, I have been tracking the U.S. Mint’s record-breaking sales and marketing successes. I would welcome the opportunity to contribute to the Mint’s innovative marketing strategies. YOUR NEEDS MY QUALIFICATIONS Knowledge of business principles Seven years of experience as Marketing Specialist at ABC Marketing Corps managing sales accounts valued at $8.45 million annually, and a B.A. in Business… Read More Introduce new employees with care 0 By on June 20, 2016 Hiring If you’ve ever started a new job where you knew no one, you may have felt like a stranger in a strange land for some time. But when you hire new employees, you can probably transform them from strangers to integrated productive members of your team relatively quickly if you introduce them to their jobs thoughtfully and carefully. During the weeks before your new employee’s start date, make a concerted effort to inventory procedures, terms, acronyms, the nuances of key relationships with other organizations and lessons learned that you now rely on but would be helpful for your newcomer to… Read More More tips on checking references of job applicants 0 By on May 9, 2016 Hiring My April 18 column provided tips on checking references. Some more: Read More 1 2 3 … 14 Next About the Author Lily Whiteman is a federal communications expert and author of How to Land a Top-paying Federal Job,” and a trainer of career advancement skills and communication skills. Her website is IGotTheJob.net . Ask your career questions by email to lwhiteman@federaltimes.com or by Twitter to @Lilymwhiteman . Search Career Matters Search for: SUBMIT A QUESTION First, please review previous Q&As to see if your question already has been answered. If you cannot find the answer, submit your question to our Careers expert at fedexperts@federaltimes.com PLEASE NOTE! Do not submit ANY questions via the Comments form. Questions submitted via the Comments form will NOT be answered! IF YOUR QUESTION IS NOT ANSWERED Federal Times’ experts answer as many readers’ questions as possible but, due to the volume of e-mail, they cannot answer every question submitted. You’ll have the best chance of getting an answer to your question if you follow these steps: • Ask questions that have not previously been answered. Before submitting a question, review the Q&As already on the site. • Ask questions that fall within each expert’s scope of expertise. 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