FEMA Fact Sheet: Resume Writing Tips

September 2023 1

FEMA Resume Writing Tips

An effective federal resume is a critical part of your application package to a FEMA position. 

This guide will help you to prepare your resume to highlight your talents, skills, and 

examples of your past work accomplishments. 

Getting Started

A federal resume typically requires more documented details than private-sector resumes. It’s a good idea to think 

of your resume (application) as a “paper interview” that gives hiring managers a detailed vision of your talents, skills, 

and concrete examples of your past work and accomplishments. 

When applying to positions, each job opportunity announcement provides critical information regarding the position 

being filled. Review the summary, duties, and qualifications section to determine if the position is a right fit for you. 

As you begin to develop your resume, reflect on what experience you have and how it meets the requirements.

Resume Content

To ensure essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If 

you choose to use your own resume, it must contain the following information: 

1. Contact Information – Including your full name and up-to-date contact information. 

2. Details of your work history, organized by experience, position, or FEMA deployment, including:

▪ Job title

▪ Name of employer

▪ Start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY).

▪ Hours worked per week (part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience).

▪ Federal experience/positions must also include the occupational series, grade level, and dates in which you 

held each grade level.

▪ Detailed description of duties performed, accomplishments, and related skills.

Describing your Experience

▪ In your own words, use bullet points to document your relevant experience. Provide enough detail to show 

how you meet the qualifications listed for the position. We can’t assume anything about your experience. 

Give enough background/information to describe the complexity and scope of your work. 
FEMA Fact Sheet: Resume Writing Tips

Learn more at fema.gov September 2023 2

▪ Provide organizational context to your role – did you work on your own? As a part of a team? As a supervisor? 

Did you assist with functions? Did you manage supervisors? 

▪ Go beyond listing your job responsibilities by using accomplishments to highlight the results of your work 

experience. Use quantifiable (measurable) information whenever possible, such as numbers, percentages, 

dollars, or other data points to illustrate success. 

▪ Utilize the ‘STAR’ Method when writing your accomplishments. 

Situation: define the problem or situation

Task: define your objective or task

Action: describe the steps you took to achieve your objective

Result: measure your effectiveness, impact, and results

▪ Relate your experience and accomplishments back to the requirements for the position you’re applying to. 

Expand on your experience and accomplishments that clearly demonstrate how you have performed the 

specialized experience requirements for the position. 

▪ When considering how far back to go with your work history, go as far back as you need to make your 

experience applicable. 

Resume Writing Tips: 

▪ Organize Information. Information within the summary/background section cannot be used as qualifying 

experience, unless accompanied by dates of employment. Use bullet points to provide important workrelated details within your work experience for each position, so you receive the appropriate credit based on 

the minimum experience requirements.

▪ Tailor your resume. Include information relevant to the specific position you are applying to. Education and 

work experience that is indirectly related can be excluded if the resume begins to grow too long. Many 

federal postings have resume page limits. Check the posting you’re applying to for any page-limit 

restrictions. 

▪ Start bullets with an action verb. Don’t use personal programs (I, my, me) to begin your descriptions. Instead 

use accomplishment-oriented phrases that can set you apart from the competition. 

▪ Use your own words. Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment 

questionnaire from the announcement into your resume. Copied statements will not be considered a 

demonstration of your qualifications for the position.

▪ Ensure correct grammar and no spelling errors. Your resume is your first impression – make it a good one!

▪ Be honest, not modest. Don’t make things up or inflate your accomplishments, level of responsibilities or 

skills. Ensure that you are able to speak to all of the details on your resume, if asked during an interview. 

▪ Don’t overshare. Do not include any photos, personally identifying information (PII), including birthday and 

social security numbers, or personal information like marital status, age, health information, etc. 

▪ Spell out Acronyms. 
FEMA Fact Sheet: Resume Writing Tips

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Documenting Intermittent FEMA Experience 

There are several ways of effectively communicating your intermittent experience as a FEMA Reservist. At a 

minimum, you should include your deployment title, dates of deployment (from mm/dd/yy to mm/dd/yy), and the 

duties you performed. Here are two examples:

Example 1:

This format is useful when your deployment duties vary based upon the deployment.

Experience

Deployment Title | FEMA | Dates of Deployment – MM/DD/YY – MM/DD/YY

▪ List Major Experience/Accomplishments. This is the information we will use to qualify you against the 

requirements for the position.

Deployment Title | FEMA | Dates of Deployment – MM/DD/YY – MM/DD/YY

▪ List Major Experience/Accomplishments. This is the information we will use to qualify you against the 

requirements for the position.

Example 2:

This format is useful when your deployment duties are the same/similar at every deployment. 

Experience

Deployment Title | FEMA 

Deployments in this title include: 

DR- XXXX – Dates of Deployment - MM/DD/YY – MM/DD/YY 

DR- XXXX – Dates of Deployment - MM/DD/YY – MM/DD/YY 

DR- XXXX – Dates of Deployment - MM/DD/YY – MM/DD/YY 

Experience at deployments include: 

▪ List Major Experience/Accomplishments. This is the information we will use to qualify you against the 

requirements for the position. 
FEMA Fact Sheet: Resume Writing Tips

September 2023 4

Examples of action verbs that can be used in developing resumes: 

Management 

Skills

Communication 

Skills

Research 

Skills

Technical 

Skills

Teaching Skills Financial Skills Creative 

Skills

Clerical Skills Others 

Administered

Analyzed

Assigned

Attained

Consolidated

Coordinated

Developed

Directed

Evaluated

Executed

Improved

Increased

Organized

Oversaw

Planned

Produced

Recommended

Reviewed

Scheduled

Strengthened

Supervised

Addressed

Arranged

Authored

Collaborated

Corresponded

Developed

Drafted

Edited

Formulated

Influenced

Interpreted

Lectured

Moderated

Negotiated

Persuaded

Promoted

Publicized 

Reconciled

Recruited

Spoke 

Translated

Wrote

Clarified

Collected

Critiqued

Diagnosed

Evaluated

Examined

Identified

Inspected

Interpreted

Interviewed

Investigated

Organized

Reviewed

Summarized

Surveyed

Assembled

Built

Calculated

Computed

Designed

Devised

Engineered

Fabricated

Maintained

Operated

Overhauled

Programmed

Remodeled

Repaired

Solved

Upgraded

Adapted

Advised

Clarified

Coached

Communicated

Coordinated

Developed

Enabled 

Encouraged

Evaluated

Explained

Facilitated

Guided

Informed

Instructed

Persuaded

Set goals

Stimulated

Trained

Administered

Allocated

Analyzed

Appraised

Audited

Balanced

Budgeted

Calculated

Computed

Developed

Forecasted

Managed

Marketed

Planned

Projected

Researched

Acted

Created

Customized

Designed

Developed

Directed

Established

Fashioned

Founded

Illustrated

Initiated

Instituted

Integrated

Introduced

Originated

Performed

Planned

Revitalized 

Shaped

Approved

Arranged

Catalogued

Classified

Collected

Compiled

Executed

Generated

Implemented

Inspected

Monitored

Operated

Organized

Prepared

Processed

Purchased

Recorded

Screened

Specified

Tabulated

Validated

Achieved

Expanded

Improved

Pioneered

Reduced

Resolved

Restored

Transformed

Assessed

Assisted

Clarified

Coached

Counseled

Demonstrated

Diagnosed

Educated

Facilitated

Familiarized 

Guided

Motivated

Represented