If you're among the unemployed, under-employed or those needing a  job with better benefits, Troutman suggests applying to America's largest employer—the US government. In addition to Presidential Appointments, 17,000 openings are now on USAJOBS.gov with more on the way under the upcoming Biden Administration.

It's tough out there for jobseekers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10.7 million Americans were unemployed in November, 4.9 million higher than in February. Meanwhile headlines are announcing Biden appointments to key roles in his administration. Kathryn Troutman, President of the Resume Place, Inc., says there will be a lot of federal hiring once the Presidential Appointments are in place.

"If you're out of work, why not consider the US government as an employer?" says Troutman, a leading federal jobs expert. "Right now, there are many COVID-19 jobs and other positions available on USAJobs, the federal hiring website. With Biden's new agendas and programs, hiring will really pick up next year."

Meanwhile it will take time to hire the 4,000 Presidential Appointees. If you're interested in these mostly executive level jobs, Troutman recommends studying the resume submission page on the BuildBackBetter.org site. Look at the policy areas, functional areas, and agency names. See if something inspires you to be a part of the new administration. Know that you won't find any specific job titles, salaries, job duties or qualifications there. You can also scan through the Plum Book, which lists the 2016 Presidential Appointment openings. (See links below.)

For regular fed jobs, Troutman says to look for the following on USAJobs:

1. COVID-19 Jobs: USAJobs has a separate area which lists these openings. On a recent day there were 467 COVID-19 announcements, many of them medical such as nurses, physicians, lab technicians and medical assistants. All were open to the public.
2. Senior Executive Service: Troutman says executive positions beyond President Appointments are opening up due to retirements of senior staff not taking to the virtual workplace practices. Learn how to best apply for the Senior Executive Service by reading Troutman's guide, The New SES Application, 2^nd Edition.
3. Direct Hire Positions: These are specialty openings where someone needs to be hired quickly, so the process is faster than the usual with the feds. Positions have included social workers, nurses, IT, cyber security specialists, intel and public health. In addition to USAJobs, Direct Hire Positions can also be found through virtual job fairs offered by such websites as ClearanceJobs.com (for security-clearance cleared professionals), JobZoneOnline.com (for military veterans), CorporateGrey.com (for military veterans) and BestHireCareerFairs.com.

Other in-demand positions on USA-Jobs include financial openings with the Small Business Administration (managing CARES Act funds), IT (changing federal systems) and cyber security (working on securing federal data).

You'll need a federal-style resume to apply to Uncle Sam, which is 5-pages in length to accommodate the extra info the feds require. The Resume Builder tool on USAJobs will prompt you to fill in the unique fields for each job, including month/year, street address, hours per week and more. You can stay on top of openings in your professional area of interest and region by creating a USAJobs account and signing up for alerts to be delivered to your email.

For further insights into your federal application, consider a one-hour consult with the Resume Place regarding your qualifications, positions sought, and possible agencies. Troutman's Federal Resume Guidebook, 7th Ed. can also help you craft and fine-tune your resume.

You can learn more about the 2021 federal job market during Troutman's interview by host Mike Causey on his "Your Turn" radio show Wednesday, December 16, at 10 AM EST on Federal News Radio.  Listen to the recording here: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/mike-causey-federal-report/2020/12/is-2021-the-year-of-the-fed/

A preview: "With a new president coming with his programs, I think it's going to be really busy around March or April of 2021," Troutman says. "But there are still a lot of jobs now."

Kathryn Troutman is the Founder and President of Resume Place, Inc., a Federal Career Consulting, Training, Publishing business located in Catonsville, MD. Her firm specializes in writing and designing professional federal resumes, as well as consulting, coaching and education on the federal hiring process. She is also the author of many best-selling federal career books, including Federal Resume Guidebook, 7th Ed. and The New SES Application, 2nd Ed.

The official hiring website of the United States government

USAJobs.gov

Presidential Appointee Resumes and Cover Letters are accepted here:

https://buildbackbetter.com/join-us/

Plum Book Link offered here:

https://presidentialtransition.org/readytoserve/exploring-job-opportunities/