Intelligence Community
Résumé Writing
IC Familiarization Series
Great Plains National Security Education Consortium
August, 2012
This briefing is
UNCLASSIFIED
Audience
Purpose
Theme
Substance
Style
Perfection
Audience
Job Fair
Computer
Human Resources
Hiring Manager
Purpose
Survive computer filter
Grab attention for follow up
Snag an interview
The Hiring Manager
• Put yourself in her position:
– Very busy – lots of urgent and important substantive
demands (they are evaluated on substance; less on
admin)
– Hiring is important, but not urgent
 Résumés stack up in a big pile
– Most résumés / applications start looking the same painful
• Even a busy manager will read an engaging
résumé / application
– Long résumés OK – if good
– It solves her problem – gets an interview scheduled
– Managers often “satisfice” – not optimize
Theme
• Essentially, your objective statement
• Why is this so important?
– There are lots of jobs – which office should they send it to?
– What are you passionate about?
– Are your desires commensurate with your skills?
• Your objective statement should demonstrate your
understanding of the agency and job
• Your FEAR: That you will limit your options
– If you are focused, they may pass on you
– If you are unfocused, they probably will pass on you
– Hedge with multiple options – if your résumé supports them
• Be clever
Needs Help
“Complete undergraduate education at Creighton University and then to
advance either to graduate school to receive further education or, if
offered employment within the intelligence community, begin working
after completing undergrad as an analyst.”
“Obtain a position in the Intelligence Community that will provide a
foundation of knowledge, training and necessary skill sets for a career
in Intelligence.”
“Obtain an intelligence position that can benefit from my education,
professional and research experience”
Getting Better
“Seeking a position that will incorporate my legal and financial
analytical skills, as well as my foreign language ability in order to help
provide safety and security to our nation.”
“Obtain a career as a Counterterrorism Analyst within the
Department of Homeland Security.”
“Obtain an intelligence analyst position working on issues related to
East Asia, particularly China.”
“Obtain a position within the Intelligence Community using my
corporate experience and diverse life experiences in support of field
operations domestically and internationally.”
Real Examples from IC
• Don’t tell the IC your objective is:
 “To attend law school”
 “Formulate policy”
 “Lead sales teams”
 “A post in the State Department”
 A position with a Fortune 500 company…”
 A position with the “National Security
Administration”
Substance
• Supports the objective statement with data
• Show, don’t tell
– Don’t say “I’m a leader”; prove it with examples
• Demonstrate:
–
–
–
–
Passion
Ambition
Intellectual capability
Achievement
–
–
–
–
Focus
Experience
Character
Skills
• Never brag, spin, or embellish
– Adjectives, particularly superlatives, are your
enemy
• Honesty
– It goes without saying, but it must be said
Demonstrate:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
You understand the job
You have the skills
You are a team player
You are a leader
You have initiative
You are curious and have diverse interests
Do not demonstrate overt political bias
– but political affiliation is OK
Find examples of these factors in your life and get
them on the résumé. If you don’t have any, go get
them.
Highlight:
• Any case studies done
• Research experience and skills
• Quantitative skills
– Modeling and simulation
– Statistics and regression
– Applied math
• Ability to organize, manipulate, and mine
large amounts of data
Find examples of these factors in your life and get
them on the résumé. If you don’t have any, go get
them.
“A summer spent in a non-mission relevant job
is a wasted opportunity. There is always some
other kid who did an unpaid internship in DC.”
Organization Depends on the Job
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•
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•
•
Operations
Objective
Education
Languages
Travel
Leadership &
Service
Experience
Research
Awards
•
•
•
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Analysis
Objective
Education
Research
Languages
Travel
Leadership &
Service
Experience
Awards
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Support
Objective
Education
Experience
Leadership &
Service
Travel
Languages
Research
Awards
But organize in whatever way makes sense
The Numbers Game
Thousands of
Applications
HR whittles down to
reasonable number
~ 120 Applications to
Hiring Manager
~ 10 Interviews
3 Conditional Offers
of Employment
1 Hire
Process
Audience
Purpose
Theme
Substance
Thousands of
Applications
Computer
Survive
Filter
N/A
Agency/Job
Key Words
HR whittles down to
reasonable number
HR
Professional
Get routed to
Relevant office
Objective
Office-Specific
Interests and Skills
~ 120 Applications to
Hiring Manager
Technical
Hiring Manager
Snag
Interview
Résumé supports
objective
Education
Skills
Experience
Character
~ 10 Interviews
Technical
Hiring Manager
Successful
Interview
I will fit in
Be yourself
3 Conditional Offers
of Employment
1 Hire
Style
•
•
•
•
•
Bullets v. narrative
Formatting
Font and typeface choices
Passive v. active voice
Don’t:
– Use Word templates
– Use pictures
– Display your sense of humor
Style – email address
• Your email makes an
immediate
impression on the
reader
• Make your name at
least part of your
email address
• More examples from IC:
 alwaysderelict@...
 sigmaman@...
 realandpoetic@...
 bootylicious@...
 electronball@...
 ajdsssoccerman@...
 skywalker753…
 dancingchick86@...
 cereberus346@...
 crazyclown112000@...
Length and Style
• Job Fair
– One page and bullets
• Hiring Manager
– ≤ 3 pages
– Narrative and bullets
• Application Validation (e.g., USAJobs)
– Any length
– Either narrative or bullets or both
Perfection
• The document must be perfect
– Your reviewers write perfect documents for a living
– They edit menus and The New Yorker for sport
• Spelling, grammar, formatting
– One error – survivable (except grammar – major
doubts)
– Two – serious doubts
– Three – forgetaboutit
• Read it backwards
• Read it out loud
• Have someone else – who’s good – read it
Random Notes
• This should take a long time – several hours
• Ask of every word: Is this word necessary? Is
there a better word? Am I sure I know what
this word actually means?
• Never say “References by Request”
• Dare to write well; differently
– Paint an engaging picture of yourself without
being cute or dorky
– Be the Apple of the IC