Military Resume Writers - Military Resumes 101 - What are Online Application Formats?

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What are Online Application Formats?

Each online application format has different requirements for resume length, number of jobs allowed to be described and number of characters allowed. In addition, although not described in depth here, many of the formats have differences in how dates are reported for employment - some require the actual date of the month you started work, not only the month and year.

Some of the most common online formats include:

ARMY RESUMIX
The Army Resumix format allows 12,000 characters to describe your work experience, with no limit on the number of positions you can list. In addition, for this format there are additional fields for your education, training, licenses, certifications, skills, awards and other information. You must include answers to all KSAs in the resume in this format. You can only have one Army Resumix on file for ALL applications you make for Army positions. This can be limiting, depending on your background and achievements. This format is used for most, but not all Army postings.

NAVY RESUMIX The Navy Resumix format allows up to 6 positions to describe your work experience, with up to 7,500 characters per position. In addition, for this format there are additional fields for your education, training, licenses, certifications, skills, awards and other information. You must include answers to all KSAs in the resume in this format. The maximum length for the entire resume is 5 pages. You can only have one Navy Resumix on file for ALL applications you make for Navy positions. This can be limiting, depending on your background and achievements. This format is used for most, but not all Navy postings.

AIR FORCE RESUMIX
The Air Force Resumix format allows up to 6 positions to describe your work experience, with ONLY up to 1,500 characters per position. In addition, for this format there are additional fields for your education, training, licenses, certifications, skills, awards and other information. In general, you must include answers to all KSAs in the resume in this format. You can only have one Air Force Resumix on file for ALL applications you make for Air Force positions. This format, due to the short length allowed for job descriptions is very limiting.

The Air Force RESUMIX is not used for all Air Force positions. Many Air Force positions use a paper-based Regular Federal Resume along with separate KSAs for the application process.

Military Job Boards and other On-line Resume Builders
Other agencies have online Resumix builders; each one has different restrictions on characters allowed per position, along with differences in the formatting of information. CareerProPlus personnel remain knowledgeable for each of these formats and can help you decipher the requirements for application.

QUICKHIRE
The QuickHire format is used by many agencies (the list has been growing) for online applications. This format is limited to 16,000 characters total for the entire resume to describe your contact information, employment background, education, training, licenses, certifications, skills, awards and other information.

In order to find the KSAs (essays) for an announcement in QuickHire, generally, you must first register on the QuickHire website for the agency you are interested in applying for, enter your contact information and load a preliminary resume (you can update the resume when you actually apply for the job). At that point, you can then log into the QuickHire site, view the vacancy announcement and scroll to the bottom of the announcement. By clicking view vacancy questions, you can find both the multiple choice questions you will need to answer and the essay (KSA) questions which will need to be answered. The KSA answers will be limited in length - usually 4000 characters each.

AVUE
Another common online format is AVUE. This format, if you know the "tricks" does not have length limits for describing your experience. However, KSA answers may be limited in length, depending on how the listing agency decided to post the announcement. In addition, it is common for agencies to have different KSA questions depending on the grade you are applying for in this format - and even though ALL KSA questions are listed in the announcement, not all the KSA questions are necessarily asked when you apply online.

In addition to entering in your resume and KSA information using the online builder, you also need to upload additional documentation and a copy of your resume and KSAs separately when applying for positions using AVUE.

USAJOBS
USAJobs also has an online resume format. Even though you can post most of the information you have on a regular paper Federal Resume - it is not formatted as nicely, so we recommend using this format only if it is not optional. Since this format has been endorsed by the Office of Professional Management (OPM), it has become more popular with a variety of agencies.

If an announcement requires a USAJobs resume, it also requires you to answer both multiple choice questions and possibly essay (KSA) questions. Unfortunately, you may not see the questions until after you start the application process. You will need to register on the system, upload and submit a resume - and then you will see the questions you will need to answer. Generally, there is no limit on the length of the KSA answers in this format.

In addition to the formats listed above, other agencies use different online formats, including the CDC and CIA.