Washington, DC, November 26, 2020 –

On the day before Thanksgiving, emails from an outstanding 10-Steps Trainer, Mary Ann Bowersock, got me thinking about all that the Resume Place as well as our 10 Steps trainers have to be thankful for. Mary Ann works with veterans through the Virginia Employment Commission in Fredericksburg, VA. Last August she received the Disabled American Veterans National Commander’s Award for her work. I can see why.

Mary Ann loves her work and the veterans, and she goes the extra mile. She cares about the quality of the jobs she helps them get, the opportunities for training, as well as the basics of getting a job that pays and offers good benefits.
Mary Ann has been through the Certified Federal Job Search Trainer (CFJST) / Certified Federal Career Coach (CFCC) certification three times for the Virginia Employment Commission. For her successes with clients, she always sends credit back to the 10 Steps to a Federal Job formula we teach in the certification program.

“I encourage all of my Veterans to use the Ten Steps principles in private sector, and state and government applications,” says Mary Ann. “It requires thought and work but is the best method.”

Two of Mary Ann’s recent success stories show the power of federal jobs and the 10 Steps Formula to change people’s lives:

Sally was a female veteran, sheltered from an abusive spouse in a hotel with her two-year-old. But she had excellent computer skills and was very smart. She saw notices about workshops offered by Mary Ann’s office at the Virginia Employment Commission and contacted her. Mary Ann worked with Sally one-on-one at the office briefly and then virtually to match her resume to announcements with keywords, and also devised a personal 10 Steps approach for her. Using those tools plus my book The Jobseeker’s Guide along with further support from Mary Ann, Sally landed an administration position at the GS-7 level. She starts in December. Sally now has an apartment, and the job will provide benefits for her and her child.

Ben was a veteran with a felony conviction, who had served time in prison, and then upon release spent years doing temporary jobs involving heavy labor. He was getting too old for that type of work. Mary Ann started working with Ben on his resume, kept on giving him hope for a better job. They were successful. Like Sally, Ben will start a high-quality job next month. He got hired by a non-profit organization, offering a good wage, training and a 4-year commitment. He’s excited. People had shut the door in his face so many times. He has an apartment and will be able to work from home. The job will include customer service and administrative work, and teach him new computer and software skills, and refine his communication skills.

I find our work to be really rewarding. This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my 10 Steps trainers, that I thought up the 10 Steps Formula, and for the federal jobs that our clients have landed.

Getting a high-quality federal job does take work, but it’s worth the effort. Look at these two examples. Our clients can get hired to a job that could lead to a career that lasts a lifetime.

Kathryn Troutman is the Founder and President of The Resume Place, Inc., a service business located in Catonsville, MD. The Resume Place specializes in writing and designing professional federal and private-sector 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 the Jobseeker’s Guide: Ten Steps to a Federal Job for Military Personnel and Spouses, 8th Ed. and the Federal Resume Guidebook, 7th Ed.