Career Planning Checklist

Federal Employee’s Career Planning Checklist

Career Development Overview

• Introduction to the IDP Process

SUPERVISORY MEETING

• Schedule a meeting with your supervisor
• Prepare for the meeting 
• Supervisor and Employee come to agreement and finalize the plan
  • Discuss available paths, resources, and available options
  • Coordinate an initial Review Date
  • Establish quarterly reviews and set next meeting date

FREE (current year) Excel Leave Record & Schedule Chart
(Post Your Leave Record Spreadsheet on Your Desktop)

SELF ASSESSMENTSELF ASSESSMENT

Complete the self-assessment (The assessment is the critical first step of the process that will help you take charge of your career.)

• Assessment Introduction
• Work Experience Profiles
• Key Contact Data
• Education and Training Profiles
• Personal Characteristics and Attitudes Profile
• Personal Activities
• Overall Assessment

EXPLORE JOB OPPORTUNITIES

• Explore Opportunities
• Identify Desirable Occupations (Job Series)
• Identify Required KSAs Needed to Reach Your Goals
  • Use the KSA Comparison Chart (Word Doc)
• Identify your career/job goals
  • Short Term Goal (1 to 2 Years)
  • Long Term Goal (3 to 5 Years)
• Download Personal Goals Worksheet (Word Doc)
• Locate Merit Promotion Program (MPP) Job Announcements
  • Check with your agency’s HR department for open job announcements
  • Obtain Copies of Position Descriptions from HR for targeted positions
• Locate Qualification Standards for Desirable Occupations

Request informational interviews for positions of interest

• Career Exploration and Job Listing Resources
  • FedCareerInfo.com (IDP Guide)
  • FederalJobs.net (Federal job listings and occupational research)
    • Listings by Occupation
    • Listings by Agency
  • FederalJobs.net/Blog (Interviews with federal employees in all occupational groups)
  • USAJobs (OPM’s comprehensive job listings by occupation and agency)
  • Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) This valuable Department of Labor resource provides detailed career information for most occupations. Use it to research your targeted positions.

PREPARE YOUR IDP

• Introduction to Completing Your IDP
• Review sample IDPs
  • Sample IDP for non-supervisory targeted positions
  • Sample IDP for supervisory, management targeted positions
• Download the IDP form (Word Doc)
• List your short- and long-term goals
• List KSAs needed to achieve goals
  • KSA Samples
• Identify training and developmental assignments
• Prepare a draft IDP

LOCATE JOB OPPORTUNITIES (WHAT’s AVAILABLE)

This could be either developmental assignments to improve your skills for the job you now occupy or new positions that you identified during your assessment. Locate developmental assignments with your supervisor’s input and through your networking contacts. To identify possible new positions that meet your career goals take the following steps:

• Identify potential details and temporary promotion opportunities
• Locate MPP job announcements for your agency
  • Ask HR about MPP job announcements for your targeted positions
• Review job listings:
  • www.usajobs.gov
  • Jobs by Agency
    • Links to 141 federal agencies
  • Jobs by Occupation

Review occupational listings for each occupational family. To view a complete job series listing for each occupational family click on the “Listings by Occupation” link directly below the description for each occupational family. For example, if you are interested in the GS-300: General Administrative, Clerical, & Office Services Group job series, under the description for this group click on the GS-300 listings by occupation. This will produce a listing of all job’s series from the GS-0301 to the GS-0394 job series with links to occupational descriptions, links to job vacancies, and a Job Series Definition. You will also find interviews with active federal employees for many occupations that will give you additional insight into occupations of interest.

APPLYING FOR A JOB

• Complete and sign ALL application forms received with the MPP announcement. Follow the guidelines provided in the Applying for Jobs section.
• Submit a professional federal style resume and application
  • Applications must arrive by no later than the closing date of the announcement for your application to be considered.
• Retain a copy of your application and all other forms including a copy of the job announcement. The job announcement typically includes contact information for an HR specialist that can answer your questions about the application process and the status of your application.

THE INTERVIEW

• Prepare for the job interview
  • Sample Thank You Letter
• Follow-up after two weeks

ADDITIONAL RESOUCES

• Career Planning Articles – Interviews with federal employees in a diverse cross section of careers.
• Federal employee retirement planning guidance. It’s never too early to start planning for retirement. The earlier you start the more you will have to spend in retirement. Your career planning goals can lead to promotions that will increase your annuity when you retire.
  • Federal Employee’s Retirement Planning Blog – https://www.fedretire.net.