Summary

Summarizes what is unique about this job and what it does for the agency. The job summary is important to help job seekers understand what is unique about this job and why the job exists.

Current fields

This section may contain the following:

Required by USAJOBS

Yes

Required by policy

Yes

Do

  • Write a concise one- or two-sentence summary.
  • Use the position description and job analysis to help write the duties.
  • Use language the job seeker knows and be concise—simpler is better!
  • Avoid internal jargon and acronyms—if an acronym is necessary, spell it out the first time it's used.

Do Not

  • Use the job summary to discuss the mission statement of the agency. Agencies may now use the Learn more about this agency link to convey details about the agency and link to your careers page.
  • Use dehumanizing terms like "incumbent" or "candidate".
  • Repeat other sections of the job announcement in the summary section (who may apply, et. al.). Duplicating information does not emphasize that information but clutters the announcement. Duplicated information confuses and overwhelms job seekers.
  • Center paragraphs or provide HTML formatting. This negatively impacts the readability of the job announcement.

When a user clicks on the Learn more about this agency link, a small window pops up with the agency marketing message. The marketing message appears in the lead paragraph of the agency modal and allows you to communicate the agency's mission or why the agency is a great place to work.

Required by USAJOBS

No

Required by policy

No

Do

  • Explain what the agency does (e.g., the agency's mission).
  • Explain the purpose or mission of the specific program area or organization where the job will exist.

Do Not

  • Copy the mission statement of the agency. Job seekers can find that information on your website and many will view your site if they are serious about applying. Also, mission statements often do not convey to an outsider what the agency does.
  • Summarize the job. That should be done in the Summary section.

Questions? Concerns?

This site is a work in progress. We will continue to work on this content until it is as complete as possible. If you have questions or concerns about anything you read here, please reach out to your human resources director who can contact the Office of Personnel Management policy.

If you have comments about the site itself or suggestions on content to add please write to recruiter-help@usajobs.gov.