Help Center

How to search for resumes and job seekers

You can search more than one million resumes in ATP to find potential job candidates or new sources of talent and invite them to apply to job announcements or to job fairs and other recruitment events.

You can search resumes to:

  • Create a list of job seekers with special certifications or skill set for hard-to-fill vacancies.
  • Find job seekers in a specific location or desired work location.
  • Identify job seekers who may be eligible for specific hiring authorities such as Schedule A, VEOA or PeaceCorp.
  • Look for federal employees at a specific GS scale.
  • Refine your search to people who have updated their resume within the past 1-18 months.

Use keywords

  • Enter a keyword like a job title, skill, or certification.
  • Use multiple keywords to get more specific.
  • Don't use a series in the keyword box. Instead, enter a series into the series filter. If you search by series you will only see current or former federal employees in your search results.

Use location

  • Use location to search for a job seeker's current location or desired work location.

Use filters

  • Search for how recently a profile or resume has been updated—you can search resumes that have been updated in the last month or within 18 months.
  • Use hiring paths to narrow down your results. Hiring paths may help you find job seekers who might be eligible for certain hiring authorities or preferences, but you will still need to confirm eligibility.
  • Enter a job series or name—your search results will only display current or former federal employees that have entered the series in their USAJOBS profile.
  • Select the highest grade you're looking for—your search results will only display federal employees on the GS scale.

More advanced search techniques

You can get very specific with your key word search by using the following tips.

Search for exact matches

Use quotes around words or a phrase to search for an exact match. For example: “graphic design”.

Search for all keywords

Use the plus sign + between words to search for all keywords. For example: designer + photoshop.

Search for either keyword

Use a comma between each keyword to search for either one. For example: writer, editor

Use a minus – in front of a word you want to leave out or not search for. For example: designer –photographer, if you want to find designers who are not photographers.

Use parentheses to tell what to search on first. For example: (public affairs, media relations)

Search examples

“public affairs” + (content strategy, writer) + media relations