1. Founder, President, Federal Career Coach™, and Manager of The Resume Place, Inc., the first federal job search consulting and federal resume writing service in the world, and the producer of www.resume-place.com, the first website devoted to federal resume writing.
The Resume Place, Inc. was initially established in 1970 in Washington, DC and specialized in law student resumes for the major law schools in DC, New York, and along the east coast. The sample law student resumes that Kathryn developed are now are included in the law school career center resume writing guides. Prior to the rise of the Internet, The Resume Place, Inc. had four offices in DC, Virginia, Baltimore and Bethesda, Maryland. Today, the nearly 40 year old company is a brick and mortar Internet business headquartered in the suburbs of Baltimore, where Troutman still manages the daily operations and large team of expert certified federal resume writers, consultants, trainers, customer service representatives, and publishing staff.
2. Pioneer designer of the federal resume format in 1995 with the publication of the leading resource for federal human resources and jobseekers worldwide – the Federal Resume Guidebook.
Troutman took a risk and published the first edition of the book with a second mortgage on her home — a $50K investment. The “federal resume” format has since been accepted throughout government and is the format used in USAJOBS.gov and other resume builders. Troutman is recognized as the designer of the federal resume by the Office of Personnel Management and human resources managers throughout government.
3. Developer of the Ten Steps to a Federal Job®, a licensed curriculum and turn-key training program taught by more than 350 Certified Federal Job Search Trainers (CFJST) around the world.
Discovering that career counselors throughout the world did not know how to help jobseekers with federal job searches, Troutman developed the first train-the-trainer certification program for career trainers and advisers to instruct, give human resources information, and practice teaching the popular PowerPoint presentation and handout, Ten Steps to a Federal Job™. The CFJST program is recommended by the U.S. Navy Fleet & Family Support Center, U.S. Air Force Airmen & Readiness Program, U.S. Coast Guard Career Services, and U.S. Army ACS programs worldwide. The Ten Step curriculum is being taught at more than 150 military bases worldwide as part of the Transition Assistance Program (TAP).
4. Leading Federal Resume Writing, KSA, Resumix, ECQ and Federal Interview government contracted trainer.
Troutman has been contracted as a sole-source and competitive trainer for more than 200 federal agencies since 1996. She began her training career with the Department of Justice in 1996 with a surprise noon-hour attendance of more than 600 individuals to her first presentation on Federal Resume Writing in the Hall of Justice! Kathryn has also served as a BRAC Trainer of more than 900 DFAS employees in 19 agencies to prepare for BRAC reorganization. Agencies and occupational series included: Human Resources – National Institutes of Health (NIH); Grants Technical Specialists – NIH; Housing – Navy; Billeting/BQ – Navy, Norfolk; Maintenance – BLM; Library Specialists – Navy and NIH; IT – USACE.
5. Author of numerous federal career publications (in addition to the Federal Career Guidebook mentioned above)
Books:
The Military to Federal Career Guide is the first book for military personnel and is now being republished in the 2nd edition to feature veteran federal resumes. Troutman recognized the need for returning military personnel from Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo to have a resource available to them in their searches for government jobs.
Ten Steps to a Federal Job was published two months after 9/11 and was written for private industry jobseekers who are seeking first-time positions in the federal government, where they could contribute to our nation’s security. Now in its second edition.
The Jobseeker’s Guide started initially as the companion course handout to the Ten Steps book, but captured its own following when it became the handout text used by over 200 military installations throughout the world for transitioning military and family members. Currently in its 4th edition.
The Student’s Federal Career Guide was co-authored with Kathryn’s daughter and MPP graduate, Emily Troutman, and is the first book for students pursuing a federal job. With the looming human capital crisis and baby boomers retiring in government, Kathryn and Emily provide a valuable resource for students.
Resumes for Dummies (5th edition) by Joyce Laine Kennedy is currently in its 5th edition and is renowned as the premier, cutting edge guidebook to resume writing. Kathryn and The Resume Place staff served as designers and producers of all the private industry resume samples.