The Hiring Process
Found the perfect job listing? Great! Now, you’ll just need to apply.
Watch: Resume-Writing Tips for the St. Louis Fed
Looking for help with your resume? Take a look at these five tips from the St. Louis Fed to help you get started.
Don't worry about limiting your resume to just 1 or 2 pages. The length of your resume varies on your experience. Don't shortchange the work you've done in order to keep it to one page.
Use bullet points instead of paragraphs because you need to be concise. A bullet allows you to say what you need to say and order your experience by importance.
Stick with your education and experience. Your personality will come through in the interview. No need to list all your hobbies and preferences. Include educational honors in school coursework when you have limited experience. Recruiters and managers review lots of resumes, so get noticed for the right reasons.
Use strong action verbs to describe your experience and skills. Ahem. Use strong action verbs to describe your experience and skills. Avoid using first person and third person grammar structures and be consistent with verb tense regarding past and present.
Format your resume to appeal to the widest audience. Consider how your resume will print in black and white. Don't use large or unusual fonts, colors, or pictures.
So remember, don't limit your resume to just 1 or 2 pages.
Use bullet points to be concise.
Stick with your education and experience.
Use strong action verbs to describe your experience and skills.
And finally, format your resume to appeal to the widest audience.
With these five tips, you'll be sure to stand out among the competition. So seize the day and check out stlouisfed.org/careers for current opportunities.
Apply for a Position and What to Expect Afterward
Our experienced team supports full life cycle recruiting. From providing consultative services to hiring managers and partnering with business area leadership on staffing needs to sourcing top talent and easing the new hire transition into the Bank, we guide the recruiting process from A to Z. We know hiring is not a simple task. We are here to ensure the experience is efficient and effective in hiring qualified individuals who reflect the Bank’s values.
Submit your application through the St. Louis Fed's online system, Workday. Once your application is submitted:
1. Screening
- You will be notified via email that your application has been received. You can check your status anytime via Workday.
- Next, our recruiters (not artificial intelligence) will screen your application against the minimum qualifications needed (noted on all job description postings). The most relevant matches may be contacted by phone. In most cases, we will do our very best to update the status of your application by email, phone or your online profile in Workday.
- Please note that the application and interview processes can take several weeks. Be sure to check your email or your profile and job submission in Workday regularly for updates.
- Due to the high volume of applications we receive for positions at the St. Louis Fed, we may not be able to personally contact every qualified applicant. While we thoroughly review all submissions, we typically contact only those candidates selected to advance in our hiring process.
- If you are not contacted about a specific position, we encourage you to monitor your application status through our candidate portal and continue exploring other opportunities that match your qualifications and career interests at the St. Louis Fed. We appreciate your interest in joining our organization. Thank you for considering us in your career search.
2. Interviewing
- If you advance past the phone interview, you will be invited to an interview. Interviews may be conducted in person and/or virtually with an individual hiring manager or a panel of interviewers, who ask a series of interview questions.
- After the interview, the hiring manager or interview team will discuss your job-related skills and past successes with the recruiter to determine if you would be a strong addition to their department or business line.
- Please be patient, as the hiring process can take several weeks.
3. Selection
- The Recruitment team will deliver status updates as feedback is received, and decisions are made. Job offers are contingent upon the successful completion of additional background checks.
Watch: Top 5 Things to Know about Behavioral Interviewing
Got an interview coming up? Want to nail it? Follow along for the top five things to know about behavioral interviewing from the St. Louis Fed.
1. The STAR method. The STAR method is an easy way to respond to behavioral interview questions by using Situation, Task, Action and Result to complete your answer.
- Situation: Provide details about a job you did or a challenge you faced. Be specific.
- Task: Describe your responsibility in this situation — what needed to be done and why.
- Action: Explain what you did to complete the task. And be sure to focus on yourself, not your team, supervisor or co-workers.
- Result: Describe the outcome of the action taken. Were all issues resolved? How did you measure success? Again, be specific.
Before your interview, think of brief scenarios — or STAR stories — that demonstrate your leadership, teamwork and initiative. Each story should explain the Situation Task, Action and Result.
2. Focus on the role you played. Past experience predicts future performance. So provide the employer with an example of your actions and contributions. An example in which you played a minor or supporting role does not give the interviewer the information they want. Use the words “I, me and my” rather than “We us, or they.”
3. Be specific in your examples. Employers want to know what you did do rather than what you would do in a given situation. Giving generalizations will not help the employer understand and evaluate your behavior or skills.
4. Frame responses based on experience. Draw upon all relevant past experiences including work, personal and volunteer activities.
5. Use the job description to understand the skills needed for the position. The posted job description can give you a clue to the questions the interviewer might ask. Identify your relevant qualities to the position and prepare relevant and effective behavioral stories.
So remember, the STAR method is an easy way to respond to behavioral interview questions by using Situation, Task, Action and Result to complete your answer. Focus on the role you played. Be specific in your examples. Frame responses based on experience. And finally, use the job description to understand the skills needed for the position.
With these five tips, your interview will be sure to stand out from the competition. So seize the day and check out stlouisfed.org/careers for current opportunities.
What to Expect after an Interview
If you are selected for a position:
- A formal offer letter will be sent to you. Note that all offers are contingent on satisfactory results of a candidate's drug screening and background check.
If you are not selected for a position:
- You will be notified by email, phone or your online profile in Workday. You are welcome to continue to apply for other jobs at the St. Louis Fed.
Whether or not you are selected for the original position for which you applied, your resume will be kept on file for six months and may be matched to other positions as they become available. However, you are encouraged to reapply for other job openings as they become available.
Need assistance to complete a job application or need accommodations for an upcoming interview?