# The Announcement Decoder

This prompt chain reads a USAJOBS announcement and extracts what you actually need to decide whether to apply and how to apply well. Run all five steps in order. Plan about 20 to 30 minutes.

---

## Privacy and Honesty Note

Never paste your Social Security number, date of birth, or any other sensitive personal information into an AI tool. AI output is a first draft. Every requirement you pull from this chain must be verified against the actual announcement before you submit. This tool does not guarantee referral or selection.

---

## Step 1: Prepare Your Inputs

Before running any prompt, gather three things:

1. **The full announcement text.** Copy everything from the USAJOBS posting: the summary, duties, qualifications, requirements, how to apply, and required documents sections. Include it all.
2. **The closing date and time zone.** Find the exact date, time, and time zone listed on the announcement. Write it down separately so you do not lose it.
3. **A one-line summary of your background.** Example: "Eight years Army logistics, two years GS-7 supply technician, current federal employee."

You will paste these into the prompts below where you see the [BRACKETED] placeholders.

---

## Step 2: Requirements Extraction

This prompt pulls every mandatory item out of the announcement and organizes it into a checklist. It instructs the AI to quote the announcement and flag anything unclear.

```
I am going to paste a USAJOBS job announcement. Your job is to extract every mandatory requirement into a numbered checklist.

For each item:
- Quote the exact language from the announcement in quotation marks.
- Label the category: Eligibility / Hiring Path, Specialized Experience, Time-in-Grade, Conditions of Employment, Required Documents, or Closing Date.
- If anything is ambiguous or could be read two ways, flag it with [AMBIGUOUS: explain why] and do not guess at the meaning.
- Do not invent or add any requirement that is not stated in the announcement.

Here is the announcement text:

[PASTE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT HERE]

Closing date and time zone from the announcement: [PASTE CLOSING DATE AND TIME ZONE HERE]
```

Review the output line by line against the actual announcement before moving on.

---

## Step 3: Eligibility and Specialized Experience Check

This prompt compares your background to the qualifications and gives you a plain go or no-go.

```
Below is a list of requirements extracted from a USAJOBS announcement, followed by a summary of my background. Compare them and tell me:

1. Whether I appear eligible based on hiring path and eligibility criteria.
2. Whether my background meets the specialized experience requirement.
3. Whether I meet time-in-grade if applicable.
4. A plain GO or NO-GO recommendation.
5. If NO-GO or uncertain, list the specific gaps by name.

Do not soften gaps or omit them. Do not invent experience I did not describe. If you cannot determine eligibility from the information given, say so clearly.

Requirements checklist from Step 2:
[PASTE STEP 2 OUTPUT HERE]

My background summary:
[PASTE YOUR ONE-LINE BACKGROUND SUMMARY HERE]

Any additional background details relevant to this position:
[PASTE ANY RELEVANT EXPERIENCE, GRADES HELD, TIME IN CURRENT GRADE, ETC.]
```

---

## Step 4: Assessment Questionnaire Competency Map

Most USAJOBS announcements use an occupational questionnaire. This prompt predicts the likely competencies and maps each one to resume evidence you need to support an honest self-rating.

```
Based on the job announcement below, predict the competencies or job elements most likely to appear in the occupational questionnaire for this position.

For each predicted competency:
1. Name the competency.
2. Explain in one sentence why it is likely for this type of position.
3. List the specific types of resume evidence an applicant would need to honestly support a rating of "Expert" or the highest level.
4. Flag any competency where a high self-rating would be hard to support without concrete, documented experience.

Do not suggest inflating ratings. A self-rating is only defensible if the resume contains specific examples that match the behavior described.

Announcement text:
[PASTE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT HERE]
```

Use this output to identify where your resume is strong and where you need to add specifics or adjust your self-rating down.

---

## Step 5: Resume Keyword Target

This prompt pulls the language you need to mirror in your federal resume. It is about matching the announcement's phrasing, not fabricating experience.

```
Read the job announcement below and extract:

1. The exact job-related keywords and phrases used to describe the duties and required experience.
2. The specific action verbs the announcement uses.
3. Any technical terms, systems, regulations, or processes named in the announcement.

For each keyword or phrase, note which section of the announcement it came from (duties, qualifications, etc.).

Then provide a short usage note: how an applicant would use this term honestly in a resume if they have the experience. Do not suggest adding a keyword for experience the applicant does not have.

Announcement text:
[PASTE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT HERE]
```

---

## Final Verification Pass

Before you submit, run through this checklist manually. Do not skip it.

- [ ] I opened the actual announcement and confirmed every extracted requirement is present in the text.
- [ ] I confirmed the closing date, time, and time zone twice: once from the AI output and once directly from the announcement.
- [ ] Every self-rating I plan to submit is backed by a specific example in my resume.
- [ ] I have not pasted my SSN, date of birth, or other sensitive identifiers into any AI tool.
- [ ] My resume and documents are complete and match what the announcement requires.

---

Part of The Federal & GS Job Search Library at vetslearn.com/libraries/federal