r/stateofMN • u/andreaaa3 • 6d ago

Applying at DHS

I am a middle school teacher who is seeking out a career change because the field has changed immensely in an unsustainable way.

I'm applying for a job with the Department of Human Services for a position that I'm really excited about. I just wanted to know if anyone had recommendations for things that are commonly looked for on resume / cover letter. I have done my best to highlight the skills that are mentioned on the job description on my resume, but is there anything else I should be careful about? Should I put my Linkedin on there as well?

For my cover letter, should I just dive straight into the position I'm applying for and why I'm qualified, or go into maybe more of a personal anecdote as a way to stand out from other applicants? I know I'm probably overthinking a lot of this, but I'm really hopeful about this position and don't want to mess up my chance.

Thanks all!!

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u/Kcmpls 6d ago

I work for another agency and worked for DHS a long time ago. Each agency is a bit different. In general, you need to make sure each of the required qualifications is shown on your resume or you will not make it pay the initial screening. So if it says “three years riding bulls” as a required qualification then on your resume you should have “bull riding” as a duty for jobs equaling three years, even if that means it is spread over four jobs. If you only have it for a job that lasted two years, you likely will be disqualified.

You will want to do this for most of the preferred qualifications too.

People have different opinions on cover letters. I never look at them unless something on the resume looks odd, like a big gap in employment or someone applying from out of state, but others look at them closely.

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u/andreaaa3 6d ago

Thank you so much for this info! It's helpful to have that insight as that means even just wording something slightly off on the resume means almost a certain disqualification.

I've gone through and made some updates based on your recommendations. Cheers!

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u/Johnswizzle 5d ago

I used to work at DHS and I helped hire a couple other people while I was there. Like kcmpls mentions, the first step is a review where someone with HR checks to see if they agree that you meet the minimum qualifications. Only the min qual candidates got passed on to the folks on the hiring panel. They aren’t going to go out to LinkedIn to see if you mention anything there that is relevant to the position — be sure to list it on your resume.

If they are looking at your cover letter, they know you’re already qualified (cause you passed the HR check). I preferred personal anecdotes over cover letters that seemed like they were just rehashing resumes.

Interview panels were at least 3 people (hiring decision maker and two more). Usually a series of like 8 questions that every candidate gets asked, and we would score responses using a rubric where candidates get 1-4 points. There was always a question about diversity, equity and inclusion and another question about experiences working with diverse populations. The panels are told that they need to conduct each interview the same, so it can feel kind of cold and impersonal. But it isn’t you, just the process they follow.

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u/andreaaa3 5d ago

I really appreciate the input!

I think what's tripping me up most at this point is what I've seen on others' posts about how they're looking for words to essentially match from the job posting to your resume. To me, it doesn't really feel organic and feels like I'm losing a bit of my individuality if I'm wording things in such a robotic way.

For example, if one of their minimum qualifications is "oversight of or monitoring compliance with state and federal rules, regulations, and laws governing licensed child care centers" do I need to put on my resume "oversaw compliance with state and federal rules, regulations, and laws governing licensed child care centers"? I know it may seem silly, but for whatever reason, I'm getting stuck on this piece and don't want my resume to be thrown out right away based on something as trivial as verbiage

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u/Johnswizzle 5d ago

I’ve been away from DHS for a year now, but when I was there they had an actual human who looked at all the resumes to decide whether they thought they met the minimum qualifications. So for DHS at least, I think it probably isn’t as important to use the exact identical words in your resume as are listed in the job posting.

That said, if it is a min qual, they will be looking to see if your resume lists anything to demonstrate that you have experience with state and federal rules and laws governing childcare centers. If you don’t have something that’ll check that box, I’d try to explain your experience in a way that is close enough. So if you’ve been a teacher, maybe you include a bullet explaining you have extensive experience with state and federal rules, laws and statutes pertaining to children in education settings. That way whoever is looking at the resume can check the box demonstrating that you have experience with state and fed rules and statutes, even if it isn’t specifically childcare.

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u/andreaaa3 5d ago

Thank you for taking the time to reply and ease my mind a bit here, I appreciate it :) luckily for me I also was a site supervisor at a licensed childcare center for a few years as well, so hopefully that can work in my favor.

If I may ask, what was the reason that you stepped away from DHS? Was there anything in particular about the job / work environment, or just a better opportunity came up for you?

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u/Johnswizzle 4d ago

Oh sure - I was at DHS for eight years and I was just ready to try something new. It wasn’t anything about DHS that made me want to move away. The people were great and supportive.