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Still have questions about AIMS?
E-mail us at jobs@fairfaxcounty.gov
Questions about benefits
with Fairfax County? E-mail the Benefits
Division here,
or call (703) 324-4917.
I applied for a job using
the AIMS on-line resume submission process. How can I
get status information about my resume?
For jobs that you applied to, check your status
on-line by logging into your AIMS account and clicking
on the "My Status" feature. You will see a list of
the jobs that you applied for along with the current status.
Status is also available from the 24 hour
Job Line at 703-324-JOBS(5627). In order to obtain status or
to apply for job using the Job Line you must have User ID and
PIN. These numbers are available from your on-line AIMS
account.
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If
I apply for the same job multiple times, will it increase my
chances of getting an interview?
No, it will not. After the advertised closing
date for a position, the most recent resume submission from
each applicant is evaluated. Any redundant
resume submissions are disregarded.
If you apply multiple times because you are
unsure whether your submission was received, you should instead
check your status on-line by logging into your AIMS account
and clicking on the "My Status" feature. You will
see a list of the jobs that you applied for along with the current
status. If the position number appears in your list, your submission
has already been received and will be considered.
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If I apply for more
than one job, can I use a different resume for each job?
Yes. The AIMS system allows you to
change your resume any time you want. You can tailor your resume
to focus on education, skills and work experience that might
be the most appropriate for the job you are applying for. However,
we recommend that most people stay with one, comprehensive,
detailed resume that accurately reflects all of your education
and work experience.
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Can
I save different versions of my resume inside of my AIMS
account?
Your AIMS account will store only one
version of your resume. So, the last one that you saved is the
one that will be available to you the next time you access your
account. If you feel the need to have more than one version
of your resume, we suggest that you save a text version on a
disk or your local computer.
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I
have transcripts, work samples and letters of recommendation
that I would like to submit with my resume. However, I don't
see any way to do that. How can I get these materials to you?
We recommend that applicants keep such materials
and make them available to the interview panel if they are contacted
to come for an interview. Evaluation of your qualifications
is based solely on the information contained in your resume.
For that reason, we strongly encourage applicants to provide
a detailed, comprehensive resume.
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What is the best way to format my resume
to ensure an accurate evaluation of my qualifications?
If you do not already have a properly formatted
resumes, we recommend that applicants use the step-by-step process
in the AIMS Resume Builder. The end result is a chronologically
formatted resume with the applicant's education appearing near
the top of the resume and with the work history, starting with
the most recent or current job, coming next.
If you choose to paste in an existing resume, we encourage you
to use the chronological format rather than a functional format.
You might want to take a
look at a sample resume, along with some other important
tips about formatting your resume.
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If I decide to paste in a full text version
of a resume instead of using the step-by-step AIMS Resume
Builder, are there any formatting tips that you can provide?
Yes. We recommend the following:
- Use a chronologically formatted resume
- Keep it clean and simple
- Avoid italics, bolding, tabs and other
formatting commands
- Use hyphens (-) or asterisks (*) instead
of bullets
- Left-align your text
Be sure to check your resume over before your
submit it. You may have line breaks or indents in unexpected
places. From the "My Resume" section of AIMS
click on the "Edit" button under "Pasted Text
Resume." You will be able to make all of the necessary
changes on this screen. Just click the "Save" button
and your are all set. View
a sample resume.
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I just submitted
my resume for a job with a specific closing date. What happens
to my resume and how long does it take?
Each resume is evaluated by the Personnel
Analyst assigned to support recruitment activities for the hiring
department. Depending upon work load, the evaluation process
usually begins 3 - 5 business days after the advertised closing
date and can take up to two weeks. The Personnel Analyst reads
each resume and compares the education and experience described
on the resume with the advertised criteria, paying particular
attention to the preferred qualifications described in the job
announcement. If your resume clearly demonstrates that you not
only meet the minimum qualifications, but also have the preferred
qualifications, there is a good chance that your resume will
be sent forward to the hiring department for further consideration.
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If my resume is forwarded to the hiring
department, what happens next? Am I guaranteed an interview?
The Personnel Analyst generally forwards 10-15
of the top rated applicants on to the hiring department. At
this point, it is up to the staff in the hiring department to
determine who will be contacted for an interview. Department
staff will generally interview from 6-8 applicants, depending
on the number of applicants forwarded by the Personnel Analyst.
Just because your resume is forwarded to a hiring department
does not guarantee that you will receive an interview.
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My
resume was not forwarded to the hiring department and
I would like to know why. How can I get information about the
review process?
If you have questions about the review process
such as why your resume was not forwarded for further consideration,
you should call the Application Center and ask to speak with
the Personnel Analyst assigned to review that job. The Application
Center is open from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday.
The phone number is 703-222-5872.
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I need to renew my eligibility on one of
the 3-month, renewable eligible lists. What do I need to do?
It's very easy to renew your eligibility.
First, log in to your AIMS account and check your status
on the eligible list by clicking on the "My Status"
feature. If you are within a few weeks of your eligibility expiration
date you should consider renewing your eligibility. Return to
the AIMS main menu and use the "Quick Apply"
feature to reapply to the eligible list number. Remember, when
you renew your eligibility, AIMS will submit a new resume
to us. Please be sure that your most recent resume in AIMS
is up-to-date and has all of the information appropriate for
the position for which you are applying.
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How many
hours must I have worked to achieve the equivalent of 'one year
experience'? Does one year of working part-time count the same
as one year working full-time?
The county standard is that 2080 hours equals
one work year. Therefore, if you worked 40-hours per week for
one year, you have one year of experience. If you worked part-time
at a rate of 20 hours per week, it would take two years to reach
2080 hours, or the equivalent of one year of experience. When
your resume is reviewed, this is the standard by which your
years of experience are evaluated.
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My contact information
has changed and I recently changed jobs. How can I update my
resume?
With AIMS, you can update your resume
any time, 24-hours a day. Once you update your resume in AIMS,
your new resume will be used for all jobs that you apply for
from that point forward. Sorry, it is not possible to update
resumes that you have already submitted in response to a job
announcement. If you have already submitted a resume for a job
and then need to change your contact information or another
critical piece of information, please call the Application Center
at 703-222-5872.
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I submitted my resume in response to
a job announcement for a Management Analyst II. Will my resume
now be automatically considered for other similar jobs?
No. Applicants must apply in response to a
specific job announcement in order to be considered. The only
exception is for jobs that are filled from eligible lists. When
we anticipate many vacancies in a particular job class we establish
eligible lists to create ready pools of applicants. Some examples
of jobs that we frequently fill from eligible lists are Day
Care Center Teacher I, and Administrative Assistant I and II.
The job announcement will indicate whether the job being announced
is for an eligible list or not.
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Is there any
assistance available for applicants with disabilities?
Applicants with disabilities may request reasonable
accommodation during the selection process. Please call 703-222-5872
(voice) or 703-222-7314 (TDD).
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I don't have ready
access to a personal computer. How can I apply for jobs with
Fairfax County?
We recognize that not everyone has a personal
computer right in their home. However, personal computers to
provide public access to the AIMS system are available
in several locations throughout the County, including the following:
- Fairfax County Application Center - Located
in the Government Center at 12000 Government Center Parkway,
Suite 270 - Call 703-222-5872. Click
here for directions.
- Any Fairfax
County Public Library - Also, most public library systems
throughout the metro area provide limited access to the Internet
via personal computers.
- Access
Fairfax - South County Center, 8350 Richmond Highway,
Suite 125, Alexandria - Phone 703-704-7080
- 26 CRIS Kiosks
located throughout Fairfax County, Fairfax City and the Town
of Warrenton
- Skill
Source Centers - Multiple locations throughout the Northern
Virginia area
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I don't have an e-mail account. Does this
mean that I cannot apply for jobs with Fairfax County?
No. You do not need an e-mail account to use
the AIMS system. During the AIMS registration
process, we suggest that people use their e-mail address as
a convenient way to help them remember their User ID. Also,
we encourage applicants to provide us with an e-mail address
because future enhancements to the AIMS system may provide
an option for us to communicate with applicants via e-mail.
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I have forgotten my password for my AIMS
account. How can I log in to my account?
On the main login screen for AIMS
you will see a prompt that says, "If you have lost or forgotten
your password, click here." Follow that link. You will
be asked to choose the reminder question and answer that you
set up when you created your account. You will then be able
to login. At this point, you will be prompted to create a new
password.
If you still need assistance after trying
the "Lost Password" feature, please call the Application
Center at 703-222-5872 or send an e-mail to the Jobs
Mailbox. In order to assist you with a forgotten User ID
or password, you will need to provide the name as it appears
in the AIMS account plus some identifying information
from your resume such as the name of your most recent employer.
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Will
I be able to save copies of job announcements that I have applied
for?
When you go to the "My Status"
area inside of your AIMS account you will see a list
of the job numbers that you have applied for. Click on the job
number and you will be able to view the full job announcement
for that job.
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Why
can't I submit a hard copy of my resume and have you scan it
into your system?
With our old system, hard copy resumes were
scanned into our computer system where special software recorded
an image of the resume and extracted important information such
as name, address, education and work history. The accuracy of
this imaging and extraction process was often less than satisfactory.
With electronic resume submission through
AIMS, we have 100% accuracy. There are no errors introduced
by scanning and optical character recognition (OCR) software.
Plus, with AIMS, applicants can easily modify their resume
whenever they want.
Besides accuracy of the resume information,
the other reason that we no longer accept hard copy resumes
has to do with ability to provide real-time, on-line status
information. Because of concerns over identity theft, we no
longer collect social security numbers (SSN) from applicants.
Without SSN, we do not have a built-in unique identifier. Therefore,
in order to provide automated status information, applicants
must establish an AIMS account with a User ID and password.
PIN numbers are also available for those who wish to obtain
status information over the 24-hour job line.
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How
long will my AIMS account stay active? Is there something
that I have to do to make sure that my AIMS account will
stay active?
Once you establish an AIMS account,
it will stay active. At this time we do not have any plans to
purge the system of inactive accounts. Please do not confuse
this with maintaining your eligibility on our 3-month, renewable
eligible lists. For these lists, you must renew your eligibility
at least every three months.
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How
often are new jobs posted on AIMS?
New jobs are posted every Saturday. If you
don't want to miss out on the latest job listings, we suggest
that you subscribe to the e-mail version of the Job News. Once
you subscribe, you will receive one e-mail each week showing
the currently advertised jobs. Follow the link to subscribe
to the Job News.
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I am
having difficulty setting up an AIMS account using
my computer (Windows XP users).
If your computer has the Microsoft Windows
XP operating system with Service Pack 2, you may need to change
some settings to enable it to create your AIMS account. Check
your system settings to determine if this may be causing your
problem:
- Click on "START"
- Click on "Settings"
- Select "Control Panel"
- Double-click the "System" icon
- Look at the information on the screen under
System
If your operating system is Microsoft Windows
XP and the Service Pack is the number 2, firewall protection
is automatically installed when your system is loaded. You should
contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and find out how
you should proceed without making your system vulnerable to
internet attacks. Tell them that your Windows XP firewall is
preventing you from creating your AIMS Account and they should
be able to help you.
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Having difficulty setting up and/or using AIMS on my computer (Firefox users).
With the increasing popularity of the Firefox browser, lots of bugs are being reported to the vendor. If you are receiving a 'page not found' error message please read the message below.
AIMS is best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher.
If you are using Firefox or other browsers you may experience intermittent problems when used on our site.
Mac users should try other browsers like Internet Explorer 5.1 for the Mac or Safari.
If you still need assistance after trying Internet Explorer, please call the Application Center at 703-222-5872 or send an e-mail to the Jobs Mailbox.
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Fairfax County is an Equal
Opportunity Employer |
