We wrote the book on the federal résumé.

Founder Kathryn Troutman pioneered the federal résumé and the Ten Steps to a Federal Job® method that agencies still train on. Fifty years later, we are still tracking every OPM rule change so you do not have to.

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Building on a legacy

The original, and the institution it became.

The Resume Place started on K Street in 1973, writing federal résumés by hand. We have tracked eleven OPM format eras since, including the two-page format that arrived in 2025.

Cut-and-dried, but certainly not dry or dull. The work is serious. The people we do it for are the reason it matters.

The archive · 1973 – today

Fifty years of the federal resume.

The scans below came out of the office albums. Typewriters, sample boards, press runs. The fashion changed more than the standards did.

1973

K Street, by hand.

The Resume Place opened on K Street in Washington as the first resume writing service in the country to specialize in federal applications. Writing, typing, proofs. Clients came in off the street and the samples went up on the wall.

Kathryn Troutman at her desk in the 1970s, notepad in hand — Kathryn Troutman · K Street

A consultation around the office table, orange wall hanging behind, 1970s — A consultation · 1970s

1980s

The storefront years.

Writing, typing, xeroxing, typesetting. The sign said all four. A grand opening in Baltimore, sample boards in the lobby, and a team that grew with the work.

Grand opening of the Baltimore office, original Resume Place sign on the porch, 1980s — Grand opening · Baltimore

The full team under the pick-up and purchase signs, 1980s — The team · 1980s

1990s

We wrote the book.

The Federal Resume Guidebook put the method in print, and agencies started training on it. The presses in the basement became a publishing house.

Unboxing fresh copies of The Federal Resume Guidebook, 1990s — The Federal Resume Guidebook

A pressman carries a stack of pages in the print room, 1980s — The press room

A family business

The kids grew up under the desks, between the word processors and the file drawers. Some of them still work here.

A baby sits under the desk beside the office word processor, late 1970s

A toddler stands at the office typewriter, 1980s

A baby reaches across the typewriter keys, 1980s

A toddler perches on the word processor while her mother works, 1980s

Founder

Kathryn Troutman

Pioneer of the federal résumé and author of Ten Steps to a Federal Job® (8th ed.). She wrote the book the field is built on.

Consultant

Certified consultants

A team of certified federal résumé writers and career coaches — including Emily, Rita, and Charles — who run the consultations and the writing.

Network

Certified trainers

A national community of Ten Steps Certified Trainers and Writers carrying the method into agencies and transition offices.

No more guessing

Work with the experts who wrote the federal résumé.

A free estimate, a certified consultant, and fifty years of knowing exactly what the next rule change means for your application.

Get a free estimate →Call 202 · 491 · 6498