MassCareers Apply for a Job guide

Step 1. Go to https://massanf.taleo.net/careersection/ex/jobsearch.ftl

Step 2. Go to sign in

Step 3.   Enter your username and password.

Step 4. You will arrive at the Job Search page

Step 5. Each job title is a link that will take you to the full description of the job on a separate page.

Step 6. The default sort is “Posting date (descending order)”.  The most recent job posted is listed first. If you want to change the sort order, use the Sort By field to choose Job Title or Schedule. Any of these three ways of sorting “Posting Date, Job Title or Schedule” can be used to sort A – Z, or Z- A, or oldest/ newest depending on the category. 

Step 7. You can choose to Apply for a specific job at any time by pressing the Apply link that is in the information about the job

Step 8. You can also select Add a job to My Job Cart. By doing this you can return to the short job description and details and apply at a later time.

Step 9. When you are on the job search page and reviewing a job you can press the Apply link and arrive at the first page of the job description.

Note: Within each job posting, there is a hybrid work eligible section that will indicate “yes” or “no.” Hybrid work is defined as a flexible work model that supports a blend of in-office and remote work. Please be aware that the status may change depending on the needs of the agency.

Note: When searching for jobs, if you see “Continuous” in the title, that indicates that the agency is always looking for strong candidates because a) the role has multiple positions available and/or b) the agency is proactively sourcing candidates for roles that may become available in the future.

Note: there are 11 steps in the job application form. These are:

1. Resume Upload
2. Personal Information
3. General Questions
4. Job Specific Questions
5. Education
6. Employment History
7. Certificates and Licenses
8. File Attachments
9. Electronic Signature
10. Diversity Survey
11. Summary

 You must fill out all of these steps and choose to Submit the job application at the end to be considered for the job.

Note:  At the top of each page within the Job Application there is a progress bar before the main content area. This progress bar consists of all of the steps necessary to complete your profile.

Each of the steps is merely informational until you have successfully filled out that page. At that time the informational name becomes a link so that you can navigate backwards to any page you have successfully finished. The progress bar is the preferred method for navigating back to prior pages. Use of the browser BACK button is discouraged.

Step 1. There are two possible ways to use this page. You can upload a resume, which will be used by the system to move relevant information into your profile OR you can skip that step and choose to enter all of your information manually on the next page.

Step 2. If you do not want to upload a resume skip steps 4, 5 and 6.

Step 3. Leave the default radio button, I do not want to upload a resume  selected.  Select the Save and Continue button. You arrive at the Personal Information page.

Step 4. If you do want to upload, a resume, select the radio button that is labeled   ” I want to upload a resume” This action will also activate the Browse… button.

Step 5. The ‘Browse’ button opens a window that allows you to search through the computer to locate your resume. When you have located your resume, select Open to insert a path to the resume into the Resume Upload page.

Step 6. Upload your resume, then select “Save and Continue to the next page”. You will arrive on the Personal information Page.

Step 1. If you have decided to enter all of your information for yourself into the Personal Info page then, confirm and/or edit your address information as needed.

Step 2. In the  “Primary Number” field, you must select one of the choices.

Step 3. Enter your phone number choices. Make sure you have placed a phone number in the field that corresponds to your choice in the Primary Number field.

NOTE: All phone numbers in the site must be entered in the following format 999-999-9999. Remember to put the ‘–‘ in as well as omitting any “1” or “9” at the beginning of a number.

Step 4. Confirm and/or edit your email address information .

Step 5. In the Job Posting Notification,  the checkbox allows you to choose to receive an email notification when a new position matching your profile is posted. If you do wish to receive these emails select the checkbox.

Step 6. In the Source Type field. Select the closest choice to where or how you learned about the Commonwealth job.

Step 7. In the Source Type box, choose the selection that further explains where you heard about the Commonwealth job.

Note: An example of what you might choose would be Source Type field #1 = “Job Board”. Source Type field #2, Job Board = “Monster”

Step 8. Select the ‘Save and Continue’ button. You will be taken to the next page in the job application. This page is called ‘General Questions’.

General Questions

The questions are mandatory and are asked of all applicants to all jobs in the Commonwealth.

Job Specific Questions

Step 1. Each job in the system has a number of questions that are specific to the job you are applying for.  They are mandatory to answer.

Step 2.  As you move from question to question, select your best choice and move on to the next question.

Step 3. When you are finished with the questions select the ‘Save and Continue’ button. You will arrive on the Education page.

Step 1.  If you uploaded your resume, verify the information is entered correctly.  If you are entering it yourself, tab into the first edit box which is where you will type in the name of the school you attended. There is a dropdown menu that suggests results that match what you type in. If your school is not in the list, just type it in in. Tab twice to place your cursor into the Program input box.  Enter the name of your program/major.

Step 2. Tab from the Program input box twice to go into the Education Level combo box. While there select the highest level of education you have attained.

Step 3. Tab to the ‘Remove Education’ and the ‘Add Education’ links. If you need to, add and remove education.

Caution: If you press Enter while on the Remove Education link the institution, program and education level you have input directly BEFORE that link will be deleted. Be sure that is what you want to do. Once the data has been removed you will have to reenter all of it.

Step 4.When you Remove Education and then Tab once you will find the Add Education link. Pressing this link will restore a new education section with the three necessary fields in it.

Step 5. When you are finished in this section Tab to the “Save and Continue” button. Press Enter. You will arrive on the Employment History page.

Step 1. If you uploaded your resume, review the information was entered correctly.

Step 2.  If you are entering the information yourself, enter the Employer name, then your job title

Step 3. In the Start Date field. There are two fields (month and year) for both the Start and the End Dates.

Step 4. If this is your current job leave the ‘End Date’ field blank and select the checkbox which says ‘Current Job’

Step 5. Enter your employment details in the ‘Achievements/ Responsibilities’ field.

Step 6. Select the ‘Remove Work Experience’ and the ‘Add Work Experience’ links if you need to add and/or remove work experience.

Step 7. When you are finished in this section Select the “Save and Continue” button. You will arrive on the ‘Certifications’ page.

Step 1. Type in the name of the certification relevant for this position.

Step 2. Enter the name of the issuing organization.

Step 3. If applicable, enter the unique identifying number in the Number/ID edit box.

Step 4. In the Country field select your country name.

Step 5. In the State/ Province field. Select your state.

Step 6. In the Region field. Select your region.

Step 7. In the issue date. This is represented by two separate fields, Month and Year. Select the correct choices.

Step 8.  In the Expiration Date. This refers to the future expiration date. If the certificate has already expired, then it should not be included in the list.

Step 9. Select the ‘Remove Certification’ and the ‘Add Certification’ links if you need to add and/or remove certificates.

Step 10. When you are finished entering data on this screen Select the Save and Continue button. You will arrive at the File Attachment page.

This is a good place to attach items like a cover letter that would help express your suitability for employment in your field. On this page you can upload files and add comments which can be read by a hiring manager and/ or the HR department.

Note: There is a 25 file limit. This limit applies to you, as an applicant, not per job. If you are planning on applying for multiple jobs think about the file limit and plan accordingly.

Step 1. Read the paragraph explaining how to attach a file.

Step 2. Select the Browse… button. The Microsoft Windows “Choose File to Upload” window should  open. Locate whatever files you want to upload. When you have selected the file and pressed the Open button you should have the path to the desired file listed in the input box.

Step 3. In the “Comments about the file” input box very briefly put a meaningful tag on the document so that you can tell your docs apart and so that the hiring managers have a quick idea of what the file’s purpose is. Examples might be “Cover letter program manager position November 2014”.

Step 4. When you are finished adding a comment Select the Attach button. A table below will list your attachments.

Step 5. If you have chosen to attach a resume be sure that the ‘Resume’ and ‘Relevant Files’ checkboxes within this table are checked. Selecting the ‘Relevant Files’ Checkbox will attach that file to the specific job posting for which you are applying.

For each file there are two checkbox options (‘Relevant Files’ and ‘Resume’)

Step 6. If individual files (i.e. cover letter, writing sample, etc) are relevant to this particular job position choose the ‘Relevant Files’ checkbox prior to the file name.

Step 7. When you have finished reviewing all files in the table, select the Save and Continue button. You will arrive on the Electronic Signature page.

Overwrite a File on File Attachments Page

Note: there are times when you might want to return to the File Attachments page to add files, including updated resumes, cover letters, etc. Follow Steps 1 through 6.  The system will notice that you are trying to add a file with the same name. When you press Enter on the Attach button the system will put up a message that says, “This file has already been attached. Are you sure that you want to overwrite it? Yes No.” This gives you a final opportunity to make this decision.

Step 1. Read through the whole screen. This is a legal document and signing the page subjects you to the terms on this page. Note that just prior to giving you a signature box within which to sign the page says “Do not e-sign until you have read the above statement.”

Step 2. When you reach the signature input box type in your full name. Select the “Save and Continue” button. Press Enter. You will arrive at the Diversity Survey page.

Note: The answers on this page are required. For any of the six (6) diversity questions it is acceptable to choose “ I do not wish to provide this information.”

The page promises that “the information will be treated in a highly confidential way.” The system is designed so that this information is delivered only to the Diversity Officer/ ADA Coordinator. No one else can access it.

Step 1. There are six questions. They are ‘Ethnicity’, ‘Race’, ‘Gender’, , ‘Special Disabled Veteran’, ‘Do you consider yourself a person with a disability?’ and “Vietnam Era Veterans and Protected Veterans Status.’ Each question has a field with a default value of “Not specified”.

Step 2. Navigate through the field choices and select one answer for each field.

Step 3. Select the ‘Save and Continue’ button. You will arrive at the Summary page.

Step 1. Since this is a summary of all of the information you have input you may want to read through the entire page and make notes of anything that you find incomplete or incorrect. You can still Edit from this page before you finally submit your profile.

Step 2. If you find an item to correct your best course of action is to move to each heading and select the Edit link that pertains to that section.

Step 3. If you are still not finished with the Profile you can ‘Save as Draft’. You could also do this on any the pages.

Note: Choosing Save as Draft triggers a warning which is read to you.  “You are about to save this job submission (including the information on this page) as draft. If you save as draft, you will exit the current submission process. Are you sure that you want to save as draft and exit the job submission process? Yes No”

Step 4. When you are  Profile select the ‘Submit’ button. You will arrive at the Thank You page. You can sign out from here or go to the Job Search or View all jobs links.

Step 1. Sign into  https://massanf.taleo.net/careersection/ex/jobsearch.ftl

Step 2  Navigate to the ‘My Job Cart’ page then select the ‘My Submissions’ tab.  Depending on what previous actions you have taken you can have up to three sections available in this area.  These sections are ‘Draft Submissions’, ‘Completed Submissions’, and ‘Withdrawn Submissions’.  Job titles listed under ‘Completed Submissions’ means you have completed and submitted an application for a specific job.  Titles listed under ‘Draft Submissions’ means you have begun an application for a specific job and saved it for future completion.  Anything under ‘Withdrawn Submissions’ means you have withdrawn a previously submitted application for a specific job.

Step 3. Look for the job you have submitted an application for under the heading of ‘Completed Submissions’. 

Step 4. You can review the status on each job submission.  You are particularly looking for “Job Status” and “Submission Status”. If the “Job Status” says ‘Active’, then the position has not yet been filled. You can also check that “Submission Status” is ‘Complete’. This tells you that your submission is current and gives you the last date you worked on it.

Step 5.  Pressing the View Submission link takes you back to the application so you can add and amend items. For instance, you can add another document or change an address or phone number in your contact information.

Step 6. After the ‘View Submission’ link there is a ‘Withdraw’ link. Pressing that takes you to a page where you must enter a comment to explain your withdrawal and Submit it.

Note: all withdrawals are stored on the ‘My Submissions’ tab of the ‘My Job Page’. If you do change your mind you can navigate back there and Resubmit your application.