government jobs question

[TKahn85]

Hello,

So I am thinking about applying to a few governemnt jobs but I am a little confused. Sites like http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/ do not make it too clear how you know what you are qualified for, etc.

I am a recent college grad with a degree in Political Science and about 5 years of fairly competitive sales experience.

I am not sure what I should be looking for on this site and others to find a good match.

Any advice?

Thanks!

[KidScruffy]

Hello,

So I am thinking about applying to a few governemnt jobs but I am a little confused. Sites like http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/ do not make it too clear how you know what you are qualified for, etc.

I am a recent college grad with a degree in Political Science and about 5 years of fairly competitive sales experience.

I am not sure what I should be looking for on this site and others to find a good match.

Any advice?

Thanks!
Personally, I'd start with looking at the city and county HR website of whereever you live and/or are interested in living. I'd also be pretty open-minded about working in any job that's even tangentially related to what I was interested in, because (at least where I live), getting in is a big first step. Once you're working for the gov't, moving around is a bit easier. Jobs in the federal government might be a bit different.
In any event: good luck!

--KidScruffy

[Duckster]

Sites like http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/ do not make it too clear how you know what you are qualified for, etc.
Did you review the entire web site, or just look for jobs? :)

If you are serious about looking for work with the federal government, you really do need to spend time understanding how the feds hire, and the process of federal hiring, before you even take a serious look at what jobs are available. It is very different than the private sector. You might hear that a decent resume is sufficient and I bet the web site says that, too. But a private sector-style resume (two pages max, short, sharp and shiny) more often than not won't get you a first look, uless the job to be filled is crucial and you have the perfect skills match for that job, and no one else in the government is looking to change jobs.

Federal job applications are detail-oriented, from your base application the the specific KSAs you must complete specific to the job announcement. It's not unheard of that your typical mid-level position (GS 9-13) application will run 30 pages or more, including those KSA pages (preferably one page per KSA question). OTOH, the feds hate large applications because it takes forever to fill a position. But on the other hand, the application process only works that way.

And competition can be very tough. From your description, you won't be considered for anything higher than a GS-5 level position. That's the baseline entry level for practically anyone with a four-year degree. It's not going to the matter to the feds that your sales experience was so good you were pulling six figures in the last two years of your sales positions because your demonstrated skills base is a GS-5 and the nationwide GS-5 rate is $25k a year to start.

Generally speaking, other than the military or homeland security jobs, the feds are downsizing big time. That means fed workers are being displaced and they often get first dibs on positions via interal laterals and rehires. That's not to say you could not get in. Just be aware that with the downsizing and cumbersome fed hiring process, it may take you nine months to a year of completing federal job applications before you get a hit (and that may mean five-20 applications going out every week during that whole time). Multiply that by the size of your job application and we're talking heavy paper use and postage.

Many jobs though are submitted via electronic format only. Still, you will need to have a baseline paper copy at the ready because some advertisements still only call for paper copies. In addition, an electronic resume may only get you a first notice and if called for more information, you may only have a day to submit a full paper application on very short notice. And that's part of the hiring process. It's not unheard of for a fed HR office to do that just to keep their applications down. So they might receive 100 electronic submissions for a job and the process narrows it down to say 50 eligibles. In turn, that HR office will send out a notice (probably via email) that you will need to submit more information within the next 23 hours 59 minutes in a particular format, etc. HR knows many people will not follow the rules *exactly* as stated and that in turn cuts down on the number of secondary entries HR doesn't have to review further. Yeah, it's nitpicking but that's part of the game. It's all a game.

Good luck.

[olmrfu]

If you can talk to anyone in person, such as a personnel director at city hall, you will find that lots of jobs are available that aren't advertised but are internally posted.