Federal Government Jobs

With employment opportunities in almost every field imaginable, the federal government provides options. Search for jobs on the USA Jobs Website and read the information below regarding applying for a government job.

Helping Job Seekers Land Federal Government Jobs

With nearly one-third of all federal employees (nearly 1.9 million employees) eligible to retire in the next four years and new federal jobs being created as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal government is looking to hire a significant number of people.

Brooke Bohnet, associate manager for education and outreach with the Partnership for Public Service (PPS), offers the following tips for landing a job with the federal government:

• Plan ahead—The application process itself can take time. To improve a your chances of getting a job, allow plenty of time to thoroughly complete the application.
• Select carefully—Applications tailored for specific jobs that are a good match for your skills and talents will be more successful than sending out a standard resume for many jobs. Read about building your federal resume and KSA writing (a set of questions to help determine whether you are a good fit for a job, based on your combined set of job-related knowledge, skills and abilities) before you apply.
• Prepare for a wait—It can take weeks to months before you will hear back about your application, and during this time there may be little or no communication from the agency. Every federal job requires a background check before the agency can make a job offer. If the position is related to national security, you will be instructed to complete the security clearance process once you receive an offer. Apply for positions without security clearances about four months before their start date and six to eight months in advance for national security related positions.
• Follow up with the agency—Contact the identified representative to learn the status of your application or to find out more about a job about a month after the closing date or, if the closing date is extended, about a month after you turned in your application.

The Partnership for Public Service's Web site—www.makingthedifference.org—offers a variety of information on federal job and internship opportunities, as well as resources to help job seekers understand where jobs are in government that fit their needs and interests and tools to help them navigate the federal application process.

“We also encourage career services professionals and job seekers alike to visit the Web sites of individual federal agencies to learn more about specific agencies that they may be interested in applying to/working for,” says Bohnet.

To find job openings, Bohnet advises job seekers to visit the federal government job Web site—www.usajobs.gov.

Jobs with the federal government are attractive because of competitive salaries, a solid benefits package, meaningful and challenging work, and opportunities for advancement and professional development. (For more details, go to www.makingthedifference.org and click on Why Federal Service.) Still, most job seekers don’t know that these positions are available across the country and across the industry spectrum.

“More than 84 percent are not in the metro D.C. area,” Bohnet notes. “Also, there are federal jobs available for virtually all backgrounds and interests, from architects to zoologists and everything in between.”

Bohnet says that the lack of jobs in other sectors of the economy has certainly made government an attractive option, but the economy alone is not driving increased interest in federal jobs.

“President Obama's call to service has also been a factor in getting more young people to consider job opportunities with the federal government,” she explains, “as has increased focus on the federal government as a solution to some of our nation's most pressing issues.”