How to Ride the Federal Hiring Wave

By Lily Whiteman
Special to the Washington Post
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 7:00 AM

There is little doubt that the planets have aligned to make federal employment the new hot property in the job market. The excitement over the new Obama administration, spiking unemployment and an exodus of retiring baby boomers from government ranks all have combined to boost the appeal of federal jobs.

Recently, experts on government and personnel predicted that Obama's budget and Recovery Act will add somewhere between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of new federal jobs to the more than 200,000 federal openings that are annually filled throughout the U.S.

Despite these unprecedented career opportunities, many job-seekers continue to avoid the federal sector. Often, they mistakenly assume that federal employers won't hire people in their profession. Yet the federal government hires virtually every type of professional that is hired by private sector employers, from blue collar workers to seasoned executives.

What's more, many job-seekers assume they would need an almost bionic ability to master the bureaucracy to land a federal job, and intentionally steer clear of the federal job market. The truth is that most feds land their jobs simply by finding suitable openings and applying for them, just as most private sector professionals do.

I know this because I 'm serving my 17th year as a federal employee. For the past nine years, I've worked as a federal career coach helping hundreds of professionals at all levels of government. In an effort to demystify the process, here are some tips for those interested in pursuing a federal job.

If you want to ride the federal hiring wave, regularly surf the federal government's main jobs website at USAJOBS.gov; this site advertises tens of thousands of nationwide openings daily.

Regularly check the career pages of agency Web sites, which frequently advertise openings that never appear on USAJOBS.gov. A link to an A-Z directory of agency Web sites is posted at firstgov.gov.

Various types of appealing federal opportunities are not advertised but you may learn about them by:

Working Temp Jobs or Contract Jobs: Temporary staffers and federal contractors who are based in federal agencies often segue almost seamlessly into permanent federal jobs.

For example, soon after writer and editor Barry Phelps of Washington completed an assignment as communications director for a nonprofit organization, he responded to an ad from a temporary-placement firm for a position as a writer/editor at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Transportation Security Administration. "I interviewed with the firm on a Friday, and then started a new assignment at DHS the following Monday," said Phelps. "When my initial three-month contract ended, DHS offered me a full-time federal position as a writer/editor, which I accepted."

Look for federal contracting jobs with federal contractors that are inventoried at usaspending.gov, and find temp agencies that staff federal agencies at state.gov/m/dghr/flo/c21666.htm and the yellow pages.

Attending Job Fairs: Federal agencies often fill unadvertised openings at job fairs -- sometimes through fast-track hiring procedures and on-the-spot offers. Agencies that are veritable job-fair junkies include EPA, State, the FBI, the FDIC, some Treasury Department agencies and some intelligence agencies linked to intelligence.gov.

Look for ads for federal job fairs on agency Web sites, in the classifieds and via Google searches. Some are annual, such as D.C. Rep. Eleanor Homes Norton's job fair, which is usually attended by dozens of agencies. It's scheduled for July 16 at the Washington Convention Center.

Networking: If you impress hiring managers and/or colleagues, they may create openings for you or direct you to promising openings. One way to generate such potentially pivotal contacts is to contribute to professional organization.

An advocate of this technique is Steve Ressler, a federal IT expert and the founder of GovLoop.com. During a previous job search, Ressler arranged an informational interview for himself with another federal IT expert whom he had met at an event honoring both of them for winning Federal Computer Week's Rising Star Award. "A month after my informational interview with my contact," Ressler says, "I saw her again at an IT conference and she said, 'You have to meet my boss,' which I did. Soon after, my contact and her boss told me about an opening in their agency that I applied for.? Ressler landed the job, which he doubts he would have without his networking.

Landing Internships: One of the best-kept secrets in government is that, in recent years, federal agencies, laboratories, embassies and museums across the U.S. and abroad have rolled out hundreds of well-paying summer internship and management training programs for young professionals. Designed to help agencies replace retiring baby boomers, these programs offer participants substantive project experience and networking opportunities that often lead to permanent federal jobs, according to hiring managers.

Some federal internship programs, including those at the FBI, CIA, Transportation Department, Energy Department, and the Congressional Black Caucus, Inc., favor minorities, women and people with disabilities. Look for federal internship and management training programs on agency Web sites, students.gov, science.gov, makingthedifference.org, whitehouse.gov/fellows and pmf.opm.gov.

Landing Fellowships: Dozens of fellowship programs place many types of experienced professionals, including scientists, teachers, economists, communicators and foreign affairs experts, in federal jobs for limited periods of time. These programs provide opportunities to shape policy, conduct cutting-edge research, schmooze with power brokers and pivot into government careers.

For example, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annually recruits more than 150 accomplished scientists and engineers into its Science & Technology Policy Fellowship program. During their fellowships, which last up to two years, AAAS fellows work in federal agencies and Congress, where they help craft science-based legislation, serve as science communicators and contribute to decision-making on hot-button issues. About 20 percent of last year's class of AAAS fellows moved into full-time federal jobs when their fellowships ended, according to AAAS.

Among fellowship alumni who have segued into federal careers is Chris Weaver. Eager to apply scientific research to societal problems, Weaver left his job as an Assistant Research Professor at Rutgers University in 2005 for a AAAS fellowship in EPA's Global Change Research Program, where he addressed potential climate change impacts on air and water quality. When Weaver's fellowship ended in 2007, he was offered a permanent job as a Physical Scientist in his EPA office, partly because by then, "I had become a known to the office, I fit well with the team, and management felt my expertise could help the program," he said.

Information about federal fellowships can be found on agency Web sites, science.gov, triangle-coalition.org/ein.htm, fellows.supremecourtus.gov/index.php, and the Web sites of professional organizations for public health experts, engineers and scientists, including http://fellowships.aaas.org.

Lily Whiteman is the author of How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job (Amacom Books) and the careers columnist of Federal Times. With 17 years of experience at six federal agencies, she is currently a career coach who has helped hundreds of professionals and an award-winning writer at the U.S. National Science Foundation*. Whiteman's websites are http://www.IGotTheJob.net and http://thegovgurus.com.

*This article reflects the personal views of Lily Whiteman, and is not an official statement of the National Science Foundation.