Cracking the federal jobs code

Applicants at a federal job fair hosted by Senator Mark Warner in at the University of Mary Washington's campus in Stafford, Va., on March 8, 2010: Photo Courtesy of Office of Senator Mark WarnerFederal jobs now resemble the promised land for some college graduates as the national unemployment rate hovers at 9.7 percent. 

Nearly 47,000 jobs were posted on the federal job board at USAjobs.gov last June. The variety of federal jobs is endless, from covert spy to park ranger. But if you don’t know how the government plays the jobs game, its not easy getting your foot in the door.

Rookie mistake No. 1: Ignore the website 

One way to find a government job is to attend a jobs fair. But don’t think that handing your resume over to a recruiter is the end of it.

“They think that the government can hire you on the spot,” said Ellen Gee, a recruiter for the Department of Education. “But all jobs have to be posted on www.usajobs.gov, and you must still apply online to be considered, or your resume will never be looked at at all.” Gee says it can take anywhere from months to a year for the government to fill a particular slot.

“If you are a non-status employee (non federal government) you cannot apply for ‘status’ positions,” said Gee. “That’s where a lot of people make mistakes. Also, meet the deadlines. It won’t hurt to apply early, but anything late will be disqualified.”

Deborah Tedford was recently hired as a writer for the Department of Health and Human Services. “I used www.usajobs.gov and zeroed in on jobs that coincided with my private sector work. I looked for more than a year, and I actually applied for the job I was offered in October 2009. It can be a long process.”

Rookie mistake No. 2: Short resume 

Ignore everything you’ve ever been told about keeping your resume short and succinct.

“The government wants everything,” said Gee. “They want your life story. Layout in detail everything you’ve ever done on resume. Length is not an issue. Anything you can think of, paid or unpaid.”

Put more than one resume online. The federal government allows up to five resumes in its database  — tailor each one of them. If you have different types of experiences, highlight them in each resume. Gee said to make sure you don’t file a generic resume. Make sure you check grammar and spelling before you submit a resume. Mistakes will cost you points.

Rookie mistake No. 3: Take KSAs lightly

KSAs are the bane of the federal job seeker. In addition to a resume, the federal government asks a series of essay questions about “knowledge, skills and abilities.” 

Don’t just copy answers from the resume. They want to see different wording, key words to fill out the KSA.

“KSA is the government’s way to weed people out,” said Gee. “‘They know if you’re not willing to fill out the KSAs, they don’t have to look at the application, and if you don’t fill out KSAs, the application will be discarded. If you put in ‘see resume’ your application will be rejected.”

Gee said the government wants up to 8,000 words in KSAs. The more detail the better. KSAs aren’t graded by a human resource individual; they’re graded by a computer. Applications are ranked from 1 to 100, with some questions ranked 20 points and some ranked 10 points. The cutoff may be 150 points. Agency officials will only interview people ranked 150 through 200. Only then do they evaluate KSAs, and then they may only interview the top five applicants. Hiring a professional to write the KSAs could backfire on you, because their writing may not be tailored enough to your specific skill set to separate you from the pack.

There is a way to get a general idea of what a particular job classification is looking for. Go to the Office of Personnel Management job site, click on index section then click on “letter c.” Then go to “classification” and find the job description you want. All the wording required on the KSAs should be on the site.

In general, a bachelor’s degree starts the applicant at GS-5 pay level. A master’s degree bumps you into a GS-9, an outstanding scholar (3.25 or higher) is the equivalent of a GS-7. All of this can be found at the USA Jobs.gov Salary Table.

Rookie mistake No. 4: Holding out for that one perfect job

You saw a post listing the perfect writer/editor job at the Department of Agriculture and you apply. Ten days after being posted, the job is withdrawn. What happened? An internal hire happened. If the job is announced for 10 days or less, they already have someone in mind and are making the announcement to meet legal requirements. Take a low level position if you can, and be open to relocate. “Once you get a government job,” said Gee, “you only have to stay in that position for six months, then you can apply to move around or up.”

Charles Akoda, a computer science major at Bowie State University, started his job at the Department of Labor as a three-month temp worker. He said they liked his work and put him in the Student Career Experience Program.

Deborah Tedford was recently hired as a writer/editor for the Department of Health and Human Services: Photo courtesy Brenda BoxTo be eligible for SCEP, the minimum age is 16, you must be enrolled in an accredited school, and you must be taking at least a half-time course load. SCEP hires receive benefits, are treated like regular government employees, and, when they graduate from college, their job can automatically be converted.

“When you are in SCEP, the job that you are doing is related to what you are studying,” said Akoda. “When you graduate and fulfill all of the requirements (3.0 grade point average) and complete 640 hours of work by the time you graduate, they can then convert you to a permanent employee, and don’t have to compete for the job.”

There is also the Presidential Management Fellows Program, which recruits outstanding graduate, law and doctoral level students to federal service. The OPM wades through thousands of candidates to select the top finalists. Those finalists then work for the government for two years — at the end of the two-year assignment the jobs can be converted to a non-competitive permanent position in the agency. 

Akoda said he likes his work with the Department of Labor and was surprised when they contacted him. He applied in April, the government responded in May.

“Start with whatever you can get — most people don’t like temp jobs, but its a foot in the door — once you can get into the system, they see what you can do.” 

Rookie mistake No. 5: Sit around, waiting for the call

As in all things Washington, D.C., it’s not what you know but who you know. Don’t know anyone at the agency where you want to work? Introduce yourself. Attend agency events, anything where someone can place your face with your resume. Go to government job fairs to talk to recruiters  — they can’t hire you, but they can give you a heads up about jobs that are about to open.

Recruiter Gee said once you get a federal job, find a mentor. “A high level mentor, someone who can get you where you want to go. I started out as a secretary, and my mentor introduced me to people who got me out of the secretarial pool. Also, take some government classes before you apply.”

She recommended political science and other types of classes that provide information on how government operates.

If called in for an interview, do research on the agency. One of the first questions you’ll be asked is what you know about the agency, why you want to work there and what skills do you have to match their mission.

During a Q&A session with students at the University of California Berkeley on Monday, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates encouraged students with no job prospects to look at jobs in the nonprofit sector, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“USAID has such a need for expertise and they have tons of open positions,” he said “It’s certainly a great example.”

“Be patient and continue to apply,” said Tedford. “Don’t assume that they’re not interested just because you don’t hear anything right away, or even after a few months. If there’s anything you can do — freelance, volunteer work or take classes — that would show you have a real interest or affinity for the job you want, go the extra mile.”