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intern, intern, intern. Being an intern is a near automatic job offer provided you aren't atrocious. Many managers prefer hiring interns that they've worked with over diving into the resume pool and picking out an unknown. There is one huge fact that puts a lot of government hiring into perspective - even inside the probationary period it is near impossible to fire a government worker. Therefore before resorting to teh resume database, managers will go off of people they know, personal recommendations from good employees, or last summer's intern. Technically personal recommendations shouldn't play a big role - but if someone who works in an office flags 1x resume out of the ether for special attention that will definitely count for a lot.
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Jul 25, 2010 00:39
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1) interns with the federal government get paid a salary and benefits commensurate with their work experience and education levels. 2) PMF is a great program and should be pursued if an option
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Jul 25, 2010 22:25
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Monocular posted:I graduated almost a year ago in International Studies: Global Commons and Environment (think poly-sci plus environmental studies) from UW Madison. I haven't been able to find a job in my major, and I've since been working as a waiter. in addition to Fulbright, also try the Pat Roberts scholarship
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Nov 2, 2010 23:21
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it's also worth pointing out that we are under continuing resolution authority until Congress passes a budget, which under this climate might push well into March. In other words - most of the federal government won't be able to make any offers and on-board new hires for several months.
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Nov 26, 2010 17:25
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grover posted:Vacant positions in existing billets can be filled, though, just new billets can't be created? That was my understanding, at least; CRA basically just extends FY10 spending levels so anything that was funded in FY10 is funded under CRA, command just run the risk of FY11 budget cuts from FY10 levels really loving with their resourcing. We're not doing any hiring actions - even those advertised in FY10. Those who had offers in hand are good to go and still being processed. But my shop for example has 3-4 billets that were advertised in FY10 and weren't filled, and now will basically sit dormant until after CRA is lifted. Might vary by agency though - who knows.
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Nov 26, 2010 18:33
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or the current minority could stall everything, come in on January as the majority, and then try to shut down the government . . .
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Nov 27, 2010 00:03
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psydude posted:Apparently the GOP is pushing to have the funding issue resolved this term. This is kind of surprising, considering one would have expected them to wait until they can do whatever they want with it next term. the GOP leadership also said that they will not move any legislation forward until the Bush tax cuts are extended. So - depends on how much the Democrats will try to fight this. If the Democrats actually decide to fight this could easily get pushed until the new Congress is seated. poo poo - I'm in the market to purchase a condo in DC right now and the uncertainty is killing me. Talk of a 5-10% across the board pay cut, talk of phasing out the mortgage interest deduction, etc. Happydayz fucked around with this message at 06:29 on Dec 5, 2010 |
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Dec 2, 2010 04:03
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Slaan posted:Has anyone ever done a Paralegal program with the government? I'm applying to a couple, Justice and FTC. They are ~$45,000 for 1-2 years, with an opportunity to take a permanent position afterward. Are these as good a deal as they look? is there a career ladder for the permanent positions? Worth asking. Where I worked I came in as a GS-9, but had automatic promotions to GS-12 every 6 months. I know that government layers are in a career ladder where they come in as GS-10's or 12s, but are promoted annually until they hit GS-13/14/15.
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Dec 25, 2010 20:36
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chuchumeister posted:Oooh, I see. That makes much more sense. I was thinking of reach in a more literal sense. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/28/AR2010122804257.html hiring managers loved it because it shortened the hiring process. Labor leaders hated it because it because it allowed for more managerial discretion (or favoritism)
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Dec 30, 2010 02:19
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http://www.dia.mil/careers/events/pdf/HCG10018_FlyerV2LoColor.pdf Invitation only hiring event at DIA. Apply by Jan 7, event is held Feb 15-16 in DC, hiring managers and HR reps are empowered to make on-the-spot conditional job offers. This is one of the fastest ways into the federal government, and also one of the easiest ways to break into the intel community. Definitely worth checking out. Just be advised that there will be a flood of applicants. The way it works is that HR will take the flood of resumes. HR will screen these and forward relevant resumes to interested managers. These managers who have vacancies will highlight those that interest them as well as search through the entire database themselves. HR will invite these people to the event and set up a time for them to meet with the manager. And here is the key - once a prospective employee is at the event, they can conduct ad hoc interviews with other hiring managers, thereby greatly increasing their prospects. So different strategies that you can take. You can try to be the jack of all trades and submit a "I am awesome" resume that you hope a manager highlights. Or you can do a narrowly focused resume hoping to get invited, and once there branch out and try to hit elsewhere. Drawbacks to both - the general approach means it is much harder to get recognized by someone out of the sea of resumes. The narrowly focused one takes the risk that the area you focused on actually has empty billets they are trying to hire against. Personally I would recommend going narrow just because it helps you stand out better. That and much of the federal government has been under a hiring freeze, so just through natural attrition it is likely that most offices are hiring. Happydayz fucked around with this message at 08:24 on Dec 30, 2010 |
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Dec 30, 2010 08:21
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on the plus side - you got multiple offers. So clearly you have something going for you that managers/HR reps are gravitating toward. Just need to capitalize on that by taking the long route. But yeah - sucks.
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Dec 30, 2010 08:32
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menpoop posted:It's worth noting that there are 'inactive' as well as a 'rejected' statuses available and they claim your application is available for 12 months. This is not entirely true. For federal jobs you want to be applying every month at the beginning of the month. Your resume might be on file for 1 year, but it will just get dumped into the resume database where hiring managers might find yours by doing a key-word search. But the real way is for someone in the Human Resources department to review your resume, flag it as having potential, and then have them forward it to hiring managers with vacant billets. For this it helps to get a fresh resume in near the beginning of the month to hit any hiring cycle they might have going on that month.
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Jan 21, 2011 03:49
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the DIA grad program is used to recruit a wide mix of skillsets. Normally they pick up 10 people and amongst them there will be someone with a hard science background, a few heritage/native language speakers, maybe an economist, maybe a trained social scientist, etc. etc. Applying with a vanilla liberal arts degree generally is not going to work.
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Feb 2, 2011 05:04
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Had two bachelor's degrees (Psychology and International Studies), able to read a non-Western language at the university level, a security clearance, and 3 years living overseas by the time I graduated. :-\ Do you mean they don't generally take people without graduate degrees/lots of work experience already? From the program material, they made it sound like it was something new grads should apply for. it is generally a new grad program. Your language skills might have been worthwhile, but you also have to factor that it is a competitive program. There are only ten slots and before the recession DIA would get 300+ apps for them. Nowadays I wouldn't be surprised if there were 500 or more applicants for every billet.
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Feb 2, 2011 20:34
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You people are reading way into why you aren't getting interviewed for X position, or invited to Y event. Right now hiring managers and human resources officers are getting flooded with resumes. There is not some special in-depth process where everyone is rated against each other, given a number corresponding to his merit, and then selected from there. Instead there is this massive sea of resumes that a manager will randomly pull a handful of resumes out of. I sat with my branch chief who had the authority to do 3x hires a year ago before this recent freeze - you would be amazed how many people with completely random-rear end job histories decide to apply for federal jobs. Former tennis coaches, personal trainers, etc. I think he had at least a hundred pages of resumes, possibly a few hundred total, to review and pick out a half dozen to interview. This is after the initial screening by human resources. I heard from another hiring manager that he simply scrolled through the big rear end .pdf of resumes, stopped someplace random, and started reading a handful of resumes until he got to someone who 1) had a graduate degree, 2) was a veteran. Did this a few more times until he had enough to start interviewing. So from this it's pretty easy to see why word of mouth and personal referals make a huge difference. Plus there is a massive amount of lucked involved. I think a CIA HR person once said at a public event that it is not uncommon for them to have 30,000+ resumes on file. Do you honestly think that they go through these resumes get looked at in any depth? This is why I tell every college student that I meet to develop identifiable skillsets. It is not enough to just do a random liberal arts degree and be quantitatively better than someone else. You need skills that are CTRL-F'able, like hard science major/minor, foreign language, math skills, substantive overseas living experience, etc. If it's too late for that, just keep applying and do so at the start of every month. Yeah, they say they'll keep your resume on file for 6 months, whatever. You might have been the best applicant out of hundreds one month, but maybe the HR screener was hungry and about to go to lunch when he finally caught up with yours. Moral of the story - there is way too much randomness in federal hiring decisions to take things personally or second guess yourself (assuming you do have a solid resume put together). The flip side of that is that all of these 22/23 year old who think they are high and mighty because they got hired out of college need to get off their high horse and realize just how much luck had to do with it. Happydayz fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Feb 14, 2011 |
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Feb 14, 2011 04:29
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psydude posted:What exactly do you mean by referrals? Have someone email HR telling them to look out for X resume? Have someone in the office vouch for "X", at which point the hiring manager will CTRL-F for the name and at least look at the resume. Honestly just that little bit is a big deal - getting someone with actual authority to read your resume, is a big deal. Official referrals through the referral process is a waste of time. I don't even bother trying to refer people through official channels anymore after the Arabic, Mandarin, and Korean speaking combat veterans I referred did not even get contacted.
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Feb 16, 2011 05:20
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amethystbliss posted:Doesn't the fact that I've already accepted the offer indicate I'm willing to take the GS7 Step 1 pay and thus make any negotiations sound really weak? I feel like such an idiot. Talk to your "enthusiastic would-be supervisor" and mention that this is an issue. Trust me - hiring is also a pain for managers. The manager has already selected you - which means that you've already cleared your agency review board, they have already interviewed a pool of candidates, and the manager has now submitted an offer against an applicant. All of this is a loving hassle. The last thing he/she wants is for you to turn down the offer and start going down to this second or third choice, all of whom might now be less likely to accept as more time passes. It is in your manager's best interest to get you committed and on board. So if you mention the grade difference he is likely to go to bat for you. Just do so graciously while remembering that it is HR that is screwing you, not your manager
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Feb 19, 2011 23:43
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why would federal employees get reimbursed? I was told that during a furlough you are not to show up for work, even if you want to, due to liability issues to the USG.
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Feb 21, 2011 17:13
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Pompous Rhombus posted:There's that DIA Fellowship program you can apply for as a civilian, but it's competitive as hell; I think there are like 5 places a year or something. I did two BA's in Psych and International studies, took grad classes as a senior, spoke fluent Thai (that I learned as a National Security Education Program Scholar), had an active Secret clearance through State, and still got the brush-off. Didn't bother applying this year. http://www.dia.mil/careers/students/DefenseICScholar2010.pdf The program hires around 10 max per year, but the hiring is incredibly arbitrary. There's no interview process - it's done entirely off of resume, transcript, and a written sample. On top of that there are probably several hundred applications per year. It's worth reapplying every year just because getting hired or not could easily be a factor of when a HR person decides to go to lunch that day. quote:So, I've graduated with a Bachelor's in Political Science and History. I realize by looking at pretty much every job listed on USAJOBS, or even anything in on the State of Texas website that I don't seem to meet all of the qualifications for any job. How am I supposed to get 2+ years of experience in 'X' if there don't seem to be any opportunities to get experience. apply for every student position imaginable. And don't be stupid and JUST apply to CIA, NSA, State, and the other big names. There are tons of other government agencies with analytic roles supporting overseas activity; Energy, Treasury, DEA, etc. Show them some love as well. Happydayz fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Jul 1, 2011 |
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Jul 1, 2011 03:36
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or make friends with a general officer or SES. There's something entirely legal called "executive referrals". So long as you meet the basic requirements for employment an executive referral is basically a guaranteed way to get an entry level position. Especially if the GO/SES follows up with a phone call. So I just applied for a position on USAJobs. 4x total vacancies and around 250 people applied for it. It said that my resume was forwarded to the selecting official. How many people were cut? Does this mean that I just made it through the initial HR screen? Does it mean that I'm part of the short-list of resumes (say 20-25) that get forwarded to the hiring manager? Not really sure where I am in the process
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Jul 7, 2011 12:54
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JohnnyHildo posted:Do you have a source for this? I've heard rumors of this type of thing before (also called "name referral") but never actually seen any evidence of it. I haven't seen anything that even comes close in Title 5 that would permit such an activity, and the SES member I work for has never heard of it. I suspect it is an urban legend along the lines of "OPM regulations permit you to have 2 beers during work hours". in my internal human resources website there is a mechanism by which to refer an external for hire. It also gives an option to click a box if you are a SES or General Officer. And I know first hand of someone who just got hired by this process - reportedly through this very process
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Jul 13, 2011 23:22
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Beerdeer posted:Bear in mind a bunch of those are GS 5-7 in the Arlington area. That'd be tough. are they also NTE? Not to exceed, so in other words after the period is over you are basically gone.
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Dec 16, 2014 23:10
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Quarex posted:We have certainly talked about intelligence analysis positions in the thread before; I believe the consensus was that while technically you can get such a position as a civilian, realistically since the military is one of the only places you can get that kind of experience you are not likely to get considered for even entry-level stuff without that background. for strategic level analysis, which is what most laypeople are probably thinking, a bachelors degree is just as competitive. There is a slight DoD agency preference toward veterans, given hiring laws, but there are plenty of people within DoD three letters with no prior military experience. CIA gets to ignore some OPM HR standards, but I'm not sure whether they give veterans preference for hiring or not. Experience wise a military vet isn't going to have THAT much of a leg up. Your average service intel analyst (army, navy, af, marines, etc) are doing fairly specialized service-related stuff that isn't transferable to strategic level analysis. Another way to think about this is that strategic level intel analysis is remarkably similar to what a journalist or a political scientist academic will produce. There are obvious differences in WHO they are writing for that then drives some important day to day changes, but fundamentally all three jobs are about taking disparate pieces of information, thinking deeply about what all that data actually means, and then preparing those conclusions for a consumer. Prior service does help with that, but being a foreign correspondent for a newspaper, or even almost any published writer in general, will have a greater leg up than an air force analyst deeply versed in targeting minutia, an army analyst who can whip up a MCOO, or a naval analyst doing whatever happens within an N2 shop. Happydayz fucked around with this message at 23:15 on Oct 12, 2015 |
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Oct 12, 2015 23:11
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Quarex posted:I appreciate this, I had never heard that there was any reason to keep hope alive until now. Since you basically described me in passing as what a strategic-level intelligence analyst does. Hmm. I should reconsider my plans and go talk to the DHS Guidance Counselor about what I want to be when I Job-Grow-Up. Just be prepared - IC jobs are extremely competitive, especially coming from outside the government and without experience. Having an executive referral (from a general officer or SES level senior civil servant) helps a TON, an in house recommendation also helps but is not nearly as decisive. Just throw your name into the resume pile and hope that you get lucky. Don't plan on it though, chances are slim with 500+ applicants for one open job vacancy being common. If you ever have the opportunity to attend an IC agency organized hiring fair, absolutely shot up. Hiring managers are empowered to make same-day conditional offers through this streamlined process. quote:Unrelated: Are you supposed to use your USAJobs résumé for (detail) applications that are done through e-mail? My Person On The Inside says it probably does not matter, but whenever a detail opportunity comes up and is like "just e-mail your qualifications to this person, whatever, just get it done and shut up" I always think they want it to be hyper-compressed one-page-style, but I have also heard the opposite argued. I bet "it depends," huh It's stupid. Your resume needs to make it past HR screeners. If they are using automated software then length is better. Even if they are reading it in person length might still be better; they have a scorecard and are marking off resume bullets that add points to your overall score. HR's job is take the ~500 or ~1000 resumes that come in and whittle it to a more manageable number (~50ish?) for the actual hiring manager or hiring board. So resumes are racked and stacked, and every resume above a certain cut off get forwarded. However, brevity probably helps once you are past the HR screen . Your resume is now being looked at by a hiring manager (GS-14 or GS-15 manager who will either be within your rating chain or at least directly part of your organizational structure). These guys have every incentive to hire a good candidate as they'll be working with them day in or day out. What they end up getting is one giant .pdf with every resume scanned into it. So basically a monster 500+ pg pdf of resume, one after the other. In this case being short and sweet is helpful. This is for resumes sent into USAJobs. A hiring fair has the hiring manager identifying which applicants he wants to meet in person during the fair. All of those applicants will get invited, along with every other invitee, and those applicants can go around meeting multiple hiring managers, even those who didn't initially select them, and potentially leave with a conditional offer made that day. This is better for everyone. One caveat - these are just examples. Practices can vary both between and within agencies. To directly answer your question - if your person on the inside is saying "just e-mail your qualifications to person X", then I personally would not e-mail me shitily formatted USAjobs resume and instead send my regular civilian resume. It sounds like you are skipping the horrible HR screening step and going straight to a hiring manager. If he really likes you that hiring manager can ask HR to send your resume through the hiring screen. That way, all the process boxes are checked, but the hiring manager can still formally interview/consider someone he got as a recommendation.
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Oct 17, 2015 15:57
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dalliance posted:Hi everyone, PMF if it is not too late. One of the best ways into good government jobs is through that program.
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Nov 17, 2015 23:22
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No, not really. There are a lot of US government jobs in Europe, specifically Germany and Austria. There are several large Defense Department bases in Germany. Stuttgart is home to two regional combatant commands; European Command and Africa Command. Ok, not GREAT opportunities for a Chinese-specialist there, but possible. DIA is hiring entry level intel analysts right now - put your name into the hat for that. There are also some policy type positions at EUCOM/AFRICOM working country desks. Use your Chinese background to get you into the door, and then try to find your way to Stuttgart, Ramstein, or Wiesbaden, where there are significant DoD installations. For Austria - Vienna is home to 3x Ambassador level US positions; one US mission to Austria, one to the OSCE, and one to the big UN hub there in Vienna. There might also be UN positions there. I believe the bits of the UN dealing with nuclear weapons, narcotics, and a few other things, are in Vienna.
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Sep 2, 2016 23:38
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Artificer posted:Hmmm. Military wasn't quite what I was expecting at all, but I'll keep my options open and put that on the list. Thank you. Anyone else? No, that isn't correct. There are three missions there and a lot of personnel supporting them. Long story short - a lot of international jobs in Vienna.
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Sep 3, 2016 01:07
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