Gearing up to apply for a job with the Federal Government

Here's some useful advice and links from an article posted in the National Association of Colleges and Employers' August 2009 newsletter, Spotlight:

... 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 for you to pass along to your students:

• Plan ahead—The application process itself can take time; to improve a student’s chances of getting a job, he or she should be sure to allow plenty of time to thoroughly complete the application.
  
• Select carefully—Applications tailored for specific jobs that are a good match for a student’s skills and talents will be more successful than sending out a standard resume for many jobs. Students should read about building their federal resumes (see www.makingthedifference.org/federaljobs/usajobsresume.shtml) and KSA writing (see www.makingthedifference.org/federaljobs/ksa.shtml) before they apply.
  
• Prepare for a wait—It can take weeks to months before a student will hear back about his or her 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, applicants will be instructed to complete the security clearance process once they receive an offer. Students should apply for positions without security clearances about four months prior to their start date and six to eight months in advance for national security related positions.
  
• Follow-up with the agency—A student should contact the identified representative to learn the status of his or her 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 the student turned in his or her application.

The Partnership for Public Service's (PPS) 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/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 career services practitioners and jobseekers to visit the federal government job web site—www.usajobs.gov.
Jobs with the federal government are attractive because of competitive salaries, a solid benefit 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 college students 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.”...

http://www.naceweb.org/Spotlight/August/2009/Federal_Jobs/?menuID=13&referal=knowledgecenter