How To Get A Federal Government Job

I've been fortunate and kept my employment during the current recession, but I believe it's always important to keep your ears open. So when my alma mater, Case Western Reserve University, offered a seminar on how to get a job with the federal government, I made plans to attend. Here are my notes from that presentation.

The starting point for finding and applying for a job with the federal government is the US Office of Personnel Management website. There you will find much information about government jobs, including a link to USAJobs.gov, a monster-like job search site.

Applying for a federal job is somewhat demanding. Senate bill 736, sponsored by Ohio Senator Voinovich among others, addresses Federal Hiring Process Improvement.

One TLA (Three Letter Acronym) that is vital to the application process, is KSA, which stands for:

• Knowledge
• Skills
• Abilities

More on KSA's later.

Step one is to create a MyUSAJobs profile / account on the USAJobs.gov website. Believe it or not, a good source for clarification of job descriptions is Wikipedia!

Remember to reference key words in your application & resume. Key words will be nouns and / or noun phrases.

Bullets:

• start with verbs
• use key words from the job announcement

The government uses software to compare applications with announcements, so using the same words in your application as were used in the announcement will make you a better match!

KSA's are mandatory. The job description may or may not be. Customize your resume / application to meet the needs of the job. If given the option, always send a paper resume.

On your resume - use an objective. These are less common now on private sector resumes, but on a resume for a federal job, base your objective on the job announcement. Federal job resumes can be up to 6 pages in length.

Other useful websites for job informatioin include:

• http://www.studentjobs.gov
• http://ourpublicservice.org/OPS
• http://data.bestplacestowork.org

KSA's are initially the most complicated part of the application, but can be simplified using the following format:

• context - "In my position as ..."
• challenge - "I was asked to ..."
• action - What did you do?
• result - What happened?

KSA's should range in length from 2/3 of a page to 1 1/2 pages.

Finally, once you land an interview for a federal job, create a script, practice and rehearse!

Good luck!

Elyria Parks & Recreation Shutdown

Earlier this week, I responded to an ad in the newspaper seeking a soccer instructor for ages 4-7 for Elyria's late winter soccer program. As a coach with 7 years experience and my NSCAA State & Advanced Regional diplomas, I got an application and sent it in.

Before I even had a chance to follow up, I read this article covering Thursday night's city council meeting, which stated that "every part-time Parks staff member would be laid off — a total of 250 employees — for a total savings of about $500,000."

I realized that this probably meant the instructors, so I called the department and my fears were confirmed. The program was going to be cancelled, and the entire department was pretty much being shut down.

This is very discouraging, as my kids have been involved in many different sports through the parks and recreation department over the years, including basketball, volleyball, swimming, and tee-ball.

I asked my contact at the department why this was happening, because it seems to me that if the soccer program had 30 kids paying $30 each, the $900 collected would more than pay for the instructor and the utility bills for the recreation center. He replied that it had to do with "union rules."

Sure enough, there was another article in today's paper, describing that the city could not cut union jobs or union pay, unless all part-timers were let go first: "The union contracts require part-timers to be cut first, which means the Parks and Recreation Department, which relies most heavily on its part-time staff, would be unable to open a single recreation center or operate any of its hugely popular sports programs. "

The most frustrating thing, again, is that many of these parks and recreation department programs would seem to pay for themselves. But by not hiring any skilled part-time instructors or referees to help run the programs, they cannot occur.

Can the union workers run the same programs with the same success? Possibly, but I'm guessing it won't happen because they don't have the specific knowledge or skills to run the sports programs.

It seems like the union jobs are being protected, at the cost of shutting down the parks and recreatioin department, which provides very important positive activities for the children of our community.