Taperman articles

Federal Job Search Strategies

Large numbers of Americans long to be employed in the federal sector, not surprisingly as government employment offers a guarantee of lifelong security. This has a solid guarantee once the year’s probationary period has been satisfied. Even though politicians try to limit public spending the US government has a track record of employing 2,700,000 civil servants and applicants. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, there are at least ten times the number of applicants than there are available positions in the Civil Service.

There are many reasons why people aspire to a federal position, some altruistic and some more personal. What they have in common is that they are aware that the Government is an excellent employer to work for and working for the Civil Service holds tremendous benefits. For example the job security is unrivalled by any offered by the private sector and government employees are rarely laid off or fired thanks to the many laws and regulations that the personnel departments have to adhere to.

The result is that a similar position is soon found for any employee who has been nominated for transferal. Applicants are also attracted by the exceptional retirement package and health insurance packages for which the government pays about three quarters of the whole premium.

The value and benefits of these and retirement benefits outweigh anything offered in the private sector despite the complicated rules governing these.

Of course the competitive salaries set at $60,203 worldwide are an attractive inducement too, further enhanced by an annual raise of 3.5% as of January 2005. Employees in major metropolitan areas are generously recompensed accordingly.

There is much more scope for promotion too than in the private sector. In the Senior Executive Service or SES of which there are around 7000 employees the average salary is in the region of $150, 350 and the highest is $162,100. It is no wonder that competition is fierce to land a job with the federal government and it is useful to have a few key strategies to enable an applicant to reach his or her goal. The following tips may be useful:

One way to get your foot in the federal employment door is take a traineeship. If you do this for about a year you then end up at the same level as those with prior government experience, with whom you would be competing. The salary for these trainee positions are around $25,000 to $30,000 000 per year which is the GS-5 level. This is an excellent career move and can gain you entry to many government positions.

It is important to submit a resume that does you justice and demonstrates that you have all the skills, background and years of employment experience. Not many know that federal government managers aim to start new recruits at the highest grade possible as this means that the applicant is more likely to stay in the role for a significant period of time.

The dropout rate from federal service mainly occurs within the first five years as they are often attracted to the private sector with its higher starting salaries. It is worth considering that several years of trustworthy self-employment can count as appropriate experience when applying for a government job.

Make sure that you check the government’s official website frequently (http://www.usajobs.opm.gov) as jobs are only held open for about 3 to 4 weeks.  The website is updated daily and lists nearly every government vacancy. It is advisable to make a start on your application as soon as possible as the process can be a lengthy one.

Watch out for scams that claim to get you a federal job. There is no shortcut to doing it yourself and there is nothing any agency can do to help you that you cannot do yourself!

Be aware that salaries typically begin low which might well be less than you are getting in your present position. However they do increase quite quickly. For example a civil servant in Washington can expect to be earning $62,886 after three years of service - a good increase after a starting salary of $35,42!  This is without taking into account the statutory annual 3% raise.

Remember that the application procedure is a fixed one and read the job posting with great care. It is vitally important that you send your application form and documents on time, as even a day late will disqualify you. Legally they cannot consider late applications.

Stay positive even when the inevitable job rejections arrive at your door. There is a lot of tough competition for federal jobs but remember the old adage: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”. If you do, there is a good chance that you will eventually be offered the position of your choice!

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