Getting Into Government: A Guide for High Achievers

GETTING INTO
Government
A Guide for High Achievers

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
1.

This guide was made possible through funding from the Robertson
Foundation for Government,

motivating top U.S. graduate students to pursue federal government

and foreign affairs.

Robertson partnered in the preparation of this guide with GovLoop, the lead-
-

-

1. Getting into Government

INTRODUCTION /
OVERVIEW

M e and all my friends
We’re all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
S o we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
There’s no way we ever could Waiting on the world to change

N ow we see ever ything that’s going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don’t have the means
I t’s hard to beat the system
When we’re standing at a distance
So we keep waiting
To rise above and beat it Waiting on the world to change

- John Mayer, “Waiting on the World to Change”

-

after all, isn’t there a hiring freeze?”

2.

Paul Binkley, Strategic Planning, Education, and Human Capital Consultant

Charles DeLuca,

Donna Dyer,

Tamara Golden,

Chris Grant,

Toni Harris,

Bryan Kempton,

Heather Krasna,

Paul C. Light,

Joel McFarland,

Camille Roberts,

Michael Schneider,

Doris Tirone,

Kathryn Troutman,

Yulia Vershinina,

Lily Whiteman,


1. DISCOVER:
2. DECIPHER:
3. DELIVER:

Stop trying to beat the system from a distance.

Stop waiting for the world to change.

Break in and start working from the inside out.

It begins right here, right now...and we’re here to help.

4.

CONTENTS

Discover: How Do I Find Government Career Oppor tunities?

10 USAJobs.gov

19
22
24
26
26 Presidential Management Fellows Program

28 Internship Programs

30
31 Fellowship Programs

34
34 Veterans Preference

35
35 Minorities

Decipher: How Do I Understand the Government Hiring Process?

38 Job Title
40
40 Open Period

41
42 Position Information

5.
42
Getting into Government
Promotion

43
44
44
44
46
51
53
54

Deliver: How Do I Cut Through the Crowded Field of Candidates?

58
59
63
63
64
65 How Do I Shine in the Interview?

66
67
69
71
73
74 Mentors Programs

75 Social Media

79
81 Informational Interviews

83
85
86
6.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
7.

Discover


HOW DO I FIND GOVERNMENT
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES?

-

Fe der a l S tat e Local

8.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
9.

-
-

a few tips we’ve learned based on interviews with experts and our own

- -

-
-

-
willing to wait for Washington

-
states. This often allows them

look at individual government websites. For these positions, while those

or state’s website - to get the best information.
Yulia Vershinina

Let’s go.


USAJOBS.gov
-

Use Advanced Search to Refine Your List of Opportunities

-

1. Sign in if you have an account or create a new account.

2. Go to USAJOBS.gov and ignore the main search. Click
directly on Advanced Search.

10.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
11.

3. Fill out as many of the parameters as you can.

Keywords

Fill out this page on as
completely as possible Title Search

-

-

-
-

- The reason for that is because there are so many jobs in the fed-
- eral government with overlapping responsibilities for which individuals possess

job title, they are taking out a lot of job opportunities that they might otherwise

“Students seem to shoot for program analyst role, but those posi-

I meet with students, we analyze the skills and see where a

Donna Dyer,
students skills set and applying for this type of position may increase your

Public Policy


-
tions open. -

Series Number sample week based on an ex-
-

an entire handbook to explain it
212
202 Generalist
130
117
73
51
16 Auditing
14

-
-
ity in each job series code, whether they have the requisite skills,

also worthwhile to try to get some idea of the scope for promotion and mo-

Steve Ressler,
Pay Grade or Salary Range Founder,

For more information, see Steve’s full
post entitled, “
Federal Career

tables for starters

-
ditional

12.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
13.

-
-
-

Find out additional details about your
take home pay and other valuable
information with the

Location Search

-

-


like
to use that tool.

-

minutes on a train.
Federal
Agency Search - a forum
for senior leaders - in the larg-

-
that

1.92
million 766,000 317,000
Department of
Department
of Defense

.

14.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
15.

-
.

-
formation on using the Ad-

a that -

employment opportunities within the most well-known or ob-

-
sources for navigating the entirety of the federal government is the Wash-

-

Occupational Series

-

Exclude Postings for Jobs Open Longer Than 30 Days

Postings for Jobs Open Less
-
-

-


Create a Saved Search and Set It Up to Send New Postings

-

-

16.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
17.

-

in government, set up one Saved Search just on a few criteria,

would have thought to apply for because they were using too many criteria,

your name in the email such as

and it will save you hours and hours of pouring over job announcements

-
ting familiar with job announcements, set up 5 Saved Searches and spread


Not all federal jobs are on USAJOBS!
, but that is not true. Numerous
-

-

-
-

-

here
18.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
19.

Jobs.GovLoop.com
Jobs.
We’ve built it on top of
mashed up with Linkedin, GlassDoor, and Gov-

and Hipmunk provide new

-
delivers the best
federal job opportunities by topic and
-
ality and awesome data mashups

grade AND promotion potential
that

location

how many days the job is open

multiple vacancies
salary.

U.S. Citizens or Status
Candidates


integrated with LinkedIn

tied to Glassdoor

linked to other related job openings

-
-
-
-

,
GovLoop Founder Steve Ressler penned a blog post titled
About Federal Job Openings”

60%

17% -

-
arounds.

61%
and lower level grade openings.

21%
20.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
21.

-

-

Best Places to Work Tip

-
-

teamwork, and


International Jobs:
.

International Trade Administration

-
National Guard

- Organization of the Department of
Defense

Overseas Private Investment

US Department of Transportation has an Aviation and International

State

State

Radio Free Asia

Radio Free Europe
Aviation and International Affairs, U.S.
Department of Transportation State Department

Global Affairs, State Department
U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Trade Representative

International Affairs, Department of

Department of Interior

Freedom White House
22.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
23.

USAJOBS Tip passions and skills.

also a ,a , and
-
even a ?

-
gest above.
-

-

more about how the op-

-
tions is in the US, go ahead

lead to a transfer down the
road.

International Relations and

-


Intelligence Jobs: The U.s.
Intelligence
Sneak Into Government

Community

-

-

“Intelligence series aren’t necessarily easier to get, but since
many intelligence roles require more unique and specific
skills sets, your chances are higher of getting a position if Department of Homeland

Department of State
-

Administration

-
Investigation

-

National Geospatial-Intelli-

-

24.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
25.

Where can I learn about
the different Federal
agencies?

for
more details.
-
Oh, and one other quick word on security clearance jobs: you might
be wondering if they pay more. Here’s a snippet taken from the
:

$90,865
$76,152
$14,713 + =

-

-

or fan, this might be


Special Hiring Programs So what is Pathways?

-
-
internships for students
Program.
-
ates, and provide meaningful
-
opment opportunities for
individuals who are at the
beginning of their Federal
-
tern solidify their decision to work in public service as well
as provide a paid educational opportunity to work in their
chosen field side by side with people performing the work they are
-

Presidential Management Fellows Program
-
eral government’s premier leadership development program for

-

-

that was designed to

is your one-stop re-
source to tips and information on the

26.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
27.

ts
en
m
st
s i nt
ali po
Fin Ap -

-
-

PMF Selections 2007-2011

-

218 74
9,077 628
Graduate Degree
Applicants Finalists
schools Disciplines

same time, the number of available positions does not seem to be

stats, we found this infor-

- -

-

-


-
PMF Application
- Process
make contacts, follow up by showing up early at the relevant

- Application and Resume

Online Assessment
six months in length

-

In-Person Assessment

Job Fair

. In addition
-

.

Internship Programs

-

28.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
29.

ight after I got accepted What’s great about the Internship program is that the positions
into my graduate pro- -
gram, I signed up for the
-

later, the Fish and Wildlife
-
-
sponded immediately and got
-
ternship was unpaid, I made -
many connections during my

actually emailed me to let me -
know that he was leaving his
post, and thought I would be
the perfect person to take
-

-

-
-

Dorothy Amatucci,

-


are paid and are possible

-
-
-

Some of these are posted

programs”, like State De-
partment’s unpaid intern-
ships, but most often listed

to compete for the government roles you plan to pursue after gradua- -
tunities.

-
Recent Graduates
-
-

-
be a viable foot in the door
mentorship. with an agency or provide
valuable connections and
- pathways to future opportuni-
ties, especially those that add

to your resume or provide you

-
ligations

-

-

30.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
31.

-

“[Pathways] gives more freedom for the graduate to try out different

days and toggle between quality workforce development and commu-

to try out different job positions to see where I fit best, all while I have

“Pathways has been great for me because the program is so

for almost a full year now, and this has given me the time to focus on
long-term projects that, in my opinion, are more indicative of what “real”

I don’t think three months is really enough time to get to know how

Fellowship Programs
-

-


-

programs.

-

-
tional assignments.

-

This program inspires the best of a new generation to pursue

professional position with the United States Department of State.

32.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
33.

-

White House Fellows

working as a full-time, paid Fellow to senior White House Staff,

Where can you find a list of fellowship programs?

-

-

-


Direct Hire Authority

-

-

-

-

-
here.

-
abilities, and minorities.

Veterans Preference (Spousal Preference)

veterans are not entitled to appointment under these authorities,

-

34.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
35.

OR

are a disabled veteran, OR

-
OR

AND

-

see .

People with Disabilities

-

-
-
-

-

Minorities
-
-


-
-
-

-
-

Where to Get Experience Tip
-
-

-

fbo.gov

-

-
Idealist.org

36.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
37.

Decipher


HOW DO I UNDERSTAND THE
GOVERNMENT HIRING
PROCESS?

-

1. Job Title

38.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
39.

-

about the opening that you will want
to pay special attention to

-
-

-
ment leader needs.

- Some people think HR is lame and that
it’s a lot of paper pushing, but HR is moving to less of a pa-

- There is a huge need for IT work-


Feeling Ready to
Supervise People?
Here’s a full list of OPM’s -
tions. Often these titles above will

2. Salary Range
-

- -

positions for people getting
into government will not be

3. Open Period -

-

-

40.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
41.

-
low for open period that provides an adequate amount of time to give the

standard, but it could be more or less depending on the agency’s recruit-

4. Series and Grade

Series:

-
.

Grade:

Step:


“On average, new graduates should look

Here’s how it breaks down, generally

GS-5
college
GS-7

5. Position Information bachelor’s degree and one year of rel-

GS-9 -

GS-11

their master’s or bachelor’s + 5 years

and . here

If you have a masters degree, look
6. Promotion BUT if you have a
Master’s degree, don’t say you
won’t take a GS-7. Be willing to
take the GS-7. Get your foot in
the door and have more oppor-
tunities down the road. Sometimes

Go for the lowest grade
level you are willing to accept,

for

- Doris Tirone,

-

more room to maneuver.
42.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
43.

Here’s another quick
GovLoop Ressler tip:

openings have promotion po-

higher grade level.
promotion potential to GS-
-

-

-

7. Duty Locations


-

8. Who May Apply

-

Jobs.GovLoop.

9. Duties

want to take some notes is if it starts using language

10. Qualifications

-

-

44.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
45.

-

“We instruct students to prepare
their resumes by looking at verbs and,
hopefully, if a job description is well-

agency will say ‘we want someone to calculate,

We conduct workshops with students in which
we look at job descriptions and ask them to high-
light verbs and keywords that they think the hiring
-

still think that means ‘must know French’ because
there are so many people in the queue that if you
-
ever the requirement is -- then you’re not going to

In other words, we do a lot of work in helping them

-


-

-

-

What’s Going on During the Application Review Process?

-

are going to help us identify the difference between a good

46.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
47.

Many agencies use evaluative software to assist them in re-
1

2 analysis, we use the system as a tool to separate applications

-

The human resource specialist who’s doing their job is reading
3 all those resumes and trying to verify the accuracy of the infor-

4 you don’t have it, you’re not going to be found basically quali-

-
plicants are not honest and they say they have what it takes to be basically

cases, cutting and pasting position descriptions in a person’s resume is not

We’re reading these resumes - and we’re saying, ‘this is what he says he can


Your Federal Resume: Behind-The-Scenes
1 2

90 3
Best

6

80
Better

70 4
Good 5

7

5 is to evaluate applicants based on those pre-determined skills
criteria and separate candidates into those who are basically

48.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
49.

6 -

-

is called “Veterans’ Preference” and these are the candidates we consider

applicants, we refer all other candidates who are in the highest group of

-
dates, we’re allowed to merge groups together and create one group out of

only time this happens is if we don’t have enough candidates to refer from

7
can’t merge them and get me three people, then I am going to cancel this
-

There are time limits on the process.

-


The HR folks know their stuff.

-

Sometimes HR folks are just overwhelmed.

“Once the scores are determined, they can’t be
changed.

-

“Patience is a skill you need to master when applying to federal

forth an impeccable application and building a network to support your job

Breathe.
If you’re best qualified, the call will come.

50.

Should I submit 100 or 10 applications?

-

Government career
advisor and author Paul
Binkley sums it up this way:

-


Don’t Fall Into the
”. He also has a

Ed”.

Now don’t get us wrong. We have also heard examples of people

-

52.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
53.

What’s the Best Location - Headquarters or the Field?

in both

-

-

-

-
-


-

Should I go with the executive or legislative branch?

-

-

with their applications and take longer to hire if they don’t get

-
tol Hill legislative positions are worth a book in itself as most of the

to take a look at would be -
verse

54.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
55.

Where is there a lot of
hiring happening in gov-
Congressional staffers help the members of Congress do their
ernment right now?
policy alternatives, plan the appearances of members of Con-
A lot of the hiring is based on
gress, write their speeches, negotiate compromises, communicate with the

in government. For example,
-
eral government is imple-

-

-
gram. However, often there is
-
-
-

have a lot of openings and

portions of the health insur-

-
ing the broader news like The
Washington Post as well as

-
utive that will report stories

a and a wealth of information about those kinds of op-


THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
57.

Deliver


HOW DO I CUT THROUGH A
CROWDED FIELD OF
CANDIDATES?

In General: Government Job Applications

-

58.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
59.

The Government Resume: When Cookie Cutters Won’t Work

“I can always tell the difference when someone submits an application

GovLoop has developed with tips on using the

-
ments.

-

” group that


1. Basics: Formatting

Use a serif font like Times New Roman. This will make it
easier to read.

paragraphs.

-

-

2. Quick! Grab Their Attention!

60.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
61.

-
-

-
-

3. Structure Your Experience

-

-

-
-

-

4. Educate Yourself
-

work.

their titles.

so.

-


5. Polish Your Writing Style

-

6. Be Consistent!

tense;

bullets.

-

management-skills-development

guidelines we’ve laid out above.

62.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
63.

Everyone knows the old
adage regarding what
happens when you assume Follow the steps very carefully and complete every section ac-
-
plies to federal internship and
-

-

writing your federal resume so
-
tion is spelled out with keywords -
used in the original announce- terials so they are received a day ahead of the deadline in case you have

That seems like a good idea to us.

Professional Reviews and Resources

-
Bryan Kempton,
-

School of Public Policy

Federal Prose
Federal Resume Experts
Federal Resume Writer
Federal Resumix

Cover Letters


-

-

GovLoop for even more
information.

Do I Need to Worry About KSAs and Essays?

“Much to the relief of federal job applicants, federal agencies
-

-

Nevertheless, federal agencies are still allowed to use essay questions in

a federal job, you may discover a juicy opening that is attached to an ap-

64.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
65.

How Do I Shine in the Interview?

“The interview had more technical questions about skills needed

-

to stand out.

great post on GovLoop


6 Body Language Tips for Interviewing
Posted by

Have a good handshake

Sit up straight

-

Smile

Be present

in the moment.

66.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
67.

Sit still

-

Be open

-

-
tion.

Taken from

NASA’s Doris Tirone had a few additional thoughts about the inter-

One of the recommendations that I make to job seekers is that

May I contact you in a couple weeks if I have not heard anything

sounds like it would be a great opportunity for me, but I also hope that you


-

Salary Negotiation

With most positions, there is room for negotiation, but there’s a

lowest either.

-

-

68.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
69.

Salary Negotiation Tips
great blog post

-

-
ter

1. Timing is
Everything

-

-

-

-
-

time to ask.

-

, , ,
, and Guidestar

-

2. Ask it right

3. What to do
if you can’t
get to yes this in writing.

For other tips, visit .
out GovLoop’s ,

70.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
71.

-

If you go for the lowest grade level you’re willing to accept and
it’s lower than the one you’re eligible for, you’re in a position
when offered the lower grade level, to negotiate a higher pay

-

these requirements to satisfy before setting pay at a rate that’s higher than
the base rate … and we’re required to justify our reasons before we’re able

-

if you are unable to negotiate a higher pay rate or other requests, don’t

To Call or Not to Call? Follow-Up Contact with Hiring Man-
agers

their applications, informing them whether they have been cho-
-

-


If more than three weeks have passed since your target job’s closing date,
-

may also ask whether you will be interviewed, how many applicants are

many of them and I assure you that these staffers are generally very oblig-
-

the hiring agency or damage your application in any way by inquiring about

the date your interviewer promised to make a decision has passed, call your

-

Don’t leave phone messages:

Stay in periodic touch with the interviewer:

-
ting a reputation for being a persistent pest.”

Ask for feedback if you don’t get the job:
-

72.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
73.

Do you need additional
encouragement?

Never give up -
eral hiring process rewards pa-

be a pest, but do make sure that

Keep your eye on the
mission
read should have some state-
ment about the agency’s overall

statement in the posting, move

description, it won’t be in the job

-

Paul C. Light,

-

Proactive Connection Building

people you know in that agency, alumni connections, friends of
friends, parent’s friends -- your personal network in that agency


-
-
ager, but the more knowledge you have of the organization by talking to

Mentors Programs

-

GovLoop Men-
tors Program

transfer and leadership development throughout government. We’ve

mentors.gov-
.

74.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
75.

-

Government Leaders and similar

-

Social Media

-

hosted a webinar

30 Ways to Use Social Media and Advance Your
Government Career

Facebook


-

GovLoop

doing similar work.

writing a blog or
.

guides and .

Jobs.GovLoop.

.

group.

online and in-person training.

LinkedIn

-

-

-

-

or two of these a month builds good karma.

76.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
77.

-

Twitter

-

found their tweet important enough to share.

Google

-

-

real-time.


Internal Networks (like Yammer, Chatter or Max.gov)

guru,

78.

The Art and Science
of Networking
-

-

-

-

-
-


The -

Science
-

assignment.

The Art
-

shared tastes, interests, friends, six degrees of separation, mutual ex-

-

80.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
81.

Informational Interviews

-

-

answered. Engage in small talk for a while and then get to the reason

informational interview.

Top 5 – Tips for an Informational Interview

I’ve been the interviewee on the information interview.


Next Generation of Gov-
ernment Training Summit
1) Don’t be afraid and just ask:

2) Do your research:
for an informational interview, value that person’s time. out the student rates that
most provide. GovLoop and

host a Next Generation of
-

3) Give a few options:
government leaders. Learn
-
-
on the website.

4) Have questions: There is nothing more awkward
-

5) Follow-up: After an informational interview, it is so

-

happened.

-

82.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
83.

-

a new organization and seeking to move up within an organization.

It’s Who You Know: Leveraging Alumni Groups

-

-

-

-

-

-

-
-


-guide-how-to-find-land-
keep-leap-your-government-career

Once you get that government job, please let us know.
Drop a line to Andrew@GovLoop.com and tell us your sto-
ry. We can’t wait to see how you’ll make your mark on the
public sector.
comprehensive career guide, packed

84.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
-

-

-

-
-

Steve Ressler is GovLoop’s Founder and President. As a former fed who entered through a fellowship
program, he knows the ins and outs of the getting into government maze. He’s got dozens blogs on the
Jobs.GovLoop

design.


REFERENCES / RESOURCES
DISCOVER

-

86.

White House Fellows

DECIPHER

the

-congresss-list-

DELIVER

-your-resume-usajobsstyle

Federal Prose

Federal Resume Experts


Federal Resume Writer

Federal Resumix

GuideStar

Informational Interviews

Resources

Robertson Foundation for Government

-tips-for-letting-federal

88.

THEGOVLOOPGUIDE
89.

734 15th St NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 407-7421
Fax: (202) 407-7501


Getting Into Government: A Guide for High Achievers

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