Fema Employment
is it difficult to get a job with the US government??
i'm just curious. i was doing a search on the USA jobs website and found a job with a description that has gotten me REALLY excited. i was just wondering how challenging the process might be..... thanks!
Public Comments
- It's difficult to get a job not just with the US government, but it's hard to get a job ANYWHERE! Everybody says that it's not what you know, it's who you know. But i applied to USA Jobs and I haven't gotten anywhere either. My advice to you would be to just keep on looking. It's a challenging process because you have to always deal with the threat of competition. No matter how many jobs you're competing for, you've got nine or ten doing the same thing you're doing and applying for the same thing you're applying for!
- Getting federal job interviews and jobs is not real difficult if you know how. The key to it is read the job announcement very, very, very, very carefully. Make sure you have the skills and education asked for. Never assume that they will figure out that what you do is what they want, especially for military people. If you are a secretary and they want experience as an administrative assistant then call your job administrative assistant. If you are an accountant and they ask for bookkeeping experience call yourself a bookkeeper. If they say a degree in Business Management don't apply if your degree is in Management. Follow the application directions EXACTLY to the letter. If they say 3 references do not send 4. If they say a BA degree don't send them your Masters degree. Get the application packet to them as early as possible in the exact format (sometimes they specify Times New Roman 12pt, don't send Arial 12pt) and the exact forms they ask for. I usually put the forms in the same order as asked for in the announcement. The first and 2nd application evaluators are almost always some HR person who knows absolutely nothing about the job, the office, the boss or anything. They have a checklist and a computer system that checks for key words, grammar and spelling. If the computer is looking for secretary and you put admin asst. the computer will ignore you. If the announcement asked for 5 items and you send 4 you are tossed out. Follow the directions exactly and make sure you have the experience and education they want AND that it is very easy for them to see this information. You will have about 15 seconds of viewing time before that HR clerk throws you in the "look at some more" pile or the trash can. It can be a long and frustrating experience. Often jobs are listed when they already know who they are going to hire, or it is based on federal funding that falls through, or the HR clerks just don't get around to it for a couple of months. Keep plugging away if federal work is what you want.
- Alaska mu is VERY right! Many folks apply for a job in government. We had one position with nearly 60 folks who made it through the initial screening. I am the person who gets the resumes after HR has read them. So here is one thing that I would advise... PLEASE proofread everything that you send in. We had several applications that made it past HR, but once it got to my desk it was "game over." Why? One applicant dated their cover letter December 2003. Hmmm last I checked, we were in 2007 (October to be exact). Also, I look for people who can string a sentence together. One other thing that might seem minor but we notice.. If you have a crazy email address like babewentwild@hotmail, please sign up for a more appropriate address that can be used for job searches (like MaryJones@hotmail, etc). Good luck in your search.
