ALUMNI TIPS - How to Land a Federal Job

I’ve written several blogs about Federal jobs. Lately, the only folks seriously hiring MPPs seem to be the Feds – and, yet, these are the trickiest jobs to land. I doubt that the government intended making the process difficult; it’s just that in being fair to all applicant, they have bent so far backwards that the process has become twisted beyond repair. There are guides and resume templates posted on Pepperdine proprietary career database, EPPIC, and if you’re a student or alum, go check them out. They’re proven to work.

But you might not believe me, so I asked alums who have successfully navigated the Federal hiring labyrinth to share their experiences.

Here’s what they had to say:

[From a 2008 grad who wants to stay anonymous]

Hi Jody,

I've applied for several Federal jobs and the hiring process is still very, very long. I can tell you about my most recent experiences. I've had two interviews with the Government Accountability Office in the last 10 months. I just had an interview last week which came 4 months after the job posting closed, and it will be 2 more months before I hear about the outcome. Everything I've learned so far has been that it is almost arbitrary in how people are selected for Federal jobs, but there are some things that can be helpful.

1. It is beneficial to go to job fairs and meet with recruiters and get a rapport going, because that is how two of my friends received their Federal positions.
2. Try out on-site government contracting, often that is a good way to get your foot in the door and can lead to the position being converted from a contract one to a Federal one. Also, even if they don't convert you to a Fed the experience you gain in a Federal job setting is extremely valuable when applying for those jobs
3. .When applying for Federal jobs, it is vital that all keywords from the job announcement appear on the resume and in any KSAs that have to be answered or your resume will not make the CERT.
4. Networking is also vital when applying for Federal jobs, this is because when you are applying for a specific job it helps a lot if you can find someone in the office in which you are applying to have HR pull your resume out of the pile and take a second look.

Hope this helps!



[From Kim LaGree Ross (2001) who worked at the White House Office of Faith-based Policy]

… I have applied for and received federal job offers and was an appointee. I actually took a class in how to write KSAs which are the Knowledge Skill Ability sections for government hiring forms. The key is to be very thorough and very repetitive and not rush these sections because the computer screens (and score) the individuals. In addition, it is important to apply for a position that one would be able to qualify at the highest skill on all questions and then explain how their skills/abilities apply...



[From Todd Silverstein (2007) who had civilian positions with the Department of Defense]

Hey Jody -

I'm not sure how accurate my perceptions are for what worked and what didn't, as the Federal Government is notorious for not providing feedback to applicants (which is understandable given the amount of applicants they receive). That said, here are my thoughts on what I felt helped me, and what hurt me, as well as what most frustrated me:

What helped:- Reading the position positing from start to end, researching the agency and position (online), and tailoring the application to hit as many keywords as possible (while remaining truthful)
- Submitting lots of applications. Lots and lots and lots of applications.
- Trolling websites and applying for positions up to 12 hours each day, every day
- Using friends, classmates, former instructors and staff as both sounding boards and placement advocates (i.e. I asked them to help me if they were willing/able)

What hurt:
- Not having an address in or near the city where the position was being offered
- Lack of knowledge about the process
- Lack of significant relevant non-academic experience

What was the most frustrating part of the process:
- Not knowing what it was about my application that fell short
- The feeling (unknown, if true) that I was a very strong candidate but unable to get in the door b/c I didn't know the right keywords to use
- The lag time between application and decision

Hope this helps!

-Todd

P.S. None of the above applies to NCIS. Had I not had a medical condition which precluded me from applying for the position of NCIS Special Agent, I feel confident my experience with the Federal Hiring Process would have been much different. From what I recall, former NCIS interns are guaranteed an interview, in addition to the on-the-job experience and contacts they gain from their time volunteering for the agency.

[From Kodie Sue Ruzicka (2003) who has held jobs with several Federal agencies, including a White House appointment]

Jody,

Hope this helps...

Federal Hiring Process
I have been hired for three federal jobs and the most important thing to getting an interview is understanding how the process works. There are several layers of screening you need to make it through in order to get an interview, the first being an electronic scan of your application looking for certain buzz words in order to find the best matches for the position. When filling out an application and answering the KSAs, remember to use the exact words and phrases used in the announcement in order to increase your chances of making it through the initial screening.

After making it through the initial screening, your application is scored and those with the highest scores get interviews, so make sure that you are answering every point in the vacancy announcement. The higher your score, the more likely you are to get an interview.

In my experience, if you make it to the interview level, you are part of a pretty short list and it is likely that your interview will last only 30-60 minutes. I have never had a second interview for a government job because they always hired after the first interview so bring your A-game.

While you cannot usually negotiate for a different grade level than the one you applied under, there are 10 steps (salary levels) in each grade and that makes your salary negotiable (sometimes). Just make sure that if you are promised one salary and then get an offer letter with less than you were expecting that you do not sign anything until you get the offer letter reflecting the correct salary.

It is not uncommon to be offered a job with very little information about it. The person contacting you with the job offer is usually not in the office you will work in and therefore cannot give you a lot of information. Make sure to ask as many questions about your position as possible during the interview. Also realize that it is not unusual to report for your first day of work only to learn that you have been reassigned to another position.

Write all of your KSAs in a word document and keep them for future applications. Most positions ask the same basic questions and your previous answers can be tailored for each application.

Be aware of the length of time the announcement is open. Because of the laws governing how positions are filled in the government, many jobs are posted as open positions, but in fact, the office already knows who it is going to hire. If a job announcement is only open for one week that may be an indication that they already know who they are going to hire and are only posting the position in order to satisfy statutory requirements. If you suspect this is true, you may want to consider whether or not it is worth your time and effort to apply.


Kodie Sue

Recipe of the Week --

AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE

What food embodies America? The punsters among you might point to burgers and fries as the meal that embodies us and pushes us up the scales, but old-fashioned apple pie has been the perennial American favorite since before the United States had states. Sure, there are versions from France, Holland, England – the colonists’ home lands – but the classic double-crusted version served all over the country is unique to US.

Here’s a quick, simple and delicious version for home-baking as we approach the flag-waving holidays of Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

American Apple Pie
Refrigerated pie crust is so good that I only use scratch ingredients for the holidays or fresh fruit tarts. This recipe is adapted from one I found on the web that also has a nice how-to on pie crust: http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/apple-pie-recipe.html. It’s the closest one I’ve found to my mother’s south-of-the-border trick of maximizing the volume of apples in the pie – cook them first. She often added walnuts and/or raisins to the mix.

One package pie crusts
10 – 12 Granny Smith or Pippin apples, cored, peeled and thinly sliced
1 – 2 T. lemon juice
2 ½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
½ cup white sugar
¼ - ½ cup brown sugar, depends on acidity of the apples
1 T. cornstarch
2 T. butter

1. Pre-heat oven to 425-degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients for the filling. Toss apples in the mix until well-coated. Stir in the lemon juice.
3. Simmer in a heavy pan until the apples are just fork tender – no more or they’ll be mushy about 15 – 20 minutes.
4. Center the lower crust in a 9” pie pan and pierce it several times with a fork. Mound the apple mixture and dot with the butter. Use it all in little chunks.
5. If the top crust seems a little thick, and some are, roll it out until it’s thin as shirt cardboard. Drape it over the top, trim and crimp the edges. Score the top in long slices on all four sides.
6. Crumple aluminum file around the edges so they don’t burn. Put pie on a cookie sheet and set in the oven.
7. After 15 minutes, remove the foil and lower heat to 350-degrees. Bake another 30 – 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden.
8. I think it’s best served with premium vanilla or caramel ice cream, but that’s piggy me.

INTERNSHIPS: SHOOT YOUR BLOG

How to Bring Your Blog to Life with Pictures

Today, when everybody with a cell-phone is a shutterbug and more serious souls have digital cameras that do all the work, you’d think we’d have reduced the number of words we need to tell a story. After all, Confuscius says "a picture says a thousand words". Unfortunately, most photos are mute.

Scan the Facebook pages of your friends. What do the photos really tell you? For example, what does this one of graduation tell you? Do you think you can do a better job than the average blogger? You betcha!

Years ago, I took a class at UCLA Extension taught by Albert Moldavy who worked for National Geographic. Collaborating with Erika Fabian, he published beautiful coffee-table travel books that told evocative stories about the world, primarily in photos.

I looked around the web for some images that might help me illustrate the best tips I learned from him, and I borrowed a few from Getty Images. They're watermarked, but I think you’ll get the idea from the compositions. Because uploading onto blogger is a little tricky - use Wordpress if you're photo-happy - I'll be posting tips on photography in multiple blogs. Here's the first one - on the most important aspect of photography: light.

LIGHT: One thing Moldavy said that stuck with me was the derivation of the word, photography: it's Greek for "drawing with light". Too often, when we shoot a photo, we take light for granted; there’s either enough or there's not. But paying attention to light makes all the difference in the emotions evoked by your picture.

What’s your light source? Is it behind, in front, or beside you? What’s its quality? Bright, fading or artificial? Each creates a different feeling in the viewer.

Front light, where the light is over your shoulder, produces the brightest colors, but the least depth. It can make for a very dull image, but it will help you tell a straight-forward story.

Check out this candid photo from Israel of an Arab woman walking past T-shirts proclaiming the celebration of 40 years of peace. It needs no interesting angles or tricks of the light to make an impact - to tell the story. Note that the woman is walking off the frame – that’s an intentional part of what the photographer chose to say.

Side light is different, it brings out the texture and form. That’s why many of the most beautiful photos are filmed early in the morning or late in the day.

This Indonesian child looks all the more poignant for the shadows falling over his shoulder and obscuring his home – a refugee tent.

Backlight yields silhouettes – it’s dramatic! If you want to identify people in the foreground, you’ll need to supplement with artificial lighting in front of them. Use fill-flash or ambient artificial light (as below).

This photo shows a demonstration bonfire in a Geneva street protesting the G8 conference. The story is effectively told by silhouetting the young protestor and centering him in the frame.

[Note for you in the tropics: noon produces a bright, harsh light – wait until later in the day if you can or find shade.]

Artificial light. When you're indoors, your pictures can be as flat as though you were using front-light - since often, you are: flash. Most point-and-shoot cameras have flashes with a short throw range – the light is bright, but only for a few feet. Usually, you’ll need to fill with ambient side light to get a decent photo.

In this photo of Queen Rania of Jordan, there is flash bouncing off the front of the table and the side of her face, but plenty of light in the room so the story is clear.

There are --

FIVE RULES FOR BETTER PICTURES:

1. THINK ALIVE. Things that are alive draw the eye – people and animals. If you have a big mass like a building or a landscape, try to have something living in the foreground to create a more interesting composition.

2. THINK IN THIRDS. The center of interest shouldn’t be the center of your composition

3. PLAN AHEAD. To shoot a moving subject, focus on a spot ahead of it (making sure the focal point is correct; for example, focus on the pavement right in front of where your subject will be) and wait until the subject enters the frame – click.

4. SHOOT A LOT. Shoot the HECK out of every scene – shoot from multiple angles; go high; go low; zoom in; zoom out. Never settle for one shot and walk away. What do you think “Delete” is for?

5. REMEMBER - PEOPLE RULE. No matter what, people pictures are your most important travel photos – and the hardest to take well. The most boring – and least evocative – are the stiff, smiling, mid-frame at the camera. You have to make a conscious effort to take good shots of people – and, in foreign countries especially – they may be loathe to cooperate. Watch for the blogs telling you how to do this well.

And a sixth - DON’T WORRY – BE HAPPY!

FOR MORE TIPS, go to National Geographic: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-tips/travel-photography-quick-tips/

You, too, can takes photos like this – Mount Sahyinyo in Rwanda