“planning and navigating your career into public service”
TRANSCRIPT
PLANNING AND NAVIGATING YOUR
CAREER INTO PUBLIC SERVICE
About your instructor
Alex Harrington, GCDFGlobal Career Development Facilitator
National Career Development Association, NCDA
Center for Credentialing & Education, CCE
CBP safeguards America's borders by protecting the public
from dangerous people and materials, while enabling trade
and travel.
The Federal Career Connection program was created in 2011 by volunteers to
provide facilitator-led workshops to equip job seekers with the right mix of
information and resources to enhance their federal job search.
Federal Career Connection Workshop Series• “Charting an Effective Course for
Success”Know your bearing
• “Planning and Navigating your Career
into Public Service”Know your terrain
• “Targeting Federal Jobs”Know your target
• “Writing a Competitive Federal
Government RésuméKnow your brand
FURTHER READING
How?!
The Planning and Navigating Your Career into Public
Service workshop is designed to:
Help job seekers clearly understand how to take steps to find a federal
career;
Show job seekers how to combine federal industry awareness and basic
search techniques to locate federal jobs; and
Provide simple principles and techniques to enhance a job seeker’s
marketability and personal brand.
Introduction
Learn various avenues to finding employment with the federal government;
Gain better understanding of the federal government hiring process and latest industry trends;
Gain better understanding on how to align transferable core competencies to the desired federal career field;
Understand and implement a basic federal job search approach; and
Learn basic techniques and principles when writing a federal résumé.
Course Objectives
I. More than one door to federal employment
II. Federal government hiring process and trends
III. Transferable Knowledge, Skills & Abilities (Core
Competencies)
IV. Basic job search approach
V. The skinny on federal résumés
Course Agenda
More than one door to federal employment
Graphic from Lefkoe Institute
Competitive Service
Excepted Service
Senior Executive Service
Three Categories of Federal Jobs
Other Sources of Federal Jobs
Presidential Management Fellows Program
Congress
Campaigns
Political Appointments (i.e., Plum Book)
Contract Jobs (i.e., USAspending.gov, DOD contracts)
Federal Hiring Authorities
Pathways Programs
Military and volunteer service
Disabilities
Other excepted service
How does the federal
government hire?
Federal government hiring process and trends
“The federal government, which currently
employs almost 2 million people, is currently
perched on the edge of an unprecedented
retirement wave…” (Lily Whiteman, How to Land a Top Paying Federal Job, 2012)
Must haves on your book shelf:
Useful Bookmarks: Government HR Policy
Merit Systems Protection Board http://www.mspb.gov
Office of Personnel Management http://www.opm.gov
Government Accountability Office http://www.gao.gov
Congressional Research Service http://pennyhill.com
Useful Bookmarks: Non-Profit / Academia
GovTrack http://www.govtrack.us
Partnership for Public Service http://ourpublicservice.org
National Academy of Public
Administration
http://www.napawash.org
Center for Innovation in Public
Service
http://mediarelations.gwu.edu
Useful Bookmarks: Media Sources
GovExec.com http://www.govexec.com
FedSmith.com http://www.fedsmith.com
Federal Times http://www.federaltimes.com
Federal News Radio http://www.federalnewsradio.com
Federal Daily http://federaldaily.com
Career Matters by Lily Whiteman http://blogs.federaltimes.com
Transferable Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
(Core Competencies)
“The Federal government seeks employees with
the same type of skills possessed by many ...
particular, in this post-9/11 environment, the
Federal government needs a well-trained,
disciplined workforce to protect our nation.” (Camille Carboneau Roberts, CC Career Services)
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS
ABILITIESPERSONAL
CHARACTERISTICS
STRENGTHS
So what? Why should I care about core competencies?
Basic job search approach
“Be creative and flexible with your federal job
hunting!” (Bryan Kempton, Director, Office of Career Services and Alumni Relations, University
of Maryland School of Public Policy)
Have a clear plan of how
you’re going to approach
them.
Have your questions
already prepared before
you meet your contact.
Define your end goal.
Target your network groups
Personal relationships
Professional relationships
Organizational and community affiliations
Opportunistic networks
Social media
Networking card
One-page résumé
Online presence (You must be ‘Googable’)
Blog
Discussion forums
Setting yourself apart
The skinny on federal résumés
“When you apply for jobs, remember that hiring
managers won’t leisurely savor every word of your
résumé while relaxing beside a cozy fire, as if they
were reading a suspense novel. Instead, they will
… ruthlessly [find a reason] to reject it in order to
quickly whittle down the application pile.” ((Lily Whiteman, How to Land a Top Paying Federal Job, 2012)
What is the purpose of a federal résumé?
Remember, when writing your résumé, you’re writing
for two groups!
Remember to target your field
of interest;
Write for both – HR and Hiring
Official;
Include specific information in
your federal résumé;
Take advantage of the career
summary;
Highlight your stellar
accomplishments;
Develop a résumé that covers
about ten years or less; and
Create both a formatted and
scannable résumé.
When creating your Federal résumé:
So, what have you learned? What are various avenues to finding employment with the
federal government?
Where can you go to learn more about the federal
government hiring process?
What are core competencies?
What are some creative networking ideas?
What is the purpose of a federal résumé?
FURTHER READING
www.linkedin.com/in/alexjharrington