GovCentral

As commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, I often hear the phrase, "The government is a bad buyer." I have a different perspective. FAS works with more than $50 billion a year in taxpayer money. By serving as the government's central acquisition source, the General Services Administration has for six decades provided customers with efficient and best value products, services and ...

You can tick off a list of federal project failures from the FBI's Virtual Case File to the Homeland Security Department's E-Merge program that dot the history of acquisition. Add to that the famous examples such as the $500 hammer and the $1,000 toilet seat, and you can see how the perception that the government can't buy economically even if the ...

You've heard the horror stories. A nearly 10-year delay in acquiring new aerial refueling tankers. Big cost overruns on the electronic fence between the U.S. and Mexico. A failed interagency contract to build a system for handling Veterans benefits claims. It's all enough to make anyone ask, can the government buy anything right? Do taxpayers ever get their money's worth? Such ...

Predictions have been made about a coming wave of retirements as baby boomers reach their 60's. Census Bureau estimates show that 78 million baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964 and they are now beginning to hit early retirement eligibility. But a funny thing has happened on the way to retirement. Inside the Federal Government and in workplaces all across ...

When you travel overseas, ever notice how native speakers welcome your efforts to communicate in their language? While no one may take you for a local, people appreciate when you show respect for their culture and point of view. Similarly, if you’re interviewing for a job these days, chances are good that you’ll be meeting with people in multiple areas of ...

The broad, sometimes little-defined concept of change - especially as it relates to improving government management - was a central theme of the 2008 presidential election. Now our new president is faced with having to make good on the promise of change during one of the most challenging economic environments the nation has seen since the Great Depression. The question is ...

Getting a Federal job is no small task and as the old saying goes, “The cream always rises to the top.” That alone is enough for you to want to go check and make sure your government resume is up to par, but there are many other reasons why as well. Here are some of the reasons you should make sure ...

Celebrities. We love to hate them. We also love to watch their every move, laugh at their mistakes and scrutinize their decisions. Like them or not, their celebrity status means not only have they achieved career success, they’ve also got a hell of a lot to lose. And sometimes, whatever actions have helped catapult them to fame or rendered them ...

In the midst of what is being called the “great recession”, we know that government agencies and organizations are facing a challenging time. Government and education institutions are facing a vastly changed landscape, requiring a revamp in HR communications and training to create high performance workforces. As our customers are navigating an ever changing landscape, issues of recruiting, retaining and maintaining ...

Last month, the Office of Personnel Management published a draft of their strategic plan for 2010-2015 seeking to update, streamline, and modernize how the federal government recruits, hires, trains, and rewards its civilian workforce. John Berry, Director of OPM, stated in a speech entitled A New Day for the Civil Service, that they have set a lofty goal to make the ...

With tens of millions of people unemployed or underemployed, and with blue-chip industries from automotive to banking in distress, the US workforce sorely needs help. So the new funding for job training provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is a well-timed boon to American workers. “The [federal] workforce system will play a vital role in America’s economic recovery ...

Some people like to wade into cold water one step at a time, while others prefer to jump in feet first and get it over with all at once. The same applies to federal employees nearing retirement. You could go cold turkey by accepting your last paycheck and never entering the workforce again. Or you can ease into retirement by shifting ...

We've compiled a few of the top federal agency's with total job postings in the past year, according to USAJOBS.gov. Click on the link to search for jobs. One caveat, this activity doesn't imply the number of current openings, just postings, so when you search for positions, the numbers might be slightly lower. Fret not, there's still a lot of opportunity ...

Clicking “submit” on that federal application can be stressful. Hours upon hours of writing and re-writing your application can create an attachment to your precious KSA. The worst thing possible is to then send your little bundle of joy out into the world to be ransacked by those peering eyes at the Office of Personal Management. Thousands of applicants feel the ...

Thanks for checking out our new feature, Ask GovGuru, where I will be answering your questions about government careers. Remember to send your questions to info@govcentral.com with the subject line "Ask GovGuru. Let's get started. My son 26 is an excellent worker and has had his current job a little over two years. Early in his adulthood, he managed to mess ...

Who makes your favorite shoes or outfits? What beverage calls your name when you need a pick-me-up? Whose movies won't you miss? Whose help do you seek when you want a project done right, at home or at work? All of these questions involve your reactions to a particular brand -- a collection of assumptions about quality, appeal and reliability that ...

In a new feature we're calling Ask GovGuru, our Editorial team and experts will be responding to your questions about careers in government. At GovCentral, one of our goal's is to empower individuals to find the information and resources they need to begin a career as public servant in government at the federal, state, or local level. We hope that our ...

On July 30, 2009, there will be a Federal Government job fair in Detroit, MI. If you are interested in working for the Federal Government, the world's most diverse and progressive employer, we want to meet you in Detroit, MI. OPM is partnering with other Federal agencies to bring jobs to the Michigan area to help individuals find work and support ...

The Job-Hunter's Survival Guide is a slim paperback of little more than 100 pages, chock-a-block with bullet points and tips, wrapped in a road-sign shade of yellow. The author, Richard Nelson Bolles, 82, wrote the What Color Is Your Parachute? guide to job searching, now running at over 400 pages in the 2009 edition. “There are a lot of people hanging ...

Wondering who’s getting those jobs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)? We talked to some workers with economic stimulus success stories and tapped them for tips to help you in your job search. *Back to Work Back Home* When his contract at the "Savannah River Site":http://www.srs.gov/general/srs-home.html (SRS), a Department of Energy nuclear storage and processing facility in Aiken, ...