GovCentral

HOW TO WRITE RESPONSES TO KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs) If you apply for a position announced in the KSA format you should respond to the KSAs. You have to describe your experience and how it relates to each of the KSAs. How do you do this? Where do you start? What do you need to think about? To help you ...

Government resources for small business owners have long existed, but they are often poorly understood and underutilized. Several outreach efforts currently under way, some public and some privately funded, aim to change that. One of the new programs is the community forum quietly opened last week by the U.S. Small Business Administration's Business Gateway Program. Hosted on Business.gov, the http://communities.business.gov/bsng, is ...

You never have to pay for information about job vacancies or employment opportunities with the U.S. government or U.S. Postal Service. But some scam artists are victimizing many Americans by selling information about federal job opportunities. These scam artists advertise in the classified sections of newspapers and offer – for a fee – to help job seekers find and apply for ...

HELP WANTED ... FINDING A JOB I saw an ad in the newspaper for jobs in corporate finance. I faxed my resume to the 800-number listed and got a call from a woman who said her company works with businesses to find employees to fill their positions. She said the service would cost me $495, but the fee was fully ...

Ads That Don't Add Up  Federal and postal job scams are among the biggest rackets in employment, preying on consumers who are unemployed or underemployed and can least afford to be "taken." But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is working to protect consumers by tracking down and stopping companies that make deceptive claims about federal and postal jobs. Gregory Ashe, ...

WASHINGTON - As President Obama rolls out one of the most ambitious agendas in US history, federal agencies are struggling to administer hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of new projects and to enact sweeping policy changes with a mere handful of senior staff members in place, in part due to an increasingly tough vetting policy initiated by Obama himself. Only ...

With this down economy, many people are leaving the corporate world behind to pursue jobs in government. There is also a new generation of students graduating from college and graduate schools across the country, looking to D.C. and their local capitol buildings for employment opportunities. Researching, applying to, and working in government jobs isn't quite the same process as in in ...

On USAJobs.gov, there is a tool where you can match a public sector job to relevant private sector jobs. But what good does that do to the government job seeker? GovCentral did the hard work for you and sorted through the search tool, in order to help you apply your previous outside-of-the-government work experience to your new job search. This is ...

Question on Arrests: "I think that it is not a good idea to ask about arrest records, not only because it is illegal to consider this information in some states, but also because the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission counsels against it." Really? I applied twice to agency positions and both required disclosure of arrests for consideration. Sure there may be security ...

On Government job postings: Last week someone wrote: "Job posting by the government is notorious. They already know who they want to fill the position but they have to advertise it." And you asked if anyone can speak out in defense of the government. I work in Federal government HR. This is SO not true. A big issue for us is ...

Knowing that job-seekers need to have the best resume possible now for the 3.5 million jobs that will appear in the next year or two, I asked 5 of the leading resume writers and career counselors and advisers in the country to give me their two best tips for writing a stand‐out, competitive Stimulus Plan Resume: h4. From Kathryn Troutman, Pioneering ...

In an effort to maintain the transparency and accountability promised during the Presidential campaign, the Obama Administration launched Recovery.gov. The site is a searchable database of how and where tax dollars are spent as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. GovCentral found the most useful part of the site is the Estimated Job Effect Flash Map of the ...

Several years ago my husband and I decided to move from the DC area because we had family obligations in Texas. It was difficult to tell my boss that I was leaving. Thank goodness I brought along a box of tissue because, as expected, he cried a lot at the news. Not really, I just like messing with him. If I ...

"I am my biggest critic and always "play down" my accomplishments. HELP ME!" - Frustrated Job Hunter This is what one federal job seeker wrote this question to me this evening. I suggested that he do some self-talk to build up his confidence and convince himself that he is a GREAT candidate for a new job. Script for Self-Talk “I really ...

The economic downturn has forced private industry and state and local government to shed jobs, but one major employer in the country is hiring: The federal government. With 11 million unemployed Americans, and millions fearing they might lose their jobs, many are arguing that Washington will be cutting jobs, too. However, economists claim that a strong federal work force will be ...

Does your career need to be rescued? Do you need a job? Your resume can get you rescued if it’s outstanding, sizzling, targeted, interesting and friendly! How can you create this great resume? Target the resume. Find your announcement that is of interest and analyze 5 to 10 keywords in the announcement. Add these words in your resume. Let’s say you ...

Are you a passionate person? Do you synthesize information well? Do you write in a compelling, reader-friendly way? Do you have a liberal arts and/or advanced degree in law, business, international relations, public administration, public policy, environmental policy, public health or a variety of other fields? If so, you may be what is referred to as a generalist. Here are some ...

Applying for a federal career in the same fashion that you would apply for a private-sector job is not going to get you very far. There are some stark differences between the public and private sector, and that includes the way you submit a resume and application for a federal job. The Partnership for Public Service - an organization dedicated to ...

Federal agencies fill job openings like the private industry: most agencies are responsible for their own hiring actions, and often deploy "hiring sprees" in order to fill a large number of essential positions rapidly. Important tip for federal job seekers: keep on track of the agencies that hire the most, and what positions they are hiring for. Since the federal government ...

Your primary mission as you apply for federal jobs is to stand out. In the wake of the recent government job craze created by the presidential transition, the soon-to-come creation of exciting green energy and health care jobs, and the FBI's 'blitzing' hiring tactic, government-sector applications are pouring in, and standing out isn't quite as easy as it used to be. ...