Lose The Cubicle: GovCentral's Best Outdoor Careers

I am a retired Vet rated 40% (20 years USAF). In April 2008 I received an AA in Business Admin paid for by VA Voc Rehab. The VA even sent me to a civilian career professional that spent two days talking to me and a week putting my work career in KSA format. I received a 10 page document detailing my career. I applied on USAJOBS for job after job after job and NEVER received ONE reply. In March 2009 I took a test to work for the US Department of Commerce Census Bureau for the 2010 Census. I scored a 93% and received 15% extra points for my disabled vet status. I was called a month later. I was hired without an interview or a resume being seen for $16/hr and $0.55/mile. I had 5 days of classroom training and three weeks of actual work driving all over Northern California as a Quality Assurance Enumerator before all of us newbie’s were "terminated due to lack of work" with the assurance that we could be called for any future "assignments." At least I can add the experience to my KSA's and it was outside.

If you want a job working with the U.S.Park Service in their Maintenance Dept. You should be an exmilitary person with four years active duty and no felonies on your record. You need experiance in the job you are looking for. Try and visit in person the area forman and ask him what hoops you will need to jump through an what jobs will open up. Do this before mid January of each year. You will work for a cuple of years as a temporary before you will be concidered for permanent employment. If you want to get in to a superviser job you have to have your four year degree plus.

Getting a government job really has nothing to do with your resume. It's all about the KSA. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. These are the questions they ask you to answer on the job listing. You have to answer these questions with as much quantitative information you can give about yourself. You cannot submit your resume and expect someone to determine from that how you would have answered the questions they have asked. Think of the KSA as a pre-interview. If the interviewer asked you a question and you have them a mediocre answer, would you expect them to hire you? You need to answer the KSA's in such a way as to make them believe you are not only the best applicant for the job, but that you are their dream applicant. One of the most frequently asked questions on the KSA’s is "ability to communicate orally and in writing". When answering this question give specific examples of how you have performed this task. For example; giving annual and quarterly counseling statements or giving a briefing to the Battalion Commander. As you do you KSA’s start saving each one as a separate document, because many of the questions are the same for different jobs. Just like your resume, these KSA answers can be edited over time. As you find new jobs you’re interested in, you can cut and paste these KSA’s into your new application. The more you apply, the better you will get. And like ROBERTRAH said, don’t be afraid to take that entry level job, it can lead to bigger, better things. I started out as a material handler in a warehouse, now I’m a supervisor at the VA.

This site might as well go away. I see no replies to any complaints nor do I see where anyone has gotten a job, so what are we wasting our time for?

And no, GOV Central isn't all that helpful. Try the forums Federal Soup.

This site truly sucks. It's of no resource value following 'the yellow brick road' to nowhere ;P

I feel the government hires only people who have fortunately been born and educated here,where as there are people who have a passion for contributing their expertise in assisting with the prime aim to protect life and property of all U.S citizens.Invariably we find yhe wrong man in the wrong job for the wrong reasons,who lack the pride in their jobs.