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IF ONE of your New Year's resolutions is to find a govern- ment job or find a better job if you're already a federal employee, I thought I would go over what I consider to be the critical steps to finding federal employment.
In case you haven't noticed, the federal job market has changed drastically over the last few years. Even with the traditional two- to three-year lag in keeping up with current technology, the government has still managed to make major changes in recruiting and hiring.
Contrary to what many people think, the government is not difficult to get into. There are certain steps one must follow. The process can be very long, so be prepared to wait it out.
Let's begin with the search. First and foremost, be careful what you pay for. Information containing listings of government jobs is available free of charge from several sources.
Be very careful about ads promising high-paying jobs. The government is like any other employer, it is not going to pay big bucks for someone with little experience or education.
You can normally find job announcements (the government's term for want ads) on any agency's Web site or on the Office of Personnel Management's Web site.
There are three important things to look for:
The closing date. All announcements have a date by which applications must be received. If you miss that date, you may be out of luck.
The area of consideration. This tells you if anyone can apply for the job or if it is open only to current federal employees or to employees of that particular agency.
Minimum qualifications. If you don't have these minimum qualifications, it's a waste of time to apply.
The next step is the application. Read the announcement carefully. It will tell you how to apply, what information to include and in what format that information should be. Follow the instructions carefully.
Most agencies are now accepting resumes instead of application forms, but resumes also must include all the required information.
Several major shifts from the traditional job-application processes have included agencies' accepting applications via e-mail, providing an automated online format and accepting applications via fax. These were all virtually unheard-of less than two or three years ago.
Of course, some of these changes in our area were brought on by the anthrax mail crisis, but most can be directly linked to the government's slowly creeping into the 21st century.
After you've applied for the job, all you can do is wait. Some agencies provide you with an acknowledgement, indicating they've received your application. But don't count on hearing anything soon.
For reasons still unknown, agencies can take a very long time to evaluate, interview and notify applicants. In fact, if you are fortunate enough to get an interview, it is likely you will never learn of the results unless you receive a telephone call offering you the job.
This is one of the sad truths about federal employment, and I'm not sure it will ever change.
As a selecting official for many federal jobs in the past, I don't recommend calling continuously to check on the status of the hiring process. If you are called for an interview, a note thanking the individual(s) you interviewed with is appropriate, but beyond that, I would not make any other contact.
As I said earlier, patience is the key. I would also recommend applying for as many jobs as you feel you are qualified for. This will increase your chances and help you to become more familiar with the process.
The better you educate yourself about the job process and the agency to which you are applying, the better your chances of success.
MICHAEL KOLE of Spotsylvania County is a career federal employee. Write him c/o Federal Feedback, The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401. Or e-mail newsroom@ freelance star.com.