The Planning and Navigating Your Career into Public Service workshop is designed to help job seekers by: 1) understanding how to take steps to finding a federal career; 2) showing how to combine federal industry awareness and basic search techniques in locating federal jobs; and 3) providing simple principles and techniques to enhance a job seeker’s marketability and personal brand.

1. PLANNING AND NAVIGATING YOUR
CAREER INTO PUBLIC SERVICE

2. About your instructor
Alex Harrington, GCDF
Global Career Development Facilitator
National Career Development Association, NCDA
Center for Credentialing & Education, CCE

3. CBP safeguards
America's borders by
protecting the public
from dangerous
people and materials,
while enabling trade
and travel.

4. 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.

5. 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

7. FURTHER READING

9. How?!

10. 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

11.  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

12. 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

13. More than one door to federal employment
Graphic from Lefkoe Institute

14.  Competitive Service
 Excepted Service
 Senior Executive Service
Three Categories of Federal Jobs

15. 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)

16. Federal Hiring Authorities
 Pathways Programs
 Military and volunteer service
 Disabilities
 Other excepted service

17. How does the federal
government hire?

18. 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)

20. Must haves on your book shelf:

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

28. 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)

30. KNOWLEDGE SKILLS
ABILITIES
PERSONAL
CHARACTERISTICS
STRENGTHS

31. So what? Why should I care about core competencies?

32. 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)

36.  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.

37. Target your network groups
 Personal relationships
 Professional relationships
 Organizational and community affiliations
 Opportunistic networks
 Social media

38.  Networking card
 One-page résumé
 Online presence (You must be ‘Googable’)
 Blog
 LinkedIn
 Discussion forums
Setting yourself apart

40. 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)

42. What is the
purpose of a
federal résumé?

43. Remember, when writing your résumé, you’re writing
for two groups!

44.  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:

45. 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?

46. FURTHER READING

47. www.linkedin.com/in/alexjharrington