“The moment you think of yourself as great, your slide toward mediocrity will have already begun,” Jim Collins. “Wisest is he who knows what he doesn’t know.” Plato I read these quotes the other day and I really like them both. I think mainly because it is an interesting time for my career as forRead… Read more »
I’m often asked why I’ve chosen to work for the government. Sometimes it’s asked at conferences by other gov’t officials who are looking for guidance on how to recruit and retain Generation Y. Other times it’s just at a social gathering and is asked by a non-government official often in a negative tone (Really? WhyRead… Read more »
Much has been written about the incoming retirement tsunamai in government and the potential brain drain. While there are many pieces to the government workforce problem (retainment issues, attracting mid-level hires, how to tap into retiring govies), an integral piece will be the government’s ability to attract Gen Y workers to government service. Just todayRead… Read more »
In less than two months, GovLoop has sparked great dialogue, been featured in the press, and grown exponentially to over 680 members strong. However, it is now time to raise the bar with a Membership Drive Contest. The Goal: A minimum of 1000 members by August 31. Why? Because a primary goal of GovLoop isRead… Read more »
I closed the poll for the latest survey question: “What’s Your Opinion of the U.S. Public Service Academy” The results look like this: 13.0% Best Idea Ever 39.1% Better Than Most Ideas 21.7% Not Really Necessary 26.1% Big Waste of Money It’s a pretty interesting breakdown. Basically it’s a 50/50 split on whether people thinkRead… Read more »
When I set out to create GovLoop.com, I had a number of ideas. I’ve talked about my idea and philosophy in a couple places (here, here) but in short, I thought there needed to be a central online hub connecting the government community. A place to have discussion that wasn’t based on agency, type ofRead… Read more »
Since starting GovLoop, I’ve received a lot of questions from people. The two most common questions are: -Why Did You Create GovLoop? -Why Do We Need GovLoop When We Already Have X (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Trade Mags, Discussion Boards, etc)? Both are valid and good questions. So here are my Top 10 Reasons I CreatedRead… Read more »
I was pleasantly surprised to see the results of the most recent bi-weekly GovLoop poll: “How did you get your first job with the government?” The results were: 30.8% Student Internship 7.7% Leadership Programs (such as PMF) 30.8% USAJOBS 0.0% Job Fair 30.8% Referral From Friend I think this poll is good information for thoseRead… Read more »
Times have changed and roles have changed along the way. While the days of the personal secretary may no longer be around, each office usually has a person that serves in an administrative role to keep the office running whether it is a secretary, administrative assistant, or even executive assistant. To kick off my newRead… Read more »
Recently, I finished the book How Washington Really Works. It is just one book in a series (Bureacracy, Case for Bureaucracy, Hardball) I’ve been reading trying to understand the government space where I work. Since my master’s is not in public policy, a lot of this is still new to me and I am basicallyRead… Read more »