Just landed a job in gov? Congrats! Now it’s time to get in there and wow everyone! But how do you do that? Entering any new role is difficult, and government can be even more daunting given the bureaucracy, rules, and regulations that come with the job. To start out on the right note, takeRead… Read more »
Planning your career seems difficult, but approaching career development with the four-step model can help you break it down
Is your agency’s training budget lean this year? Want to brush up on a few skills without having to shell out major bucks on your own? Check out these free resources below – a mix of my personal faves and some I haven’t used personally, but look promising. Then let me know in the commentsRead… Read more »
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Shaun Donovan, put agencies on notice last week that the Administration is doubling down on the implementation of its priorities and tracking progress more closely. This memo indirectly adds some urgency to the relatively new “agency annual strategic reviews” which are currently underway in agencies acrossRead… Read more »
There aren’t a ton of professional, work-place issues in which women currently have a clear advantage. (We’re trying to change that, which is why we have GovFem!) However, when it comes to getting dressed for a 100-degree workday, we are the clear winners. In most professional settings, men have to wear pants and a button-down, maybe even aRead… Read more »
If you’ve ever come back from vacation and thought it would have been less stressful just to have stayed at work, you’re not alone. According to a survey by Glassdoor and Harris last year, employees are on average only taking 51% of their available time off – and 61% of those who took a vacation reportedRead… Read more »
It’s National Volunteer Week and as a former AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps member, that makes it a pretty special time for me. I donated ten months of my life right after college to national service. From August 2013 to May 2014, I got to travel the country while experiencing what working for a government agencyRead… Read more »
The GAO released a report last month calling for better management of substandard employees. According to the report, the government could benefit from better performance management training and use of tools to address underperforming individuals. Dealing with underperforming employees can be difficult, and can lead to some awkward conversations. Here are some of my favorite tipsRead… Read more »
Have you ever thought you were really good at something only to have someone tell you, maybe you’re not? I always thought I was good with people. I mean, I knew that I was not a people person per se, but I knew that and I made up for it. Didn’t I? A few yearsRead… Read more »
Do you have a memory like a sieve? I know I do – it’s one of the reasons I save everything into Evernote to search for later, and have a desk covered with Post-it notes to myself. People who can remember names, lists, and facts without all these aids always impress me. It got me wondering:Read… Read more »