Career

Are you speaking my language? How to become bureaucratically multi-cultural

“Today the big issues facing our government do not fall neatly into one agency’s mission. Food safety laws for example are regulated by 15 different agencies and teams. In order to find real solutions we need an enterprise approach,” said Ron Sanders. But the problem is government doesn’t collaboration very effectively or easily. Sanders isRead… Read more »

USPS Reports Loss for 3rd Straight Quarter – Plus the DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: Agile acquisitions are causing quite a stir in the contracting community. But could it be the perfect match? Retired Coast Guard Captain Dan Taylor tells us why agile contracting could save time and money. The SEVEN stories that impact your life The U.S. Postal Service reported a net loss of $740Read… Read more »

Agile and Acquisition – The Match.com of Contracting?

“If you could fix hiring and buying in the federal government, you would fix 90% of it’s problems,” said Bryan Sivak. Sivak is the Chief Technology Officer at the Department of Health and Human Services. One of the ways the Coast Guard is trying to solve half of that equation is by using more agileRead… Read more »

Projecting your Retirement Annuity & Survivor’s Benefit

Everyone planning their retirement needs to know how much they will have to live on in retirement and how much their spouse’s survivor benefit will be. Frank Cullen, a retired federal manager, friend, and former associate, sent me a comprehensive spreadsheet prior to my retirement that projected my annuity and survivor benefit for the nextRead… Read more »

Republican Lawmakers Drop Hold on OPM Nominee – Plus the DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: It’s finally here, the long talked about retirement tsunami. “If you look at federal employment statistics there is not just a large percentage of folks who are eligible to retire but an increasing number of folks that are actually taking up the government on that offer,” said Tom Fox. The SEVENRead… Read more »

The Retirement Tsunami is Here…No really it is!

It’s finally here, the long talked about retirement tsunami. “If you look at federal employment statistics there is not just a large percentage of folks who are eligible to retire but an increasing number of folks that are actually taking up the government on that offer,” said Tom Fox. Fox is the Vice President forRead… Read more »

DOD Reduces Furloughs by 5 Days – Plus the DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: The Digital Government Strategy, the Open Data Directive, the Open Data policy and the Open Data Partnership agreement are all pushing agencies to find new ways to jumpstart innovation. Hackathons are the easiest and cheapest way to do that. That seems fairly straightforward. But it’s not. What about security? Intellectual propertyRead… Read more »

Can YOU help the gov save money? – Plus the DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: 70% of us work in an open office and deal with the daily distractions that come with it. Bloomberg’s Venessa Wong has solutions to improve your office’s layout and boost productivity. Click here for the full recap. The SEVEN stories that impact your life The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board,Read… Read more »

LinkedIn Endorsements: What You Can and Can’t Manage

The LinkedIn Endorsements feature has become very popular, even though it has not been universally well received. No matter what you may think of them, it appears they may become a permanent feature of LinkedIn profiles. This post addresses some of the logistical challenges of managing endorsements by providing an overview of which aspects canRead… Read more »

Can you focus at work? Distracting Colleagues? Solutions to the open office plan

About 70% of employees work in an open office right now, but that percentage is a bit lower in the federal government. An open office simply means either a totally open room or cubicles. If you are one of the 70%, you know that while the rooms can be really helpful to getting to knowRead… Read more »