The high-decibel election season that came to a conclusion last week prompted a number of proposals to reduce the size and cost of government, with the federal workforce becoming a prime target for a hiring freeze, a pay freeze, furloughs or other possible cutbacks. This understandably is causing a great deal of anxiety and fearRead… Read more »
Doris Tirone USDA Rural Development www.rurdev.usda.gov/mi 1. What was your path to public service/current job? I took a somewhat unconventional path in my professional journey. a. I enlisted in Navy at toward the end of the Vietnam Era and gained my first 6 years of professional experience learning what it meant to be a MilitaryRead… Read more »
So, late one afternoon, my building caught fire. My apartment was fine; other people weren’t so lucky. I got the call around 6:30 PM. “Oh, Joe, I think your building is on fire.” It was a friend of mine, John Hanshaw, who lives nearby. He could see my apartment building and said that it wasRead… Read more »
It turns out that an average of one in four new Federal employees are jumping jobs within the first two years. At least that’s what Joe Davidson wrote in his Federal Diary on the Washington Post: Attrition is high among new workers at many government agencies Davidson reports: As soon as Uncle Sam finds goodRead… Read more »
Here’s what the Center for the Business of Government found interesting this week: Gadi Ben-Yehuda FedSpace, the social media site for federal employees and contractors, is running a pilot program, reports Federal Computer Week. Adam Sharp will be Twitter’s first DC-based employee. As promised, I say: welcome to the party, but don’t get comfortable. HereRead… Read more »
These past two weeks have been a whirlwind of travel and conferences. I’ve enjoyed several typical byproducts of those types of events (networking, learning, etc…) but also a few things that are much rarer: inspiration and re-energized passion. This is largely thanks to my most recent stop: NASA’s Education Innovation Summit, held in Orlando, FLRead… Read more »
People who know me might be shocked, but I used to be a bit of a shy person. In fact, even though I am in charge of organizing large career networking events, I still sometimes freeze at these events, standing in a room filled with small groups of people talking with each other and notRead… Read more »
From The Acquisition Corner According to recent reporting by Federal Times on the state of federal information technology (IT) acquisition and program management, the Government is ill prepared to purchase and manage large scale IT programs due to poorly trained staff, and poor collaboration with industry. Certainly contributing factors, but the issues are much moreRead… Read more »
As a psychology professor turned entrepreneur, Lee Frederiksen has a passion for learning and providing high quality professional services. In his new book Spiraling Up, Lee has managed to combine both of his passions into a thought provoking yet actionable package. Even though the book targets all professional services firms, it contains a lot ofRead… Read more »
As the administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Karen G. Mills leads more than 2,000 full-time employees who are helping small-business owners and entrepreneurs secure financing, technical assistance, training and federal contracts. Prior to this role, Mills was an active hands-on investor in and successful manager of small businesses, including small manufacturing firms.Read… Read more »