Human Resources

Clear and Present Danger: MS-13

If there ever was a clear and present danger to national security, it’s MS-13. In a national assessment released January 2008, the FBI noted: “They perpetrate violence—from assaults to homicides, using firearms, machetes, or blunt objects—to intimidate rival gangs, law enforcement, and the general public. They often target middle and high school students for recruitment.Read… Read more »

10 Secrets for Landing a Federal Job

From TheGovGurus.com: 1. KNOCK ON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S FRONT DOOR AND BACK DOOR: Most job seekers look for federal openings only on USAJOBS (usajobs.opm.gov), the federal government’s official jobs website. But there are plenty of other ways to land federal jobs.For example, employment agencies and consulting firms frequently place employees on contract jobs in federalRead… Read more »

GovLoop Member of the Week – Mark Stelzner

Happy 2009! I’m with Mark Stelzner, the founder of Inflexion Advisors, Washington, D.C. My sincere thanks go to Mark for taking the time for this interview. Where are you from? I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but have spent time in California, Texas and Illinois throughout my adult life. I currently reside in Washington, DC.Read… Read more »

Cost/Benefit Analysis Part 2 – Good Enough for Government Work

It’s a punchline right, “Good enough for government work?” Certainly not the attitude at your agency or mine, but “Good enough for government work” has something to teach us when evaluating IT alternatives. Benefit/Cost Ratio is calculated by dividing the total present value benefits by the total present value costs. Where costs exceed benefits, theRead… Read more »

“Generation No” – Insighting an Intergenerational War

I just received today’s installment of “The Daily Pipeline” from the Partnership for Public Service and was angered when I read the opinion piece by Thomas Schweich entitled “Generation No.” Here’s how he starts his thoughts: “You know you have arrived when you get interviewed by the 29-year-old instead of the 22-year-old,” the 57-year-old foreignRead… Read more »

Brain Drain in the Intelligence Community?

Ed O’Keefe’s Federal Eye blog this morning had an enlightening post about how many of the leaders in the intelligence community are baby-boomers poised for retirement. In fact, there was a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing yesterday that highlighted these concerns. To be more precise, the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission putRead… Read more »

Cost/Benefit Analysis Part 1 – The Government Line

I’ll be writing a series of posts on Cost/Benefit Analysis. First the Government line: baseline excerpts from government hosted publications regarding cost/benefit analysis, and links back to the publication. OMB Circular A094 – Guidelines and Discount Rates for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Federal Programs: …A program is cost-effective if, on the basis of life cycle costRead… Read more »