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Every day someone reaches out to me with a similar story. I work at X agency and am looking for another gov’t job because a) I’m moving to X city b) I’m bored c) my boss hates me.
Generally, these individuals seem to very confused about how to make that happen.
So here’s my 5 ways to get the next gov’t job.
1. Set up USAJOBS alerts – Super basic but still almost all gov’t jobs are on USAJOBS. The trick is to make sure you set up the filters right so you cover all the geographic area you desire (if looking in Tampa and St. Petersburg you must include Bay Pines as well as lots of VA jobs there). Also make sure to check all the job series you qualify for as people often limit it too much.
2. Reach out to your network – It’s simple but takes time and work. Reach out individually (not en masse) to your work network and ask if people have time to have a coffee or quick phone call. Tell them your situation and people usually want to help.
3. Be slightly open – So you definitely don’t want to leek word at work about you leaving. But at the same time, if nobody knows you are looking, nobody will tell you about their friend’s department is hiring. Be open about your search with the right people as you need it for serendipity to happen.
4. Go to events – Don’t spend all your time on the Internet. Go to work-related events whether it is a conference or an after-work happy hour. Also go to your alumni association and other local events.
5. Be consistent and have patience – On the job front, people seem to go from 0 to 100. From no networking to every day network. From 0 searches to 100 hours on Internet a week looking. Job searches take awhile and often the best jobs come when you aren’t looking. So make sure to be consistent and have patience on the search.
What do you think? Any tips on getting the next gov’t gig? Make sure to check out our jobs page to find and post jobs, also you can see our new twitter handle @GovGigs for job info.
Also here are some other top 5’s of mine:
– Top 5: Best Places to Have a Government Job
– Top 5: Worst Places to Have a Government Job
– Top 5: Tips on Teleworking
– Top 5: Gov’t Shows That Should Exist
– Top 5: Worst Things To Say in A Meeting
– Top 5: Ways To Handle A Broing Meeting
– Top 5: Signs You Need A New Job