Why Me?

I joined the Federal Government at the urging of my senior thesis advisor. She had worked at FederalEntity for 30+ years (in a Regional office) and had thoroughly loved it. I was trying to decide between Government and working for a huge investment/insurance company. I probably made the right choice...

I got into the Government fairly easily. At the time (2005), there was a program called the "Outstanding Scholar" program, which was designed as a simple way to get college seniors into the Federal Government. Something like 60% of the Federal workforce is slated to retire in the next 5 years, so there is a tremendous need to get some new blood in here ASAP.

The "Outstanding Scholar" program worked as such: if you had above a 3.4 GPA from any accredited college or university, you could apply for an "Outstanding Scholar" position. When a person who met the criteria applied, their resume was simply placed in a gigantic binder. Any office that was looking to hire a young person could request this binder, look through it for people they liked, call them up for an interview, and then hire them. No "top 3" lists, no procedural hassles, no red tape! Just look through the book, select who you like, and hire them. I got interviewed by 3 different offices at FederalEntity, was offered a job by 2 of them, and chose to come work at my current location. The process was quite painless!

About a year ago, the "Outstanding Scholar" program went bye-bye. The Government unions sued, saying that the "Outstanding Scholar" program unfairly bypassed veterans and older people (it sure did - that was the beauty of it!). The courts found in the union's favor, and now every young, talented, recent college graduate has to get in line with everyone else in the crapshow that is the Federal hiring process. How often does a college Senior with excellent grades and amazing potential (but little work experience) get ranked above a Veteran who has been a plumber for 30 years? Never.

AN ALTERNATIVE

A good friend of mine from college had a summer internship at a different FederalEntity between his Junior and Senior years. He liked it so much that he wanted to go back and work for them upon graduation. However, his GPA wasn't high enough to be hired by the Government! The hiring manager at FederalEntity refered him to a government contracting company who had contracts with said office. He was hired by the contractor and he now sits in the exact desk in the exact office that he would have occupied if the government could have hired him direcly. The kicker - as a contractor he gets paid $20k more! Since his grades weren't good enough to be hired by the government, he got the exact same job as a contractor and gets paid a lot more! Plus, they have lavish parties and are paying for his grad school!

Coming up tomorrow: Fun office pictures!