Career Connections Newsletter • April 2009
Career Topic of the Month: Government Jobs
Career Resource of the Month: Organize your Resume and Write a KSA
Spotlight on Success: Federal Government Profile
Career Tip of the Month: Search for Federal Jobs
Financial Literacy Tip of the Month: Understanding Insurance
Internship of the Month
Upcoming Events
Career Topic of the Month: Government Jobs
Feeling discouraged about today’s tough economy? Well, there’s light at the end of the tunnel after all! Have you ever thought about working for the government? It’s not just for political science majors; the federal government has a broad array of jobs available to college graduates of almost any major. With jobs located all over the U.S., the federal government employs over 2,704,000 employees in a variety of fields! (federaljobs.net)
7 More Reasons to Work for the Government
- Government Jobs are stable – according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, federal employment is not affected by cyclical fluctuations in the economy, like private sector jobs.
- Obama’s administration – a record number of 18-29 year olds participated in November’s election and favored the President 68% to 30%.
- Desire to do meaningful work – Millennial students would rather do something that they can feel good about than work for a profit-focused executive.
- Exciting opportunities – government employees have a high possibility of being involved in innovative projects and cutting-edge research.
- Large scope of activities – easy for students to engage several different skills without having to change employers as compared to a private sector employer with one central mission.
- Further training and education – Alan More, an employer in residence at George Mason University and a 32-year veteran of the CIA, states that over half of the people he managed went to local universities for graduate training with government tuition.
- Positive hiring forecast – with the a record number of government employees retiring and Obama’s economic plan calling for the creation of more government jobs there are 1.15 million government positions to fill from 2007 through 2012!
Start Your Search!
Curious what you can do with your major or degree working for the federal government? Go to
USAJobs.gov, where they provide you with several possible position titles for multiple majors. After you find a few job titles that interest you, do your research!
Now that you’ve found something you think you’d be interested in, do a little more research into the field. Go to
makingthedifference.org, and search the fields of interest on the left hand side of the page to find the job profile, internship examples, and jobs by the numbers.
Want to get a head start as a student? Go to the links below to see available federal service opportunities specifically for college students.
http://www.makingthedifference.org/studentopportunities/index.shtml
http://federaljobs.net/student.htm
Please contact
Career Services for further assistance in preparing for Informational Interviews.
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Career Resource of the Month: Organize your Resume and Write a KSA
Writing/Re-organizing your resume
In the past the different agencies within the government had separate requirements for what they wanted an applicant to include on their resume. This required the applicants to spend endless hours creating multiple resumes. However, recently several agencies within the government came together and created a general format that included all the crucial data. Now applicants only have to create one resume for a multitude of job vacancies!
USAJob makes your job even easier! Click on the
USAJobs Resume Builder to get started on yours! All you have to do is create an account and fill in the appropriate fields to build your resume and get additional tips on how to write a “federal resume” and a KSA. At USAJobs.gov not only can you search for your own jobs, but you also have an agent that will help you with your job search, a section that files away all the applications that you have filled out and submitted, as well as a portfolio section where you can upload additional important documents.
What’s a KSA & How do I write one?
As stated by USAJob.gov, agencies often use a series of questions to assess candidates’ knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA’s) of the duties and qualifications required by the position. When describing your knowledge’s, skills, and abilities, you should give examples and explain how often you used these skills, the complexity of the knowledge you possessed, the level of the people you interacted with, the sensitivity of the issue you handled, etc.
Click here to find more
quick tips on writing your KSA’s. Check out the
four-step KSA Guide to assist you in writing your KSA’s for your federal government position.
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Spotlight on Success: Federal Government Profile
Check out
profiles of professionals who work for the federal government. This link will bring you to Cara Peck, who works in the field of biological science, but you can browse additional profiles by clicking the names located on the left hand side of the page.
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Career Tip of the Month: Search for Federal Jobs
Here are some great websites to help get your federal government job search started!
http://www.makingthedifference.org/federaljobs/hotjobs.shtml
http://www.usajobs.gov/
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Financial Literacy Tip of the Month: Understanding Insurance
Your health and personal security are never guaranteed. Having an adequate level of insurance makes good sense. The following link will bring you to more links that discuss the coverage options you can consider to protect your personal property, health, and dependents while you are in college—and after.
More on Understanding Insurance.
For more information on Financial Literacy, please visit:
http://www.snc.edu/career/planning/finlit/
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Internship of the Month: Intern
Why intern? Internships are a great opportunity to apply classroom theory to real life work and to acquire experience to make yourself more marketable for future employment. It can also be one way to "test" your chosen career area to determine if it is a good fit for you.
Noah's Ark
,
Multiple Summer Positions, Wisconsin Dells, WI
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Position Description: Noah’s Ark is looking for individuals to work in Park Services, Food Service, Retail, Cashier, and as Lifeguards and on a Grounds Crew. The internship is located at 1410 Wisconsin Dells Parkway, Wisconsin Dells, WI
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Qualifications: Noah's Ark, America's Largest Water park, is seeking considerate, enthusiastic, and dependable individuals for the summer season of 2009. Become a part of this legendary crew and gain valuable job experience for your resume while having fun and creating friendships and memories that last a lifetime. If there is interest in a paid internship, they have a limited number of positions that MAY qualify or they could be used for practical experience to add to a resume. These include Group Sales Assistants, Marketing Assistant, and Picnic Coordinator, as well as Front Desk Staff at The Flamingo Motel and Suites which is affiliated with Noah's Ark. Enjoy numerous employee benefits.
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Contact: Please contact
employment@noahsarkwaterpark.com and ask for an employment package to be emailed or sent to you at a postal mailing address.
For more information on this internship and to search for additional internships, please login to
Career Connections.
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Upcoming Events
To register for an event or workshop, login to
Career Connections and click on Career Events.
Click here for the complete Spring 2009 Calendar of Events.
Midwest Conference Virtual Job Fair
March 30-April 30
Resume and Cover Letter Writing
Wed., April 8, 6-7 p.m
Cofrin 15
It's Not Too Late! Job Search for Seniors
Wed., April 22, 5-8 p.m.
Cofrin 15
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