Federal Employment -- The Nuclear Option

Back in the early eighties, after resigning from a Federal job three years earlier to start my own business, I had burned through my start-up money and decided to get back into Federal employment.

I had already had a couple of jobs in the private sector to pay the bills but was just barely getting by. I knew I could earn much more going back to work for Uncle Sam. Try as I might, however, I wasn't haven't any luck in the area I was living in at the time.

Of course this was before I discovered THE BACKDOOR TO FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT but it was during this time that I stumbled upon THE NUCLEAR OPTION!

At the time, my brother, Jack, was an officer in the military and stationed in Washington, DC at the Pentagon (which is actually in Virginia). He and I talked and I told him I wanted to get back into the government. He told me that my chances would be much better in DC than in San Diego, where I was living at the time. He said if I moved there, his house had a basement apartment I could live in.

A few days later, I packed my few things into a small trailer, hooked it to my Toyota pickup, and took off across country. Shortly after I arrived, I was once again a Federal government employee!

Knowing what I know about Federal jobs in the Washington, DC, metro area, if I were looking for a job I would seriously consider moving to Washington, DC. If I really, really wanted to land a Federal job and was able to relocate, even for as little as a couple of years, I would move to DC.

And you don't have to take my word for it. Go to the front door of Federal employment, usajobs.opm.gov, right now and check it out for yourself!

GO TO USAJOBS NOW!

Once you're at the site, you'll see two boxes just under the red USAJobs banner at the top of the page. In the box to the right (the "Where-box") simply type in two letters, DC, and hit enter. If you also want to include the jobs open to "status" candidates (I'll explain what that is later), go to the right of the screen you're in to where it reads "Current Search" and you will see to buttons. The one that is automatically selected is "Only Public Jobs Open To All US citizens."

Now click on the button right below that one; the one that reads, "All Jobs (Public and Status)." You will see the number of vacancies just about double! And, remember, these are just the jobs advertised on USAjobs, there is hidden job market in the public sector just like there is in the private sector!

to find one of the jobs in the Hidden Federal Job Market, you need to live within commuting distance. To learn more about, what I call, Federal Employment Through the Backdoor, follow the link below..