Contact: Sarah Blazucki (410) 744-4324 For more information, visit www.resume-place.com.

Leading Consultant Urges Feds to Straighten Out Convoluted Hiring Process

[Baltimore, MD-June 24, 2002] The federal hiring process can be so confusing that even the government's own human resource departments find it baffling. When this happens, they often call on Kathryn Kraemer Troutman, consultant and author of the new book,Ten Steps to a Federal Job: Navigating the Federal Job System (ISBN 0-9647025-3-3, $38.95, Trade Paperback, The Resume Place, Inc.) to explain it. After all, the government hired the author in 1995 to create the first standardized resume format, now required for all federal job applications. Troutman's knowledge, wit and enthusiasm have made her a popular keynote speaker, trainer and frequent radio talk-show guest.

Realistic, frank and wry about current federal job application proceedures, Troutman acknowledges that "the process is messed up and people in government know it," but she urges applicants to perservere. "So just say 'it's messed up' and get on with it! My mission is to show people how to do that."

In Ten Steps to a Federal Job, Troutman thoroughly lays out each step of the application process…addressing the steps in the order a job-seeker would actually take. Each chapter covers an individual step clearly. Along the way, the author identifies potential difficulties and shows the applicant how to surmount them.

"I respect her efforts to investigate the difficult federal hiring process and… [to] streamline it for the rest of us," commented Elaine M. Diggs at a recent conference where Troutman spoke. A Career Consultant Manager at the American Chemical Society, Diggs sees Troutman's efforts as a sort of "tough love" that makes a difficult process as positive and painless as possible.

While every kind of private sector job also exists in government, obscure titles and dense vacancy announcements often do not suggest counterparts. Two indispensable chapters in Troutman's book decipher the otherwise incomprehensible lingo of titles, job announcements, etc. Other crucial topics the book covers are electronic resumes, managing the interview, and effective follow-up. Thirty-two resumes of actual applicants are there to stir readers' ideas for their own. An included bonus is an invaluable CD-ROM of 10 more preformatted resumes in MS Word that applicants can type over to present their work histories effectively.

Since it's so hard to apply for a federal job, people sometimes think "why bother?" The 6% unemployment rate and sluggish economy are reasons enough, suggest the author. Ten Steps also discusses other reasons for working for the government: security, benefits, flexibility, salary-and a sense of mission. "Yes, I do see it as a patriotic duty to at least consider federal service," she asserts.

Recently, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, Kay Coles James promised to make the federal job application process less burdensome. "They've promised this before," noted Troutman. I don't see any changes in recruiting practices coming along in the next five years. The government needs new people-now!" In addition to homeland security needs, half of the federal workforce of 1.8 million will retire within the next five to ten years.

Until the government actually does simplify the hiring process, we have Troutman's guiding light, Ten Steps to a Federal Job: Navigating the Federal Job System, available through Baker & Taylor, Ingram, JistWorks Distribution, the Resume Place, and retail booksellers in August 2002. This is the author's fifth book. Troutman herself is available for interviews to discuss her books and the Federal job hiring situation.