The largest employer in the U.S., the Federal government, will create 63,000 new positions to meet homeland security needs and hire over 250,000 employees in the next two years. In the next five years, 40 percent of the Federal workforce will be eligible to retire, opening more positions.
Federal job expert Kathryn Kraemer Troutman knows how difficult it is to write a successful civil service application. In her latest book, Ten Steps to a Federal Job: Navigating the Federal Job System, due out August 2002, Troutman explains how to get a well-paid, career civil service position with a mission. The book clarifies the Federal job process in ten straightforward steps, making the daunting task of applying for a government job simple.
Ten Steps to a Federal Job outlines what kinds of jobs are available, what agencies are hiring, how to match your skills and resume to Federal jobs, how the hiring process works, and how to write a successful Federal application. Troutman explains the entire process, from the decision to apply for a Federal job to the final interview. The book also includes a CD-ROM with resume samples and templates.
"Every day I receive phone calls from people who say, 'I'm considering Federal employment for the first time, but I don't know where to start,'" she said. "Since the private industry job market is at around 5 percent unemployment and the Federal government has 50,000 jobs open, it's time for an easy step-by-step guidebook on how to apply and write a resume for Federal jobs!"
"I truly believe that Federal jobs are good and are worth the effort to understand the whole process-the agency missions and the jobs, the vacancy announcements and core competencies, the "how to apply" instructions, and the interview process," Troutman said.
Paul Light, Vice President and Director of Governmental Studies, Brookings Institution, said, "Despite all the efforts to the contrary, finding a federal job is still a tough climb. First you have to find the mountain, then equip yourself for the journey. Ten Steps to a Federal Job is the best guide you can find for the challenge. You'll not only learn where the good jobs are posted--and they aren't always, if even rarely, on the search engines--but how to mount your camapign, make your case, and reach the summit. I recommend it to anyone who is going federal."
Troutman is also the author of the ELECTRONIC Federal Resume Guidebook & CD-ROM, a resume application manual for the Department of Defense Resumix system, and the Federal Resume Guidebook, the ultimate guide for writing the "paper" Federal Resume. Troutman is the president of the Resume Place, offering resume writing and editing services, as well as a trainer and human resources keynote speaker for U.S. and European government agencies.
Troutman is available for interviews to discuss her books and the Federal job hiring process.
Ten Steps to a Federal Job, (ISBN 0-9647025-3-3, $38.95, Trade Paperback, The Resume Place, Inc., publisher. Publication date: August 2002) will be available through Baker and Taylor, Ingram, JistWorks Distribution, the Resume Place, and retail booksellers. For more information, call The Resume Place, 410-744-4324, or visit www.resume-place.com.
