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(BALTIMORE, MD - March 12, 2004) - The month of March is known for its time-honored traditions. It's a period when we hopefully can let go of blustery winter weather as we celebrate spring's entrance. March features festive St. Patrick's Day, when magically anyone can celebrate "being Irish." For over 15 years, the entire month has honored women's contributions. But one less recognized aspect of March is that it's a prime time to look into government internships for college graduates.
"Internships are a fabulous way to lay the groundwork for a federal career," notes employment expert Kathryn Troutman, the author of the award-winning guide, Ten Steps to a Federal Job. “Now is the time to consider them. Just about every agency offers a college internship program with pay and full benefits.
In economic times of paltry job growth, word of these dynamic openings is great news for workers just starting out. Before considering this option, however, know that you'll need to meet some basic requirements. First, you should already have your bachelors or masters degree, or be within six months of receiving it. Secondly, citizenship is usually mandatory (naturalized citizenship is fine too). Occasional posts accept applicants with working visas.
8 Traits that Say "Choose Me!"
If you want to apply, your goal should be to make a great first impression with your resume and cover letter. In doing so, Troutman cautions that you'll want to disregard the notion that it's a single-page resume that's the correct one. Typical federal resumes for students run much longer-usually two to three pages, she notes. The author recommends putting that extended length to its best use by hitting eight key points recruiters look for.
1. Strong communicator. Federal employees communicate constantly in their jobs-through in-person contacts, the phone, writing on paper and via the Internet. "The better you communicate your communication skills in your resume, the better the internship decision-makers will like you," reports Troutman. "Make it clear that you can write and talk well." To this end, mention writing projects that got attention or made a difference, participation in presentations (debate team, theatre, etc.), and involvement in website development.
2. Teamworker. With the wide use of teams in college coursework today, you may be able to quickly identify great examples of teamwork from your school experiences. Look for relevant class projects that you developed as part of a team, and note if you took a lead role such as writing the summary report or presenting the PowerPoint talk. Out-of-classroom examples could come from volunteer work, participation in a theatre or film production, and so on. Or if you have work experience, look for solid demonstrations of teamwork there.
3. Leadership potential. In her Ten Steps book, Troutman explains that leadership is about leading people and influencing their behavior and decisions. In school, you may have been a group's officer and therefore had an opportunity to develop such skills. In any case, search your experience base for situations where you settled conflicts, set standards and/or encouraged others to work well together. Did you ever bring a diverse group to a consensus?
4. Creative and resourceful. "The government wants to bring in people with fresh ideas and the ability to develop new approaches," Troutman observes. "They know that the top performers will be creative in their everyday work." So scan your past for examples of times when you took the initiative. Did you revamp a student publication with a better look? Establish a new student organization? Find original ways to raise money? When did you think "outside the box?"
5. Offer additional language skills. If you speak a sought foreign language, the odds of your being selected go up. Spanish is much in demand, and nowadays, so are Middle Eastern languages-such as Arabic and Farsi.
6. Mobility. Troutman recommends that you make it clear in your resume that you're mobile. Some internship programs require that you relocate to one spot. Others may feature rotation, where you're transferred to different areas. Two examples of rotational programs are the Federal Highway Administration's Career Intern Program and the Army's Fellows Program (involving movement of supplies for defense and homeland security). The Army's deal includes paid graduate education.
7. Computer fluent. Today the government expects applicants to be computer savvy. Computer skills are important to the government because it's so computerized. Even many resumes are processed this way! In your resume, note if you've used computers for word-processing, Internet research, or creating Excel charts and Power Point presentations.
8. Work well under pressure and through change. It's the nature of the government to be in flux, always changing. That's because it needs to respond to current events, new leadership, recent legislation, and evolving regulations. To demonstrate your adaptability, recall times when you were a high performer during stressful periods or responded with flexibility.
If you can cover these points in your resume and cover letter, as well as the facts of your education and work experience, you will stand out more than your competitors. But don't just limit yourself to the above. "Include everything that will show that you're an outstanding candidate," Troutman advises. For further ideas of traits and skills you might offer, see Troutman's popular book, Ten Steps to a Federal Job. And for info on how to research the internships, see her article "Hunt for Federal Internships," on Monster.com at http://publicservicemonster.com/articles/scavenger. It includes links to current internships. For CD-Rom templates for paper and electronic fed resumes, go to www.resume-place.com.
For more info, visit www.resume-place.com or call 888/480-8265 and 410/744-4324.
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