Friday, April 8, 2011

USA Jobs

Would you invest in a company that lost $2 trillion last year and has a negative net worth of $44 trillion? The “company” is of course the U.S. government, and this was the headline story of a recent issue of Bloomberg Businessweek. Now, I have a lot of correct opinions about politics, the economy, and government in general, but that is neither the point of this article nor the theme of this blog. Rather, let’s look at www.USAJobs.gov, the U.S. government’s primary source for hiring. If any corporation approached hiring in the same manner as USAJobs.gov, they would be out of business within months.


Those who have applied for government jobs are probably already familiar with the frustrations of the application process. Those who are not familiar can just click on any random job posting; you can begin to imagine the frustration by just glancing over the job description (if that’s even what you want to call it.)

Let me bring to your attention 3 complete absurdities about USAJobs.gov:

1) They apparently don't edit or review their work

Throughout the website, including on the “Advanced Search” page, there is an “Applicant Eligibility” question. Ignore for the moment the fact that the jargon it uses is meaningless to the average person (e.g., interchange agreement, competitive service by statute, non-competitive appointment, etc.). It’s basically a Yes or No question which asks you if you meet certain requirements, and it is actually very important and applicable to many government jobs. Yet some lazy bureaucrat has formatted the bulleted list wrong!

Screen shot taken in February 2011

The final 2 bullets (about veterans’ preference and appointment eligibility) are independent from Federal civilian employees with non-temporary appointments.  In other words, it should read like this:

Are you:
  • A current or former Federal civilian employee who holds or held a non-temporary appointment
    • in the competitive service in the Executive Branch or in a position not in the Executive branch specifically included in the competitive service by statute, or
    • in an expected service position covered by an interchange agreement, or
    • eligible for reinstatement?
  • A veteran eligible for veterans' preference or separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after 3 years or more of continuous military service?
  • A person with non-competitive appointment eligibility?


In fact, if you don’t believe me, just look at the help menu.  It’s formatted correctly there.  You can also simply read it like a sentence and see that it does not make sense.  For example, it would read like this:

“Are you a current of former Federal civilian employee who holds or held a non-temporary appointment a person with non-competitive appointment eligibility?”

Why is this important?  Because the website which represents tens of thousands of government jobs can’t even figure out how to properly ask questions!

Being the good citizen I am, I promptly informed customer service of this several weeks ago (in February 2011).  All I received in return was someone explaining to me what the technical jargon means.  (Just for reference, I am one of the few who probably know what the jargon means.)  After exchanging a few more emails, I was eventually told: "Your comments and/or suggestions will be considered as we make improvements to the website" and that my request would be handled by the appropriate authority.

At least the website design is nice!


2) Your application may not even be reviewed by a qualified hiring manager

So let’s say you get past the difficulties of figuring out what a job description means and are miraculously able to submit an application.  Have you considered who actually looks at the resumes and applications?

A friend of mine works for a well-known government contractor, and he is currently assigned to a high-profile agency.  That agency had an online job posting.  Apparently the hiring manager at the agency didn’t feel it necessary to find the right fit.  Instead, he or she asked my friend (who’s been out of college for less than a year) to pick the new hire.  So there was this contractor, several levels removed from the actual agency, making a hiring decision.

3) The turnaround time is an embarrassment

Sometimes when you apply for a job you hear the bad news right away or within a few months.  Sometimes you may not hear any bad news at all, and so assume no news is bad news.  However, my wife recently received bad news about a position she applied for at the Justice Department … SIX years after submitting the application.

You can’t make this stuff up!


6 comments:

  1. True! you really can't make this stuff up! This has very quickly become my favourite blog!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I followed up today, asking why they still haven't fixed the mistake on their website. I received a rapid response:

    Good Morning,

    This was passed on as a suggestion, we have no control over when things will be fixed.

    Thank you,
    Gail

    ReplyDelete
  3. Though its most important role is probably in the production of mass media (largely television), political consultants advise campaigns on virtually all of their activities,from research to field strategy. politics

    ReplyDelete
  4. This information is meaningful and magnificent which you have shared here about the desiopt jobs in USA. I am impressed by the details that you have shared in this post and It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. I would like to thanks for sharing this article here.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I generally want quality content and I found that in your post. The information you have shared about highest paying USA jobs is beneficial and significant for us. Keep sharing these kinds of articles here. Thank you. Direct Support Professional Jobs

    ReplyDelete
  6. I generally check this kind of article and I found your article which is related to my interest. Genuinely, it is good and instructive information about usa jobs. Thanks for sharing an amazing article here. Jobs in Coventry

    ReplyDelete