Take Another Look: Federal Government Jobs

Attention Seniors! If you’re anything like me, you’ve already suffered from more than a few nervous breakdowns stemming from wondering what life will be like post-graduation. You might be worrying about living arrangements, maintaining a long distance relationship or keeping in touch with all of your friends. Above all, you’re probably quite nervous about jobs...specifically, crossing your fingers that you’ll actually find one.

I’m here to suggest that you consider an option that may not have crossed your mind before – working for the government. Are you groaning yet? Hear me out. There are a lot of misconceptions about federal jobs flying around out there. You may have heard that you'd be resigned to working in D.C., that they all entail soul-sucking desk work, or that they pay next-to-nothing. Not true!

I urge you to take a look at sites such as wherethejobsare.org and makingthedifference.org. They help to dispel a lot of the myths about federal employment with a variety of uplifting facts and figures. Consider the following:

• the retirement of baby boomers means that the government needs to hire tens of thousands of new employees…and quickly!

• paltry paychecks are a myth – in fact, government salaries are comparable to those in the private sector; you also have access to great benefits and job stability

• the government may be able to help you pay back student loans – or even foot the bill for grad school!

• 85% of government jobs are located outside of D.C; there are also opportunities to work abroad

On top of that, these sites are full of exciting internship and job listings, such as the DIA Summer Intern Program with the Department of Defense, which offers hands-on experience in areas ranging from Foreign Area Studies to Toxicology to Intelligence Analysis. Boring? Not quite. Take a little time to peruse these sites. After doing some research, you may be surprised at how exciting a job with the federal government may be (not quite Men-In-Black caliber, but pretty close).