Federal Government Resources
The U.S. Federal Government is the largest employer in the country with approximately 2.7 million civilian employees who work both domestically and abroad. The Federal government hires under several authorities with the most common being the Competetive/Civil Service and the Excepted Service.
- Competitive Service jobs and ALL Pathways internships are posted to USAJobs, which is managed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). OPM serves as a human resources and regulatory resource that connects federal agencies. OPM is a great resource for understanding the characteristics of federal employment, processes, and tips for improved candidacy.
- Excepted Service jobs and internships are often posted only to the agency's own website or hired through a special hiring authority. This includes agencies as different as the Postal Service and the CIA. Though sometimes posted to, they are seldom hired through USAJobs.
Top Federal Job Boards
- Clearance Jobs (Already have a Secret or Top Secret Clearance? Go here to find federal contractors and others looking to hire you)
- Federal Job Search in Wisconsin (AmericaJobs employment listings specific to Wisconsin)
- GovernmentJobs.com (This site is mostly a portal for city government agencies, but also lists Federal and State government employment listings organized by category and location)
- IntelligenceCareers.gov (The homepage of the US Intelligence Community (IC) and the only place where several IC agencies post their opportunities (the rest post to their own agency pages). IC.gov also hosts a 2x/yearly virtual career fair)
- USAJobs (Hiring portal for all competitive/civil service jobs and internships)
- USAJobs Pathways Internships and Recent Grads Job Postings (Direct link to opportunities for students)
Specialized Resource Sites
- Candidates with Disabilities
- General information from OPM about special federal hiring programs and processes for those with "targeted" disabilities
- Schedule A Hiring (Special information from OPM for candidates with disabilities)
- The ABCs of Schedule A Hiring (From the EEOC)
- USAJobs Candidates With Disability Portal
- Candidates Who Are Veterans
- Feds Hire Vets (Super useful information, esp if you have a service connected disability)
- Mil to Fed (For Vets, this site helps translate your MOS to a federal career)
- USAJobs Veterans Portal (Helpful information for Vets looking to continue to serve as civilians)
- VA for Vets (Helps Vets find jobs within the VA system)
- How Are Competitive Service Jobs Classified & Paid?
- Federal Job Classifications (Explains the four digit classification code; e.g. GS-0343)
- White Collar (Each job has its own PDF with a deep dive description so you can choose your GS classification before looking for a specific position)
- Trades, Crafts and Labor (The same for more "hands-on" jobs)
- General Schedule - Pay (Understand how Federal jobs are paid and just what "GS-9" means)
- Government Salary Calculator (Know your GS and location? Enter it here and away you go!)
- OPM Salary rates (From the current year back to 2011)
- Federal Job Classifications (Explains the four digit classification code; e.g. GS-0343)
- KSAs (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities)
- Special Sites
- Agency Internships (opens a link to all agencies that take interns + Congress and the White House)
- Foreign Service Officer Hiring Process and Timeline
- ILR Scales (If your potential job is language intensive, guesstimate your level on all four modalities - speaking, writing, reading, and listening - here)
- Presidential Management Fellows Program (A prestigious 2 year Fellowship only for grad students)
- White House Fellows
Federal Resume and Cover Letter Writing
- READ ME FIRST! (A guide to the process)
- Sample Federal Internship Resume (Iris Intern - For all federal internships competitive or excepted)
- Sample Federal Excepted Service Resume (Frank Federal)
- Sample Federal Competitive Service USAJobs Resume (Fiona Federal - Built in the USAJobs Resume Builder which is recommended for all competitive service job applications)
- Cover Letter Writing Guide (PDF)
- KSA Writing Worksheet (PDF)
- Position DescriptionAnalysis Worksheet (PDF)
General Federal Jobs Resources
- Housing in DC
- George Washington University Summer Housing
- George Mason University Summer Housing
- American University Summer Housing
- Georgetown Law Summer Housing– You don’t have to be a law student
- Washington Intern Student Housing (WISH)
- Craigslist D.C. – Sublets and Temp Housing
- The Washington Intern Housing Network
- Cheap D.C. Intern Housing
- Hillzoo’s Housing Listings Page
- Learn About Federal Agencies and Offices
- Best Places to Work (Just like it sounds, employees anonymously rate and rank their agencies)
- FedScope (Want to do a deep data dive on federal hiring? This is the place!)
- Govloop (The knowledge network for government)
- LOC Link to all Executive, Judicial, and Legislative Branch agency homepages
- USA.gov (This site lists every single agency small or large - and much more)
- Other
- Contacting the Congress (Contact Information for U.S. Congress Members)
- Current U.S. Congressional Legislation Information
- Washington Network Group (Networking organization for professionals)
- Young Government Leaders (Nationwide chapters with networking and resources for under 40s working in all levels of government)
Running for Office
Resources
- National Run for Office Day (Tons of resources including a quiz that helps you decide which office at which level is right for you)
- She Should Run (By identifying and tackling the barriers to elected leadership, She Should Run convinces women from all political leanings, ethnicities, sexual orientations and backgrounds to see themselves as future candidates)
- Run to Win (From Emily's List; recruiting and helping thousands of women run for office at the state and local level)
- How to Run for Office (from NPR)
State & Local Government Resources and Job Boards
Resources (all states)
Job Boards
- APPAM Job Board
- CareersinGovernment (A leading site for public sector employment information and opportunities)
- Chronicle of Higher Education, The (Nationwide jobs for factulty and staff as well as advice)
- City of Madison Employment
- Dane County Employment Opportunities (Employment listings provided by Dane County)
- City of Milwaukee Career Opportunities
- GovernmentJobs (U.S. Federal, State, and Local government employment listings organized by category and location)
- HigerEdJobs (The premier site for staff and faculty jobs in colleges and universities nationwide)
- Local Government Job Net (Employment listings in State and Local government)
- National Conference of State Legislatures (Career opportunities for young professionals looking to work in state legislatures)
- PublicServiceCareers (Employment listings and resources catered to public affairs degree programs)
- State and Local Government (Internet directory provides convenient one-stop access to the job websites of thousands of state agencies and city and county governments)
- State and Local Government Jobs (Links to the hiring website for all 50 states + territories)
- U.S. Territory Agency Links
Professional Associations
- APPAM (Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management)
- ASPA (American Society for Public Administration student page)
- ICMA (International City/County Management Association)
- NAPA (National Academy of Public Administration)
- NASPAA (Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration)
Resume and Cover Letter Writing
- See the information in the Federal section above for depth of content guidelines and KSAs (the rules are pretty much the same)
- Sample Cover Letter and CL Writing Guide
- Sample State Resume (Suzy State)
General State Resources
- State Homepages (Looking to move? Learn all about the services offered by your new state here)
- State Legislatures (Links to state Legislature pages)
State of Wisconsin
General Resources
- AASPIRE (The City of Madison Affirmative Action Student Professionals In Residence summer internship offers underrepresented groups on-the-job experience with the City of Madison. This internship is specifically available to current college students and students who have graduated within the past two years)
- SWisDIP (The State of Wisconsin Diversity Internship Program provides students with valuable, paid work experience and training in various branches of state government over the summer break. Many interns have gone on to obtain employment in state government as limited term or permanent state employees)
- Mayor of Milwaukee Mayoral Internships (Mayoral interns work directly with the Mayor and his staff in several key areas: research, communications, constituent relations and scheduling. Interns also play a role in crafting and framing the message that constituents receive)
- List of Madison, WI Businesses (by category including nonprofit, education, healthcare, etc.)
- Local Government by WI County (find all other WI cities and counties here)
- UW Extension (Connects people to the UW system)
- UW Extension Center for Community Economic Development
- UW Madison Office of Human Resources
- Wisconsin.gov (The state's homepage)
- Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (aka the unemployment office)
- Wisconsin Division of Personnel Management (Oversees the state civil service system, negotiates state labor contracts, manages labor relations, and leads the state's affirmative action and equal opportunity employment programs)
- Wisconsin Legislature
- Wisconsin Nonprofits (A network of Wisconsin’s nonprofits)
- Wisconsin Policy Forum (Private, non-profit, independent research organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of public policy decision-making in Wisconsin)
General Job Boards
- JobsinMadison (General employment listings specific to Madison)
- MilwaukeeJobs (General employment listings specific to Milwaukee)
- Nonprofit Organizations in Madison, Wisconsin (Volunteer opportunities in the local community)
- UW Madison Jobs (Full and part time)
- UW Madison Student Job Center (Student jobs including TA, PA, etc)
- UW System Schools (Job listings for any college or univeristy in the UW system)
- WiscJobs (The State of Wisconsin's official employment site)
- Wisconsin Job Center (General employment listings specific to Wisconsin)