Need IT Staff? Look to NASA

The Office of Personnel Management and NASA are planning to hold a job fair in late July to help the thousands of aerospace workers affected by the end of the Space Shuttle program.

The job fair, which will take place in Cocoa, Fla., will include exhibit booths for federal agencies to educate space shuttle workers on the types of job opportunities available, training to effectively apply for jobs on USAJOBS.gov, and assistance in applying for current or future open positions in the federal government.

As part of the job fair, agencies may also choose to use special hiring authorities, such as government and agency-specific authorities, Schedule A, veterans hiring authorities and former Peace Corps volunteer authority to make conditional employment offers, OPM said.

In March, OPM announced that more than 6,000 contract workers from the shuttle program were available, with skill sets in areas such as information technology, software and programming. Other skill sets include engineering, analysis, technical and administrative.

The recruitment effort also includes a NASA website whereby federal agencies can register, post jobs and find additional information about the skills of the available workforce. Agencies that post competitive services jobs must also post a corresponding announcement on USAJOBS, OPM said.