Alyssa Rosenberg writes at Government Executive about a new white paper that proposes scrapping the traditional competitive federal hiring process for graduate students in favor of a new internship program. The paper, written by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, notes that only 25 percent of graduate students who join the federal government are getting jobs through competitive hiring. This means the process is not serving the needs of students, particularly those who have education and skills but not much work experience, NASPAA noted.
The paper recommends the government expand the Presidential Management Fellows program and create a governmentwide database that allows applicants to create portfolios to track applications and share qualifications with hiring officials.
What are your thoughts? Is the government's competitive hiring process too complicated for younger IT job applicants, particularly those who may have education and skills but little work experience? What are some potential solutions?
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
By using this service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Nextgov does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.