Tips for recruiting students into federal jobs

By Courtney Thompson
Federal News Radio

Budget cuts, pay freezes, and fewer benefits may not seem very attractive to young people considering jobs in the federal government.

To reverse this problem, the Partnership for Public Service is making an effort to engage college students and job hunters in federal government service with a focus on public support, securing talent and advocating positive change in the way that the government works.

Tim McManus, vice president of education and outreach at the non-profit organization, talked to In-Depth’s Francis Rose about his recent testimony before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on what agencies can do to get students interested in federal service.

McManus said that managers need to think of hiring and recruiting students as a “priority” and not “simply to get a butt in a seat.”

The Office of Personnel Management recently released new guidelines to agencies for reporting how long it takes them to hire new employees.

He said the Partnership is encouraging the use of that hiring data to find out information on differences in hiring inside and outside of government. He added that focusing on the time it takes to hire employees alone does not say anything about the quality of applicants.

Additionally, McManus said that manager satisfaction with the applicant pool and hires, as well as applicant satisfaction, are important to examine.

“If the process turns somebody off, they’re likely to bail out at some point in the process,” he said, which, he adds, could mean that managers might lose quality applicants.

In regard to the Federal Internship Improvement Act, McManus said that agencies need to really use interns “strategically” and view them as important for their entry-level talent.

He said that Congress and agencies, such as OPM, need to recognize that there is “no better assessment tool than internships,” and that internships ought to serve as “a competitive examination for future employment.”

McManus said there should be more information on federal internships included in the 2010 executive order that created the Pathways Program.

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Courtney Thompson is an intern with Federal News Radio.

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