During these tough economic times, when mass layoffs are reported in the news almost daily, American workers are very concerned about job security. Their concern is certainly justified. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly a quarter million American workers were laid off  in the month of September alone.  In the first nine months of 2008,  over 1.5 million workers were laid off. 

If you’re one of the unfortunate people who lost their job, maybe you should take a fresh look at the job opportunities in the federal sector.  [read more]

The following article recently appeared on the <a href=”http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/” target=”_blank”>NPS Digest website</a> (public domain).

Sean Aiken sounds like a really cool guy.  We should all be so thorough in choosing a career.

HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK:Job #46 of 52: Park Ranger For A Week
Sean Aiken is traveling anywhere in the world working 52 different jobs in 52 weeks while trying to figure out what to do with his life.

“After finishing college with a business degree, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t settle for a career that I am not truly passionate about,” Sean explains on his website <a title=”blocked::http://www.oneweekjob.com/” href=”http://www.oneweekjob.com/” target=”_blank”>OneWeekJob.com</a>.  “My goal is to gain a better understanding of what I need in a career to be happy and inspire others to go after their passions. Any company or individual anywhere in the world can offer me a job for one week. The job can be absolutely anything, anywhere- garbage collection, actor, working the family farm, a suit and tie corporate position.”

Instead of paying Sean for his work, job providers make a donation to the Make Poverty History / ONE Campaign.  He sustains his project through the kindness of strangers by staying at people’s houses each week, taking the bus, hitch hiking and with the $1000/month provided by <a title=”blocked::http://www.nicejob.ca/” href=”http://www.nicejob.ca/” target=”_blank”>NiceJob.ca</a> to help with costs.

Sean spent Week 46 working as a park ranger at <a href=”http://www.nps.gov/havo” target=”_blank”>Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park</a> and shared his experiences through the following updates posted on his website.

Week #46 Announced – Park RangerThis week I am working as a Park Ranger at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. I will get to experience the various duties of a Park R… [<a title="blocked::http://www.oneweekjob.com/2008/02/12/week-46-announced-park-ranger/" href="http://www.oneweekjob.com/2008/02/12/week-46-announced-park-ranger/" target="_blank">more</a>]

Forward Looking On The Trail Of LifeThe scenery here at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is absolutely gorgeous. After being introduced to my boss for the week and getting settled into our… [<a title="blocked::http://www.oneweekjob.com/2008/02/13/forward-looking-on-the-trail-of-life/" href="http://www.oneweekjob.com/2008/02/13/forward-looking-on-the-trail-of-life/" target="_blank">more</a>]

Aloho &amp; Mahalo Hawaii, Until Next Time!In order to fully immerse myself in the culture of island life, I appropriately adopted the island pace (well demonstrated by my lack of updates this… [<a title="blocked::http://www.oneweekjob.com/2008/02/21/aloho-mahalo-hawaii-until-next-time/" href="http://www.oneweekjob.com/2008/02/21/aloho-mahalo-hawaii-until-next-time/" target="_blank">more</a>]

The 2009 Salary Tables are now posted on the Ranger Careers website.

I think federal employees are just about the only people who got pay raises this year . . . besides fortune 500 CEOs

Even though the economy is going to hell in a hand basket, the federal government is still hiring and may be your best bet for job security.  As I write, there are over 36,000 jobs posted on the USAJobs website – the federal government’s main portal for employment information.

Just to get an idea of the broad assortment of federal opportunities, do a basic search.  Select All Locations, All Job Categories, and click “Yes” for Applicant Eligibility.  Then click the Search for Jobs button.  This will bring up a comprehensive list of federal employment opportunities currently available.  Browse through announcements to get a feel for which jobs and agencies appeal to you and match your skill set.  You can then refine your job search to focus on specific geographic locations, job categories, key words, salary range or pay grades.

You can also do an agency search.  If you have a background in security or criminal justice, you may be interested in working for Homeland Security.  Perhaps you’re an accountant interested in working for the Internal Revenue Service or a finance major interested in working for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.  Take a look at the list of agencies.  I’m sure you’ll be surprised to find agencies you never even knew existed.

You can also choose to search by job series.  In the federal government, every job category has a specific numeric series assigned to it.  For example, all accountant jobs are in the 0510 series.  Heavy equipment operators fall within the 0350 series.  Geneticists are 0440, painters are 4102, park rangers are 0025, registered nurses are 0610.  Again, you can narrow your series search by geographic location, salary range or pay grade.

The advanced search option let’s you combine all of the above options with keyword and title search functions.

Each of the search mechanisms shown above will ask you about your Applicant Eligibility.  Your Applicant Eligibility determines which positions you can apply for.  When you’re viewing the job announcements you’ll notice that each posting has a field that says “Who Can Apply”.  That field will say either “Status Candidates” or “Public.”  You can apply for the “Public” announcements if you’re a U.S. Citizen of at least 16 years of age.  Yes, I said 16.  The federal government will consider student applicants under the age of 18 for certain temporary appointments.  In order to be eligible to apply for the “Status Candidates” jobs, you must be a current or former federal employee or be eligible for a special hiring authority such as the Veterans Recruitment Appointment or Student Career Experience Program.

Did you find a job you want to apply for?

The next step is to sign up for a My USAJobs account and create your online resume.  Once you’re signed up, you can sign up for automated job alerts.  You tell them what kind of jobs you’re interested in, and USAJobs will send you an email alert whenever there is an opportunity that matches your criteria.

Before you apply for a job, read the job announcement word for word at least twice, paying special attention to the application procedures.  Every agency has their own procedures and requirements.

Once you have applied, you’ll have to be patient.  The federal hiring process can be frustratingly slow.  I’ve applied for jobs where I heard back within two weeks and others where I didn’t hear anything for over three months.  As more and more agencies move to automated application systems, the response time seems to be getting better.

NOTE:  While the vast majority of federal job openings are posted on USAJobs, if you’re serious about getting hired, you can’t rely exclusively on USAJobs.  Agencies like the FBI and CIA are exempted from civil service hiring rules and have their own hiring systems.  They are called “excepted service agencies” and you have to visit their agency websites to learn about their employment opportunities.

Resources for Federal Job Applicants:

<a href=”http://www.rangercareers.com/parkrangersalary/parkrangersalary.htm”>Federal Salary Tables 2009</a>

<a href=”http://www.custhelp.usajobs.gov/cgi-bin/usopm.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php?p_sid=RaIM1tlj”>Frequently Asked Questions About Applying for Federal Jobs</a>

<a href=”http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?C=career_information”>Federal Times Career Information</a>

<a href=”http://www.govloop.com/”>GovLoop</a>

<a href=”http://www.younggovernmentleaders.org/”>Young Government Leaders</a>

The salary tables for Park Rangers have been updated with new rates for 2008.

Check out this article about “Super Cool Federal Jobs“

Well, it looks like DubYa made good on his promise to provide funding for 3,000 new Park Ranger jobs in 2008 and Congress went along with it.  These will be mostly seasonal positions and will extend beyond the Park Ranger ranks to include Visitor Use Assistants, Park Guides, Bio Techs and Maintenance Workers.

 These jobs are being announced on USAJobs and, with the exception of the Maintenance Worker positions, applications are being rated and ranked by a central office in Denver.  They are using an electronic questionnaire instead of KSAs (Hallelujah!  Some progress, at last.)   Here’s a link to application instructions.   

The NPS has also updated their seasonal employment webpage.  It is an improvement but still pretty vague.

You just gotta love it.  Hunter Sharp, National Park Ranger.  Sounds like something from a murder mystery.  But it’s for real and in 2001 Hunter Sharp, Chief Ranger at Wrangell-St. Elias was voted the best ranger in the country.

Check out this interview on viamagazine.com. 

The following press release recently appeared on the National Park Service website:

INTERNATIONAL
World Ranger Day Set For July 31st
For the first time this year, rangers around the globe will be celebrating World Ranger Day. The event will occur on Tuesday, July 31st, and will be held annually on that date thereafter.

World Ranger Day is an event that was conceived and advanced by the International Ranger Federation (IRF), a consortium of national and state ranger associations from countries around the world – from Korea to Scotland, from Argentina to Iceland, from South Africa to Canada. The member associations from the United States are the California State Park Rangers Association and the Association of National Park Rangers.

IRF was founded 15 years ago to support the work of rangers as the key protectors of parks and conservation areas throughout the world. Since then, it has been actively involved in training, communicating with, and supporting rangers worldwide.

At the 2006 IRF World Ranger Congress in Scotland, delegates decided that July 31st of each year, beginning in 2007, would be a day dedicated to rangers all around the globe. This first World Ranger Day will fall on the 15th anniversary of the founding of IRF in 1992.

Along with paying tribute to the work that rangers perform to protect the last vestiges of the earth’s natural and cultural heritage, World Ranger Day will also be a day to remember the many rangers who have been injured or killed in the line of duty. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, more than 100 rangers have been killed in the last decade while protecting Congo’s parks from poachers, rebel groups, illegal miners and land invasions.

This year’s inaugural celebration will center on the release of a new international ranger documentary entitled “The Thin Green Line” which was put together by Australian ranger Sean Willmore.

Willmore spent most of 2004 filming the lives and stories of rangers on six continents and in 19 countries. His trip included some incredible experiences – mountain gorilla protection in volatile Uganda, helicopter rescues in the Rockies, dangerous anti-poaching patrols and chases in South Africa and elsewhere, and violent threats by rebel soldiers, antagonistic poaching communities, and protesting fishermen. Willmore sold his car and remortgaged his house three times to make the film.

Information on “The Thin Green Line” and on obtaining a copy can be found at http://www.thingreenline.info/newsfront. The film will be shown all over the world on July 31st. Events are already being planned in the U.S. at Golden Gate, Yosemite and in WASO. If you are going to hold an event, please send along particulars to Bill_Halainen@nps.gov for posting in a future edition of this publication.

For more on the International Ranger Federation, please go to http://www.int-ranger.net/ . For copies of its quarterly newsletter, also known as “The Thin Green Line,” go to http://www.int-ranger.net/newsletter.html . 

I’m not a big fan of Dubbya but I was pleasantly surprised by his recent budget proposal for the National Park Service.  As part of the Centennial Challenge initiative aimed at getting parks in better shape for the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016, the President has proposed a $3 billion investment in national parks over the course of the next ten years.

In addition, the proposed budget for fiscal year 2008 (October 1, 2007 thru September 30, 2008) includes funding for 3,000 new seasonal positions.

A press release issued by the National Park Service says that the President’s budget proposal will provide a solid foundation for park base funding.  “With $140 million in increases at the park base level, this budget supports core mission responsibilities like interpretation and education programs, staff at visitor centers, park safety, and maintaining resources and facilities in good condition.”

This is good news for you Park Ranger Wannabees.  In fact, it’s some of the most positive NPS news I’ve heard in the last ten years. 

For more information about the NPS Centennial Challenge, go to:  http://www.nps.gov/2016/

For more information about how to get a Park Ranger job with the National Park Service, go to http://www.rangercareers.com/parkrangerjobs.htm

RM

UPDATE:  Just came across this Federal Times article with more info about this budget initiative.