The State Makes Getting a Federal Job Difficult!

So, my boyfriend is sick of his sales job. I can't say I blame him, sales jobs with the economy the way it is now, is tough. No one is buying, because people are suffering just trying to make mortgage payments, and ridiculously high tax payments.

The idea of getting a state job has been on his mind for quite some time. We both knew though that state jobs could take months, if not years to get a position.

Seeing how the economy only looks like it's getting worse, we figured why the hell not? Even if it takes 2 years to get a job, at least it will be a secure one with excellent benefits.

Where to start????
 
Oh lordie. We both have visited the Federal Jobs website, and we both have clicked off in a haste only because everything seemed so goddamn confusing. Form numbers, title numbers, position numbers, codes... what!?!?!?
 
I decided though to at least try and understand exactly what they wanted, and what jobs were available. The site says to apply for many jobs for a better chance at getting a position. It kind of stinks that you can't just get the job you know you'd be best at. You are told to fill out as many as possible. Okay....
 
I went browsing for things that I thought would be good for him. I ended up finding a whole bunch of neat jobs with good pay, but once I got to the whole application process, I was seriously pulling out my hair. What code? What's a job announcement title? What's a grade?
 
There are forms they want you to fill out. I printed out the forms I needed, and began reading. Some questions wanted me to 'see vacancy question'. I had to sign back online to see what the question was.

They couldn't just add it to the form; no. They had to go and hide the question in the 30 page instructions on how to apply for the job. Once I found the question, online, I could then answer it on the printed form. Grrrr...
 
It got confusing, and hurt my eyes. I was hunting out forms that had links buried in piles of text.

Some jobs that are available only hire certain people, with certain past experiences and history. So I had to scratch off 4 or 5 jobs I 'thought' he could apply for, only to discover that only VETS could apply for them. Fair enough.
 
After printing out about 10 pages of forms, I got nervous as I helped him apply for the job. According to the site if any documentations were missing, he would not even be considered, and not including info they want could effect future considerations as well. Man...talk about pressure!
 
After reading the 30 pages on how to apply for the job I prayed we had everything we needed. It took us in all about 2 hours of hunting and pecking to locate everything needed. Not to mention the fact that some links are dead links!

After filling out the forms, all we had to do was fax the resume and applications. Only the number was not just 'right there'. It was buried deep within the 30 pages of information. It took a total of about 20 minutes just to find the fax number.

I swear if you are serious about a Federal job, you have to have patience, and you HAVE to read every line. Every job has a title announcement, and job number that needs to be included on each piece of documentation. That number will be buried somewhere in the job description.

My boyfriend has no patience, so I (of course) was the one who ended up pecking out every last bit of information needed, and every last link to documents I needed to print.

It took me quite some time to grasp everything, and figure out exactly what was needed to even be considered for the job.

Some jobs require you to schedule to take a test, and others do not.

After clicking away the time, even then you are still not guaranteed a position.

Getting a Federal job takes a lot of patience, it's not just going to be handed to you. You have to be really patient to even figure out what they are asking for, where to obtain documents, and how to fill them out. Most don't have this sort of patience, and most will become easily confused by the whole process.

The only thing I can recommend is to read, read, and read each line again. Make sure you have everything required.

In a simple world all one would have to do was fill out a resume, fax in/mail in your info and hope for a call back. Not so with Federal jobs. It's a long, (and difficult when first figuring out where to begin) process.