This article originally appeared in Vol. 17, No. 1 (Fall 2007) of PASS IT ON

Finding Your Way Through the Federal Legal Hiring Thicket
By Anne Dewey-Balzhiser

When I graduated from law school in 1975, I chose to take my first legal job in the federal government. I was excited to practice law that served the public interest, but honestly thought that I would leave in two to three years for a position in the private sector. I retired in 2004 after a 28-year career in the public sector, working for five federal agencies in some 15 different jobs.

It is my firm belief that the federal government, although not perfect, offers many more opportunities for advancement and career satisfaction than other sectors of the legal profession, for several reasons:

• It has open, articulated, and fair hiring processes, performance standards, and promotion standards;
• It offers many opportunities for professional development, including a well-designed management training program;
• Achieving a satisfactory work – life balance is easier to accomplish in the federal sector.

HIRING, PERFORMANCE AND PROMOTION STANDARDS
By law, the federal government must publicly articulate its hiring, performance and promotion standards. While these processes are certainly far from perfect, a clear understanding of these factors is very helpful. Also, the fact that diversity is valued and equal employment opportunity is a stated goal means that anyone, regardless of such extraneous factors as color, race, ethnicity, or gender, has a fair chance of succeeding in the federal sector. Knowing how to use these standards to maximize your chances of achieving your desired career progression is the key.

Hiring Processes
Many who seek a federal job bemoan the volumes of documents needed to complete a job application as well as the lengthy period from submission to job offer. Indeed, many agencies' and departments' hiring processes can certainly stand improvement. One distinct advantage of the federal hiring process is that the actual hiring standards for almost all federal jobs are openly available.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) website USAJOBS.opm.gov provides a nationwide listing of available jobs, searchable by region and job specialty.

Every federal agency or department provides vacancy announcements for each open job to OPM, which compiles them into a searchable database. For example, on a day in April 2007, there were 54 open attorney positions in the greater Washington, DC area, with pay ranging from $55,000 to $154,000. (First, click on the tab “Search Jobs.” Under “Location Search,” specify “DC-Washington” and under “Job Category Search,” specify “Legal and Claims Examining.”) Each job posting provides a link to all of the information needed to submit a complete application.

While it is important to submit all documents that are requested, it is essential to demonstrate that you meet the “knowledge, skills, and abilities” (KSAs) required for the position. These are clearly delineated for each job opening, usually in the section called “Quality Ranking Factors.” (After you’ve identified the listing for a specific job opening, click on the tab for “Qualifications and Evaluations”). Your application must, at a minimum, demonstrate that you possess these KSAs, or it will be eliminated from further consideration.

For example, if one of the “Quality Ranking Factors” requires “knowledge of federal environmental law,” be sure that your application notes previous coursework or assignments which covered this area. Or, if the position requires the “ability to litigate cases in federal district and appellate courts,” your application must list your experience in this area.

A recent development is the use of online application processes. Avue Digital Services is one of the “online applicant assessment system[s]” that some federal agencies use to collect the job application information. For example, on April 25, 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission had a job opening for an attorney-advisor in the Division of Market Regulation. The vacancy announcement included a link to the Avue system. Each applicant for this position would need to create an account with Avue and then complete the application for this job online. The key here is to study the job duties carefully to identify the required KSAs that are sought for this position and then be sure to enter your job qualifications carefully, mirroring the same buzzwords in your online entries. Why is this so crucial with Avue applications? Instead of being reviewed by a personnel specialist, each application is analyzed by a computerized search, resulting in an assigned numerical rating that will determine the most qualified applicant. The system is programmed to search for specified buzzwords. If you represent your skills and experience in comparable but different language, the system may not be able to correctly assess your application and your application may not receive further consideration.

An additional tip: while the federal application process minimizes the use of résumés, most attorneys are conditioned to submitting a résumé with a job application. I would urge you to continue to do so. If your application advances in the process, you will be interviewed by a supervisor who is also a lawyer and similarly accustomed to reviewing an applicant’s job history in a résumé format.

One final thought. Be sure to focus on timeframes. The application deadline is usually identified in the section called “Open Period.” For example, this might say “Wednesday, April 25, 2007 to Wednesday, May 09, 2007.” Typically, this means that your job application must be received on or before May 9.

Performance Standards
Each position in the federal government has performance standards against which you will be measured for your annual performance rating. You should receive a copy upon employment. It is imperative that you review these at the beginning of each rating period (typically a one-year period), so that performance goals are understood. A key corollary is the rating categories, usually five -- Outstanding (the highest), Exceeds Fully Successful, Fully Successful, Minimally Successful, and Unacceptable (or some variation thereof). Each portion of your performance appraisal (or “element,” of which there are typically five to ten) is assigned a rating; your overall performance is also assigned a rating. Your overall rating is then correlated with a percentage increase in pay. For example, an employee who receives an overall performance rating of “Exceeds Fully Successful” may receive a pay raise of 5 percent.

Performance systems vary widely by agency and department. However, each agency or department must inform all employees of the system in place for the upcoming year as well as the manner in which pay increases are determined. Knowing the standards applicable to your position as well as the rating process followed for that year will position you to obtain the best rating possible.

Promotion Standards
Promotions occur when an employee is moved to a position with higher level job duties. For example, an attorney at higher grade levels handles more complex assignments, performs his or her work with less supervision, or manages teams in completing joint projects.

Promotion to higher level positions is not automatic. In fact, promotions are often not granted until after the employee demonstrates the higher level knowledge or skills. Therefore, it is incumbent upon employees to obtain the position description for the next higher level position and seek out opportunities to perform the associated duties.

Discuss with your supervisor what steps you need to take to qualify for promotion. Ask for specifics. And ensure that you qualify by requesting the types of assignments that develop the necessary knowledge or skills (that is, obtaining on-the-job training) or that you receive relevant formal training.

Progression to the Executive Levels
The federal government employs a cadre of executives through its Senior Executive Service (SES) program. A wealth of information is available about the SES at www.opm.gov/ses. In order to be hired for a position that is part of the SES, an applicant must be certified by the Office of Personnel Management as possessing specified “Executive Core Qualifications”(ECQs). Currently, these can be summarized as follows:

1. Leading Change: The ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment.

2. Leading People: The ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.

3. Results Driven: The ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.

4. Business Acumen: The ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically.

5. Building Coalitions/Communication: The ability to build coalitions internally and with other federal agencies, state and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations, to achieve common goals.

An applicant can demonstrate that he or she has acquired these competencies either through completion of specified SES-level training or by on- the-job-training. If your goal is to rise into the executive ranks of the federal government, then review these ECQs carefully and focus on acquiring the needed training or experience.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Many agencies and departments in the federal government use “individual development plans” (IDP) to outline an employee’s career goals for the next year as well as for the next three to five years. For example, career goals could be to “become a project team leader,” (in the next year) and then “become a division director,” (in the next five years). The IDP then identifies specific steps that will be taken in the next year to achieve the desired goals, including training as well as work assignments. This could include, for example, taking a USDA Graduate School course in project management and coordinating the development of the division’s budget.

After an employee fills out an IDP, the supervisor reviews it and discusses it with the employee. Then each signs the document. The IDP should be viewed as a contract – the employee agrees to seek out the identified assignments and training and the supervisor agrees to offer them to the employee. The effective use of the IDP can be a crucial step in securing timely promotions.

A key component of the government’s career development program is the variety of training available. The USDA Graduate School offers a host of career and professional training. See www.grad.usda.gov. Large departments and agencies, such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, have their own training academies. Additionally, the Office of Personnel Development has SES-level training available through its Federal Executive Institute as well as its Management Development Centers. See www.leadership.opm.gov.

WORK-LIFE BALANCE
As I noted in the introduction, I began my employment with the federal government under the assumption that I would depart for the private sector after a few years. What made me stay? It was a combination of interesting, policy-level work, rapid advancement into the managerial ranks, and workplace flexibilities. These three factors made a federal career a very satisfying one for me.

In the late 1980s, when I was serving my first stint as a general counsel, I noticed how many job applicants were women. Clearly, the federal government had no problems attracting women to its positions. Why? Because it is possible to handle complex, policy-level legal assignments while raising a family. Several federal personnel policies make this possible. Significantly, these same policies permit any employee to pursue meaningful outside interests -- whether it is acting in community theatre, tending to aging parents, or training for a marathon. These include:

• flexible work schedules - where you can schedule your workday around “core hours” that are required; for instance, some employees work from 7 am to 3:30 pm and others may choose to work from 10 am to 6:30 pm; all employees’ work schedules are required to include the agency’s specified “core hours,” typically, 10 am to 3 pm;
• compressed work schedules - 40 hours a week divided into four 10-hour days; or 80 hours per two weeks in nine days, instead of 10;
• telecommuting - allowing employees to work a certain number of days at home or from a designated telecommuting center;
• a part-time work schedule, in which a regular work schedule is less than 80 hours per two weeks.

While not every federal agency or department offers all of these flexibilities for every position, the fact that such policies are widespread means that it is often easier to negotiate for reasonable accommodations in order to achieve a satisfactory work-life balance.

If you devote your energies to actively managing your career and utilize the mechanisms available to federal employees, you too can enjoy a very satisfying career in the federal legal sector.

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Anne Dewey-Balzhiser is the president of Women Lead LLC. She is a former Division council member.