Ok Kids.Having been employed at the Holocaust Museum for nigh on 7 years
now, I think I can shed a little light into that dark corner of the job
market known as "The Federal Hiring Process." The FHP is a behemoth if ever
there was one. The Clinton administration has made efforts to tone it down
and reduce the paperwork involved. However, there are still rules that have
to be followed. The token gesture of no longer requiring the standard
federal job application form (SF-171) has probably only made the process
more cumbersome. The SF-171 has spaces for you to tell them everything that
you have done, job or otherwise, where you have lived, what you have eaten,
etc, for the past ten years. These folks are really worried about hiring
somebody who (gasp!) may not have be qualified for the job. Why? Because it
is very difficult to fire somebody once they are in, especially if they
have been with the government for any length of time. So...you fill out the
171 or just mail them a resume. Also include the required statment of
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities specifically related to the job and
spelled out for you in the position announcement.
Let them know if you are a military veteran or former federal employeee as
these will give you advantages.
 Now...the HR office of the hiring agency takes all thee applications and
starts rating them by a point scale. They check off to make sure you've got
all the KSA's. If you don't, or haven't specifically spelled them out, your
paperwork gets round filed. Then they rate the top ranking candidates. 10
point vets are usually at the top of the list. This list is known as "The
Cert." It is standard practice to only interview the top two or three
candidates on the cert. I have seen poeple interviewed for jobs that they
are simply not qualified for based solely on their veteran status. Often
when this happens it is easier to cancel the vacancy and start over with a
rewritten job description, then it is to try and get around hiring this
person.
  Now, as for jobs that are slated for a specific individual...well, that
is also done often, although never here of course...
Seriosuly, what happens here is you have an in-house person hat is slated
for a promotion. The job they are in is a lower grade than where they
should be. If the current job does not have built in promotion potential
then a new job must be written up. Usually these are advertised for the
minimum required time (1 or 2 weeks) and then, *maybe* they will interview
a few of the candidates. Of course the top ranking candidate is going to be
the guy that's already doing the job, sonce the Job description is
*describing* his/her job. There have been cases, oagain of course, not here
(no, never) where another applicant has sued and gotten the job anyway.
  After all is said and done you should get a call in a few weeks if the
agency is interested. Yes, the process is a long one. HR departments of
gov't agencies are notoriously slow. Once you are hired it still may be a
month before you can start.
 My department has hired a considerable number of people, and all of the
jobs have been advertised in AVISO, The Post, or on the OPM job boards.
(ALL fed jobs are listed on the OPM website-  http://www.usajobs.opm.gov.
However this will not show jobs that are paid out of other than federal
funds. FOr these you will need to surf on over to the website of the agency
you are interested in and see if they have listings. Smithsoninan does. -
http://www.sihr.si.edu/vacancy/vacancy.htm. Non-federal positions seem to
get filled faster.
 While it may seem impossible to get museum jobs, it isn't. There is a
degree of luck involved, but mostly I thikn there are severla things at
work here. First off, most applicants are going to at the very least have
the qualifications on paper. Secondly there are a small number of jobs in
our feild especially when compared to the current job market as a whole. So
you have a host of qulaified applicants and a small number of positions.
Thirdly you have a hiring process which is a downright beast. And then
there is the stereotypical snobbery of museums. If you haven't done
whatever it is that you do in an Actual Museum, then you are viewed as the
proverbial bull in the china shop. After all, we do have an image to
uphold...
BTW there are quite a few people here and elsewhere that came up the hard
way. Starting out as AAs, janitors and such and then moving into more
rewarding positions.
  I will have to say that I am not particualry supportive when friends tell
me they want to go into a  Museum Studies program. I think you are better
off getting a Master's or a Ph.D. in a particualr field of interest. The
ins and outs of how a museum works can and almost always are learned on the
job.
Apologies to all those who are involved in MS programs, but *what* exactly
are you teaching these people?
Btw, I started here with a four year Fine Arts degree (poppycock,
basically) on a temporary basis as a "hired hand" in the collections
department, (clean those, sort these, etc). I had some art handler and
cabinet shop experience and got a temporary job in the shop helping to
install the exhibitions. From there I took over the lighting and other
duties which simply weren't being done. I took on more and more
responsibility and then stomped my feet and yelled and screamed until they
reworte my job description. I never planned on working in museums, it just
*happened*. Others here got here the same way.
No it isn't easy. But most of these jobs *do* get filled. Talk to some
folks who have done the federal job apps. There are ways of writing these
things so that you *will* qualify. Maybe not top three but you should at
least get on the cert.
 It really isn't that hard.  No it isn't always *fair*, and no, you won't
have the same bargaining power as your friend the Network Technician. Don't
be daunted by one application that was never responded to. Send it
again...apply of rall the jobs, even if you think you are only marginally
qualified. Think of it as a game of Battleship..."D-4...", miss..."J-9...",
miss..."B-7"...HIT!!!....then as long as you don't blow the interview you
might have a fighting chance.

Remember Denis' Law of Thermodynamics: "If you put a little hat on a
snowball it can last a long time in hell"

rgrds
Dave Bobeck
Dept. Of Exhibitions
USHMM

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