Entry bubble Veterans Day

By: Joanne | November 11, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

Veterans Day, Honoring All Who Served, November 11, 2008

Today is Veterans Day, a holiday intended to thank veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. The Census Bureau tells us that we’ve got around 23 million veterans in the United States.

The history of Veterans Day dates back to the end of World War I. November 11 was declared "Armistice Day" in 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson to honor the soldiers of World War I. After World War II, the holiday was recognized as a day of tribute to veterans of both world wars. Beginning in 1954, the United States designated November 11 as Veterans Day to honor veterans of all U.S. wars.

On Veterans Day, I always think of my favorite Veteran - my dad, who served in the Navy during World War II and the Korean War. He passed away a few years ago and is buried in a Veterans Cemetery along with so many others. If you know of someone who is buried in a Veterans Cemetery, but you don’t know quite where to find them, try the Veterans’ grave site locator.

Many towns and communities across America plan events to honor local veterans and the National Veterans Day Observance is held each year at Arlington National Cemetery where veterans and other exceptional individuals from the Revolutionary War to the present military action in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried. The National Park Service preserves many battlefields, military parks, and historic sites that commemorate and honor the service of American veterans and will offer free admission on Veterans Day to veterans and active military.

What will you do to observe Veterans Day?

| View Comments [6] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: cemetery   day   federal   holiday   joanne   military   veteran  

 

Entry bubble Wanna Work for the Government?

By: Nancy | November 06, 2008 | Category: Money

Last week, I promised in the comments section of my blog entry on preparing for a job layoff that we'd talk this week about how to start a career with the federal government. uncle sam

I've got to be honest: becoming a fed was not on my life's to-do list. Didn't even occur to me. But as a communications major, I graduated into a really tough private sector job market in 1990. Despite my fussing that "No, there couldn't possibly be a job in the government for broadcasters," a friend passed my resume to her friend, who passed it to her bosses who eventually became my bosses.

Almost 18 years later, I can tell you that I've used what I learned in my major every single day, and I've learned so much more from my years on the job growing and exercising my communications experience. Plus, I've appreciated the relative stability of working for Uncle Sam while so many of those companies I initially applied to went under or went through massive layoffs.

While I still have nightmares of typing up and using gallons of correction fluid on my "SF 171" federal job application, today's generation of would-be feds can just go to USAJobs.gov or its partner site for students to find and apply for federal jobs. Both sites are from the US Office of Personnel Management, the mega HR department of the federal government.

Don't want to move to Washington, DC to work for the federal government? Not a problem. Only about one in ten of the more 1.8 million federal jobs are actually located in the nation's capitol. Right now USAJobs.gov is showing more than 3,000 federal job openings in the Denver area, more than 2,500 in and around Dallas, more than 1,000 each in Nashville and Detroit and nearly 700 each in Milwaukee and Raleigh.

Before you dive into applying for that federal job, it'll pay to get some tips on the application process, and to learn writing techniques that can help your resume and application rise to the top of the applicant pool.

You can find out about different agencies you're interested in by visiting BestPlacesToWork.org and the Partnership for Public Service's downloadable publication: "Where The Jobs Are". It outlines the mission of individual government agencies, features examples of each agency's most popular jobs and provides projections of agencies' hiring needs in the coming years. And you can get a taste of federal work life by checking out Joe Davidson’s Federal Diary in the Washington Post and the website and the radio station dedicated to the life and work of government employees: Federal News Radio.

If you're looking for state or local government jobs from law enforcement to teaching, USAJobs.gov's State and Local page is the place to start.

Ok, I know lots of Gov Gab's readers are government employees like me. So I really want to hear from you about your experience working for the government—the good and the not-so-good. Are you new or are you an 'old timer' like me? What tips can you share with people who are considering a career in public service?

| Post a Comment | View Comments [5] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: federal   government_job   nancy   usajobs.gov  

 

Entry bubble Find a Job

By: Joanne | May 20, 2008 | Category: Money

help wanted ads

Are you sick of your job? Are you ready to move on to other things? Are you unemployed and wearing a deep groove in your parents’ sofa? A student looking for an internship? It sounds like you need a job.

From time to time, we all need to look for a job, and I don’t know if you find it easy, but most of us don’t. You’ve got to figure out what you want to do, determine if there’s a market for the occupation that interests you, polish that resume, and begin the hunt.

It’s always good to look in the local paper or check an online source for local job listings, but the government’s got some resources to help too. If you’re looking for a job or an internship with the federal government, you’ll find all openings announced to the public at USAJOBS. Check out your state job bank for even more job opportunities in your area. If you need a helping hand, look up your local Department of Labor office and see what services they offer to job seekers in your area. And if the job sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Be aware of job scams.

p.s. Thanks for all your great suggestions in response to my post last week! This post was inspired by one of your comments, and we'll be using more of your ideas in coming posts.

| View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: career   employment   federal   joanne   job   labor   resume   scam  

 

Entry bubble The Do Not Call Registry

By: Jake | February 25, 2008 | Category: Money

You can now make those mid-dinner telemarketing calls a thing of the past.

The Do Not Call Registry allows citizens to submit their phone numbers to a list that telemarketers are not allowed to call. When the registry was set up in 2003 the program required people to re-register every five years in order to keep the numbers up to date.

Now users will not have to re-register since earlier this month President Bush signed the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007 which prohibits the removal of numbers from the registry.

You can verify your registration or register your phone number online. Keep in mind that it takes 31 days for the updated list to be submitted to telemarketers and even then you may still receive calls from political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors or companies with which you have an existing business relationship. If you do receive a call from someone you are not supposed to you can file a complaint with the registry online or with the Federal Communications Commission.

| View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: call   commission   do   federal   jake   not   registry   telemarketers   trade  

 

Entry bubble Political Activity for Federal Employees (The Hatch Act)

By: Sommer | February 01, 2008 | Category: General

The 2008 presidential election is a really big deal for our country. It’s nice to see so many people turning out for the primaries.

Under the Hatch Act, though, federal, state, and local employees need to use some caution during the campaigning and election process, since they are only allowed to participate in limited activities. Under new laws, most federal employees can volunteer and contribute to the election process, but some restrictions still remain.

Remember that employees of certain federal agencies may not participate in any partisan political activities.

All federal employees may:

  • Register and vote as they choose
  • Assist in voter registration drives
  • Express opinions about candidates and issues
  • Contribute money to political organizations
  • Attend political rallies and meetings
  • Sign nominating petitions
  • Campaign for or against referendum questions, constitutional amendments, municipal ordinances
  • Join political clubs or parties

Federal employees may never:

  • Use official authority or influence to interfere with an election
  • Solicit or discourage political activity of anyone with business before the agency
  • Solicit, accept, or receive political contributions
  • Engage in political activity while on duty, in a government office, while wearing an official uniform, or while using a government vehicle (This includes sending political emails from your government computer and email account.)
  • Become a candidate in a partisan election

If you violate the Hatch Act you could lose your job.  Make sure you fully understand your rights under this legislation before taking up a political cause. 

Happy Groundhog Day tomorrow! Pray that Punxsutawney Phil doesn’t see his shadow – I’m ready for spring!!

| View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: election   employee   federal   government   hatchact   sommer   vote