This online forum is designed to energize Call to Serve members to educate students about exciting professional opportunities with the federal government.   

Host a Young Federal Employee Speaker

The Annenberg Speakers Bureau is a dynamic, diverse group of federal employees ready to educate audiences about federal career opportunities and inspire a new generation to serve. This effort aims to “put a face” on government by demonstrating the profound impact one can make in federal service. 

• Speakers visit college campuses and other student venues to promote public service and raise awareness of federal government positions among young people.
• Events range in size and style to fit the needs of the host venue. 

While the Bureau is not able to fill every request, we look forward to working with your campus or organization to place young, federal speakers who can inspire your students to make a difference.

Request a speaker »

Table of Contents

       Princeton Forum: Graduating to Public Service 

       Students Are More Civically Engaged but Are Ambivalent About Politics
       Welcome New Call to Serve Schools

Resources

        Call to Serve Toolkit: Directory of School and Agency Contacts

       Hot Jobs/Cool Internships

       Opportunities for Health and Science Majors: Call to Serve Workshop Notes

       Building Agency Relationships: Call to Serve Workshop Notes

Community Forum

       Ask Us: Should you put your Social Security Number on your resume?   

Events      

       **Activities that Work to Engage Students: Call to Serve Workshop Registration**

       Federal Career Day at Southwestern University

       Agency in the Spotlight: A Federal Career Fair - Postal Service Style

       Career Fairs on the Horizon

Graduating to Public Service

The Washington Post
By Stephen Barr

In hopes of encouraging more college students to consider careers in government, leaders at 27 universities are trading ideas and techniques on what it will take to bring a new generation into public service. 

The forecast is troublesome. Hundreds of thousands of baby boomers will be retiring from the government in the next few years, but most college students know little about federal jobs and how to apply for them.

The college leaders gathered last week at Princeton University for a discussion on the future of the government and how to create a national movement to champion scholarship and fellowship programs that will attract top students to public service.

"Our research is pretty clear. Public service is not on the radar screen of most students," said Max Stier, president of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service.

Anne-Marie Slaughter [pictured above], dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton, added, "The kids who want to be change agents and make the biggest impact do not see the federal government as the place to do that."

Read the complete article.

Community Forum:

• What scholarship, fellowship and loan repayment programs exist at your institution to encourage students to pursue public service careers?
• Does your university or college include public service as part of their mission?

Send us a quick line telling us what your campus is doing to institutionalize public service.

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Today's Students Are More Civically Engaged but Are Ambivalent About Politics, Report Finds

The Chronicle of Higher Education
By Mary Andom  

Young people entering college today— most of whom are part of the so-called Millennial Generation born after 1985 — are neither cynical nor highly individualistic, according to a new report released on Wednesday. Compared to their predecessors, Generation X, the Millennials are more likely to volunteer and be involved in social issues, researchers found.

Read the complete article.

Call to Serve Welcomes New Members

“As the Career Counselor on this campus, I've become very aware of the lack of knowledge students have on the many excellent career opportunities available to them in federal public serve. By joining Call to Serve, it gives the University of Rhode Island Feinstein Providence Campus the opportunity to work with the federal government to begin to educate and enhance our students' knowledge of federal public service and to facilitate the recruitment of our students/alumni to career positions within the federal government.” (Deanna Payette, University of Rhode Island Feinstein Providence)

 

"By participating in Call to Serve, we fulfill our mission of providing key resources and creating partnerships to enhance the career development and opportunities of our students. Additionally, through our partnership with Call to Serve, we can educate some of the nation’s top liberal arts students about federal civil service positions and assist in providing the leaders of tomorrow." (Wanda Gibson, Pomona College)

 “As a leading liberal arts college focused on the sciences, math and engineering, there was a moral obligation to join the Partnership for Public Services. We know that in the next few years the government will be having a tremendous need for qualified candidates trained in engineering, math and the sciences and our students are prepared to fill these federal positions. Through our membership, Harvey Mudd College’s bright and talented students will be made aware of these federal positions.” (Judy L. Fisher, Harvey Mudd College)

 

“Wentworth joined Call to Serve in order to assist with the recruiting needs of the federal government while educating our students about the opportunities available to them.” (Vamecia Harrison-Sanders, Wentworth Institute  of Technology)

If you know of any additional colleges, universities or federal agencies that would be interested in joining Call to Serve, have them email calltoserve@ourpublicservice.org or download the application online.

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Directories of Call to Serve Agency and University Coordinators

We hope you have had time to look at the new resources in the Call to Serve toolkit the career services office received in the mail and available online at calltoserve.org/toolkit. Now, we want to highlight some of the great ways our school members can use this resource to build better agency relationships, promote federal service and help your students and alumni land federal jobs and internships! We look forward to receiving your feedback about how you use these new resources to educate college students and build stronger agency-school relationships.

Need to contact the Call to Serve agency or university coordinators? Use the new Agency and School Directories. If you would like to update your university or agency coordinator contact, contact Brooke Bohnet at bbohnet@ourpublicservice.org.

View the Directory of Agency and School Contacts.**

Ideas agencies can use:

• Connect with other agency members to jointly recruit at career fairs (share registration costs!) (Learn more about this in the Making the Difference Report)
• Learn and share best practices from other Call to Serve agency members
• Contact university coordinators to build better relationships and effectively recruit on campus or through email 
• Send entry-level and student positions to university coordinators

Ideas schools can use:

• Connect with other Call to Serve school members to collaborate on career fairs and trainings
• Contact agency members to invite them to career fairs. Remember, don't just send out a generic email - make sure to sell your school and target agencies that are hiring your graduates  

**NOTE This list is for the use of career center professionals, faculty, and advisors. Please do not give it to students or post the link to it.  We do not want agency members to become inundated with student inquiries!

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Hot Jobs/Cool Internships of the Month

Updated weekly, Hot Jobs/Cool Internships is your source for great entry-level opportunities in government. Share this opportunity with your student listservs. Also, link your Web site to the new Internship Directory at www.makingthedifference.org/federalinternships/directory.

New Postings:

• Economist, Department Of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis
• Microbiologist, Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Agencies: Have entry level or student positions? Submit your Hot Jobs/Cool Internships to get them featured on makingthedifference.org! 

Back to Index 

“Health and Sciences” and “Building Agency Relationships”: Call to Serve Workshop Notes

**Don't forget to sign up for the upcoming workshops, “Activities that Work to Engage Students” on December 4 and “KSA Writing” on February 5, 2008.

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Ask Us

Q: Should you put your Social Security Number on a resume? (Travis Sheffler, American University)
 

A: 

• There is a difference between a resume — whether for a federal job or not — and a formal application.
• A resume is just a piece of paper and is likely NOT to be considered confidential. Putting a SSN on a resume is not a good idea and very rarely necessary. Most agencies do NOT consider a resume to be an application and hence require considerable additional information when someone actually applies (for example, they need to know if you are a veteran, if you have previously worked for the federal government, and other things.)
• Federal agencies consider formal applications to be confidential and safeguard them accordingly. But, they may ask for a variety of information that would not be on a standard resume including a SSN.
• Since agencies have unique applications, make sure to read the directions carefully to and include a SSN when necessary. If you are not sure, contact the HR department or name on the job listing to inquire about including your SSN.

Have a question about federal public service? Submit your questions.

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How Will You Use the New Toolkit Resources?

Now that the toolkit resources are out, we want to know your how will you use the toolkit to promote federal service. Are you planning any events or strategic methods to disseminate these resources to your campus? Send us your ideas so we know what we're doing right and what resources you still need. 

Send us your ideas! 

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Part III of Keys to Success: Activities that Work to Engage Students

Students are oversaturated with possible activities, so how do you get them to participate in your event or read your email on federal service? This session will bring you “Activities that Work” from campuses across the country and help you build an effective Call to Serve program on your campus.  

Register for the free workshop conference call » 

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Federal Career Day at Southwestern University

Southwestern University is a small, private liberal arts university that sits in the shadow of The University of Texas at Austin, which is about 25 miles south of our campus. It is very difficult for us to attract major recruiters in large numbers. In the past, we have taken students to the UT job fairs, but only a handful opts to go, due to class issues or timing.  

Last year, we decided that we wanted to try a bring a targeted group of federal agencies to campus in October 2007 to show students that liberal arts graduates have plenty of opportunities to work with the federal government. We felt that spreading all the events throughout the day would give more students an opportunity to meet and talk with more of the representatives and would also help us include as many faculty and other staff in the events as possible.

With the help of Partnership for Public Service, the Federal Executive Board in San Antonio, and through our own contacts, we were able get commitments from 12 different federal agencies during the summer of 2007. The State Department had a diplomat in residence at The University of Texas, former Ambassador to the Togolese Republic, Mr. Greg Engle. Most of the representatives came from cities in Texas, but the EPA rep did fly in from Washington D.C.

As part of our advertised and outreach we:

• Added the Federal Careers Day program to the list of our major fall programs.
• Handed out our programs list to students through classroom visits or during advising sessions.
• Developed banners to hang in the campus center and flyers to begin distributing several weeks before the program. 
• Attended faculty departmental meetings to get the word out on the program, and also to solicit faculty hosts for the small group meetings.
• Required students to sign up for the small group meetings and the panel with the help of faculty hosts who selected one student to join us for the luncheon.
• Placed an article in the campus newspaper from an interview a week before the event.
• Included federal representative bios in event details. 
• Emailed students a couple of weeks before the program.  

We considered the day very worthwhile and are looking forward to repeating it sometime in the next few years with some minor adjustments.

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Agency in the Spotlight: A Federal Career Fair – United States Postal Service Style

When a college graduate or prospective employee thinks about working for the United States Postal Service (USPS), the only image that probably comes to mind is being a mail carrier or working in one of the post offices for a local town or city. One of the goals of the USPS career fair held on November 14, 2007 in Washington, DC was to dispel that popular myth. 

What made the event a success: 

• Highlighting professional employment opportunities: The room was organized into tables with different departments of the Postal Service represented at each table: government relations, engineering, supply management, labor relations, global business, postal inspection service/forensics, marketing, finance, safety/environmental and health resource management, human resources, delivery and retail, the law department, network operations, public affairs and communications, diversity and employee development, strategic planning, and information technology. Almost every department had a sleek, flat-screen television that showed videos of what the department does and what it has accomplished.
• Using both online and in-person recruitment: 3,000 people expressed interest through their Postal Web site, but many were from out of state. Organizers believed a successful outcome would be 300-500 participants, and more than 500 job seekers attended.

Doug Greene, a ranking manager with the Postal Service, mentioned that job boards and Web sites that post job openings as well as resumes, college recruitment days, and even the Partnership for Public Service help aid the organization in accomplishing its recruiting goals. As for what sets USPS apart from other government agencies, Doug Greene brought attention to the relative independence new hires are given, saying that “they are expected to use their skills immediately.” In addition, USPS is working to decrease the length it takes to hire a candidate, while at the same time providing ample opportunity for management training, and giving competitive benefits to employees.

Learn more about the wide range of jobs at USPS.

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Agencies: Note these Career Fairs on the Horizon

Use the list on the bottom of makingthedifference.org to find out the details of many of the upcoming career fairs at our Call to Serve member schools. Make sure to email information about your school's career fairs, so we can include it next month.