Congressman John Lewis hosted an expert panel discussion designed to help the unemployed and underemployed improve their chances at landing coveted jobs with the local, state and federal government.
Lewis, D-Ga., invited employers and job experts from the Department of Labor, the Office of Personnel Management, a government agency hiring manager and a woman who used the USAJobs.com successfully to land work. Additionally, there were representatives present from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Justice, Department of Veteran Affairs, Customs and Border Protection and the USDA.
The seminar, a first in a series of job workshops, was held in Atlanta, but the knowledge and experience dispensed can aid unemployed citizens across the country make themselves more marketable to government employers.
“When I am in the grocery store or visiting community centers and local organizations in the Atlanta metro area,” said Rep. John Lewis, “there is nothing people talk about more than jobs. Some have been searching for work for years. Though opportunities are still not plentiful, the federal government is one institution which is actively hiring, but the process of online application can be cumbersome and confusing. This workshop will help people learn the most strategic ways to use the USAJobs.com website and apply for jobs in Atlanta and across the country that they are qualified for.”
As a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Lewis has also been involved in a push by Democrats to pass an extension to unemployment insurance. Thousands of Americans will no longer be eligible at the end of December, and millions will fall off the rolls in 2012, which makes these seminars timely. Many qualified applicants disqualify themselves by not upping their résumé literacy, filling them out with inadequate information and, for the old-school work force, refusing to adhere to the demands of modern technology, meaning they fail to upload their résumés online or search the Internet to increase their chances of finding a job.
Congressman Lewis assured the audience that there will be more seminars to give qualified applicants a better chance at landing a job. The next seminar, which will center on corporations and firms, will take place early next year. The date, time and place will be listed on Lewis’ government website, www.house.gov/johnlewis
–terry shropshire
Here are some tips to improve your chances in landing a job with the government:
