Public service an option for college graduates
Gregory Royal Pratt
Issue date: 9/28/09 Section: News
Ronald Reagan famously declared: "The government is not the answer." That might be so, unless the question is: "In this bad economy, which sector is hiring?"
The United States federal government is always looking for workers. Last Thursday, UIC's College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA) hosted George Selim of the Department of Homeland Security for a talk about employment opportunities in the government.
Selim, who is a Civil Rights and Civil Liberties advisor in the DHS, is one of two people from the DHS who speak to students across the country about working for the government. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Selim originally wanted to join the military. Throughout high school, that was all he thought about. Then, one day, he was approached by a coach from tiny Walsh University in Ohio and given a full scholarship to play for them. He went off to college and became interested in working for the government, as he was attracted to the glamour of certain jobs.
"In the Midwest, there's three major things you can get into after school: sales. Medicine. And manufacturing. None of that appealed to me. There were things that appealed to me: 'FBI.' 'Special Agent.' 'DEA.' 'ATF.' 'Foreign policy.' 'Politics.' Buzzwords."
He says he went to Career Services at his university and was told, "Sorry, you're on your own." So he began researching and decided to intern with the federal government for the summer. He said it was the most important moment in his life.
Still, it was not easy for Selim, who says he applied for over fifty jobs on USAjobs.gov and was rejected from all of them. He then began to specifically tailor his applications to each specific agency and kept applying until finally he was hired to work for the government.
Selim tells his story with ease and gusto, and encouraged the audience to pursue working for the government if they want to work for the government. He says that the broadest way to get in is via USAJobs.gov, but that several agencies, including the FBI, the NSA, the DOD, have their own websites. His advice is to focus on what you want to do, get a degree in it, and then target agencies that do work relevant to that.
The United States federal government is always looking for workers. Last Thursday, UIC's College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA) hosted George Selim of the Department of Homeland Security for a talk about employment opportunities in the government.
Selim, who is a Civil Rights and Civil Liberties advisor in the DHS, is one of two people from the DHS who speak to students across the country about working for the government. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Selim originally wanted to join the military. Throughout high school, that was all he thought about. Then, one day, he was approached by a coach from tiny Walsh University in Ohio and given a full scholarship to play for them. He went off to college and became interested in working for the government, as he was attracted to the glamour of certain jobs.
"In the Midwest, there's three major things you can get into after school: sales. Medicine. And manufacturing. None of that appealed to me. There were things that appealed to me: 'FBI.' 'Special Agent.' 'DEA.' 'ATF.' 'Foreign policy.' 'Politics.' Buzzwords."
He says he went to Career Services at his university and was told, "Sorry, you're on your own." So he began researching and decided to intern with the federal government for the summer. He said it was the most important moment in his life.
Still, it was not easy for Selim, who says he applied for over fifty jobs on USAjobs.gov and was rejected from all of them. He then began to specifically tailor his applications to each specific agency and kept applying until finally he was hired to work for the government.
Selim tells his story with ease and gusto, and encouraged the audience to pursue working for the government if they want to work for the government. He says that the broadest way to get in is via USAJobs.gov, but that several agencies, including the FBI, the NSA, the DOD, have their own websites. His advice is to focus on what you want to do, get a degree in it, and then target agencies that do work relevant to that.
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