Details for this year's job fair are posted below. If something changes (since only the Program News page has this information and it could change), I will make sure and update this page and include a note to that effect. Also, when the schedule is published, I will post a new blog entry including the full calendar-readable event details. Stay tuned!
https://www.pmf.opm.gov/FFellowsJobFair.aspx
2010 Presidential Management Fellows Job Fair: March 30, 2010 - April 1, 2010 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC
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2010 Presidential Management Fellows Job Fair: March 30, 2010 - April 1, 2010 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC
››› hCalendar
It's also come to my attention that current PMFs have been invited to participate in the job fair activities on a volunteer basis. While this blog may not reach current PMFs, I am putting this out so that future/aspiring PMFs can see what kinds of things a PMF might get involved in.
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ReplyDelete@Stephanie: Please review http://pmfellow.blogspot.com/2010/02/about-this-site.html for some site policy information. I am trying to keep this blog disassociated from me personally for what may or may not be obvious reasons. You're welcome to post your questions again, though. Just follow my site policies please.
ReplyDeleteCould you review some of the benefits of the program? I'm particularly interested in the actual fellowship components of the program. How much contact do fellows have with each other during and after the program? Beyond the non-competitive pay grade increase and post-program conversion, what advantages does the program have over simply getting a federal job?
ReplyDeleteI apologize for the heavy handedness, but let's just say there are some good institutional reasons for my paranoia.
ReplyDeleteSomething that's not always obvious if you end up working in DC is that your starting grade (GS-9 to GS-12) is going to be higher than what many of your coworkers will have started at. While they may hold GS-11,12, and 13 grades now, many of them worked their way up from the bottom, whereas you will be walking in at a higher grade. That's a benefit if you plan to stick around for a while because it puts starts you at a higher rung of the career ladder, so in theory it's easier to climb even higher. That's not to say you couldn't get a GS-9 job out of graduate school (a graduate degree can minimally qualify you at that level), but without significant specialized experience, entering beyond that can be very challenging.
As far as contact with other PMFs, there is: a Facebook group, a LinkedIn group, and a Yahoo group. Of those, I have a membership on the Facebook group and the LinkedIn group, but never got very far with the Yahoo group. Sadly, the Yahoo group is the most used of the three. So there are opportunities. Plus there are the PMF orientation sessions and graduation, where you get the chance to network with other PMFs. Can we as a group do better? Absolutely. How we do that is still in the air.
Other benefits: If you land in the right organization, your potential for advancement is limited only by your own drive and determination. Go and get the training you need and plan your developmental assignment carefully and thoughtfully, and it should equip you with perspective and skills that are readily useful. And I can't stress this enough: as a PMF, you are in a unique position, where you are both an insider and an outsider. Over your two years you gradually settle into the insider role, but especially in the first year, you are treated as an outsider, an oddity, and that kind of position makes some people fear you a little bit and others seek you out specifically. Use that to your advantage, but don't be cynical about it.
Hopefully that about covers it.
Would you mind doing a post on how to go about applying to the positions? I'm emailing most of the contacts on positions in which im interested with a personalized cover letter and resume.
ReplyDeleteIs this way to do it? Or should I just wait til the job fair?
@Kevin: That's a good start, but you can also look around on the PMF site for a list of the PMF coordinators for various agencies. While they may not be the ones hiring, they may have been contacted by others in their agency about recruiting PMFs.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, you can wait for the job fair and respond to some of the mass emails that will go out (if I recall correctly without having to search back through my email, Navy sends one and NIH sends one, since both of them have well established PMF programs). You may also receive one-off calls from various agencies.
I guess I probably should dedicate a whole post to this.