There's a strange new phenomenon I've noticed among friends and colleagues who, like myself, have just graduated: Suddenly they're talking about working for government. Since most of them are Obama fans who've been particularly fired up of late and would specifically want to work under his administration, I never knew how representative of a trend it was. But today, Gallup releases a fantastic new survey that suggests a substantial segment of young Americans similarly would be interested in government service--that is, if asked.
According to the poll, about 54 percent of people aged 18-29 would give a presidential call to government service "great or some" consideration. By contrast (and to me this seems perhaps more striking), fully 60 percent of all respondents said they'd never even been asked to consider that kind of service, by anyone.
The Gallup poll sets out various policies to make government service more attractive, e.g., greater student-loan forgiveness and continuing education benefits. But there are a plethora of other reasons why so-called "millennials" like myself don't automatically think of government service. To name just a few: a slow system of promotions, few chances to innovate and the government's traditionally closed-shop recruitment. To say nothing of a hiring process that's incredibly opaque and cumbersome.
Let's say, for example, that you want a federal job. Let's try the Office of the Interior's website (because unlike the phalanx of corporate reps that regularly descend onto college campuses to distribute free key rings and court applicants, you won't find many federal recruiters--outside maybe the Peace Corps and the military--in schools). Oh, but first. What's the series number of the job you want: 5326 or 0097? How does a OF-0501-20/22 pay plan and a promotion potential of 22 sound? Are you a GS-07 or GS-03-level potential employee?
All that to say that a presidential ask is only a first step. Over the next five years, one-third of all full-time federal employees are slated to leave or retire. Whoever next takes the White House needs to not only make the call for service, but also focus on how to better recruit and retain a new generation of talent. Your thoughts?
--Te-Ping Chen
