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School of Environment and Natural Resources

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Opportunities in Federal Service for students and recent graduates

March 26, 2015

Trish Raridan Preston, a career counselor in the School of Environment and Natural Resources recently had the opportunity to meet with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for the federal government, Katherine Archuleta. This is the office behind USAJobs that many students may be familiar with during their job searches. Director Archuleta was visiting with career advisors at Ohio State to talk more about opportunities in federal service for both internships and recent graduates. She discussed the over 3000 jobs that just posted yesterday with the FAA and over 1000 jobs with the FBI. She mentioned that in particular demand were students and graduates from STEM areas, which of course, ENR students represent.

OPM is aggressively recruiting for federal service employees because 40% of their workforce will be eligible for retirement within 5 years. 
 
For every single one of our majors, there are great opportunities to work in federal service. We will continue to work with OPM recruiters to bring these opportunities to you as well as help provide workshops that will assist students in preparing applications for these jobs.
 
Director Archuleta announced that there are 5 Ohio State students as semi-finalists in the prestigious Presidential Management Fellows program. This program seeks to train and place graduates with advanced degrees into senior level positions with federal service. 
 
Pathways is another part of the training program offered and includes both internships and recent graduate opportunities. Both of these include extensive training and mentorship. For interns, once you land your internship, it is yours to return to for the remainder of your school experience. If it takes you 6 years to graduate, each summer, this position is yours to return to on break. 
 
For recent graduates, this program is 1-2 years of training and mentoring. All of these pathways programs are focused on bringing graduates into permanent positions in federal service once they complete the program and meet standards. 
 
You can read more about these opportunities HERE.
 
Source: Trish Raridan Preston
Photo caption: Trish Raridan Preston with Director Archuleta.
March 26, 2015