Two in five college students would consider federal service

Forty-one percent of college students are considering a career with the federal government, a new survey of 1,000 American juniors and seniors found. The survey, conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, a Washington-based polling firm, also found that 75 percent of college students had a somewhat, or very, favorable opinion of the federal government as an employer. "There is a real reservoir of goodwill among students," said Linda Bilmes, a Harvard University professor. Bilmes and Jeffrey Neal, director of human resources for the Defense Logistics Agency, sponsored the survey for a book they are writing about the federal personnel system. "The question for the government is how do you capitalize on this goodwill, which is now being dissipated." While the survey found generally higher rates of interest in federal employment than have previous surveys of college students and recent college graduates, most students said the government compares poorly to private sector employers in a number of ways. Most college students said that private sector employers care more about their employees, provide greater advancement opportunities, have more challenging work and have more respectable co-workers than the federal government does. Among the 59 percent of college juniors and seniors who said they weren't interested in working for the government, half said a key reason was the politicized work environment. Almost half of those who weren't interested in federal jobs also said the federal work environment is bureaucratic and dull. Most students also said they thought it was hard to find and apply for federal jobs. Sixty percent said federal hiring is based upon who you know, not a fair and open process. "They fear the way you get ahead in government-and get in-is politics, not merit," said Mark Penn, president of the polling firm. Bilmes, a former Commerce Department official, and Neal are writing a book that will incorporate the survey's findings. The book, expected out early next year, will propose changes to the federal personnel system to make it more modern and responsive. "The federal personnel system is not a model of modern thought," Neal said, noting that typical job applications run 15 to 20 pages. Neal said the government takes an average of 80 days, or more than 11 weeks, to hire. But 89 percent of college students told the polling firm they wouldn't wait that long for a job offer. Twenty percent wouldn't wait more than two weeks, 49 percent wouldn't wait more than four weeks and 20 percent said they wouldn't wait more than two months. The polling firm also asked students to think about 15 specific federal agencies and departments and rate how working at each would compare to working for the federal government as a whole. NASA got the best rating, while Veterans Affairs got the worst.