Web portal helps senior executives with job search

The Senior Executives Association launched a Web site Wednesday designed to connect the associations' members with potential employers in the private sector.

The project, launched in conjunction with technology firm Avue, is designed as a portal for top private-sector employers to see the resumes and profiles of SEA members--who can post their information free of charge.

The site, which can be reached through the SEA Web site, also contains job listings in the Senior Executive Service. Linda Rix, co-CEO of Avue, said, however, that the site is primarily focused on "folks looking to potentially exit government and go into the private sector."

There are about 6,000 members of the Senior Executive Service serving in the federal government. Roughly 2,700 of them belong to the SEA.

"A lot of them do look to move into the private sector, either full time or part time, when they retire," said SEA President Carol Bonosaro. "If we couldn't get them the pay that they deserved, we will help them get into the private sector."

Bonosaro said she hopes the Web site will help facilitate mobility for senior government executives, "which has not been a strong suit."

On the new Web site, job-seeking SEA members will be able to enter their work history and qualifications, which then will be entered into an automatically generated online resume. After the job seeker expresses interest in a company, that company will be able to view his or her profile.

Federal employees who use the site will be able to block other federal officials from seeing their profile, to help hide the fact that they are looking for work outside the government. Avue also is developing technology that will allow job seekers to block officials at specific agencies--presumably, their own--from discovering their job-seeking activities.

Bonosaro was asked if she thought the Office of Personnel Management would be upset that the SEA is developing ways for employees to leave government while so many personnel experts are warning of impending waves of retirements. She dismissed these concerns and said the Web site "makes sense" and fits the needs of her organization's members: "So many of them are going to retire anyway and go on to a life after government."

Bonosaro also rejected the suggestion that private companies might not be interested in such a small pool of applicants. Members of the SEA Corporate Advisory Board-IBM, Mastercard, Accenture, AMS and Deloitte-can access the site without paying. The annual fee for other companies, however, is $5,000.

"That's a no-brainer, if you think about how much these companies spend on search firms, on ads," Bonosaro said. "This is such a select group and this is such an easy way to get to them."