Customer Reviews

How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job: Your Complete Guide to Opportunities, Internships, Resumes and Cover Letters, Application Essays (KSAs), Interviews, Salaries, Promotions and More!

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I found this book to be of great value even though I used it in the hunt for a good position in the civilian world and not within the government.
A friend in the "G" gave me a copy of this book and told me that it was "hilarious." Granted, Ms. Whiteman has some funny cartoons in it and her style is an easy read. But more importantly, gave me the get-up-and-go attitude to put on my game face and apply for jobs with more than a modicum of confidence.
The book comes with a CD of resume templates and other useful cheat sheets, if you will. It helped me get my career organized in a tidy, presentable fashion. It also inspired me to produce some attention-grabbing cover letters that conveyed my skills persuasively and attractively in my application packets. After studying it, too, I felt that I was prepared for interviews, or I was after I conducted the practice sessions that she suggests where someone sits and asks you potential questions. It makes you think on your feet!
"How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job" made a world of difference in helping me stay away from vague and long-winded answers and I was finally able to connect with prospective employers, including the one that actually hired me just last week. Whew.
I would really recommend this book to any harried jobseeker, whether they want to work for the government or a company. And I plan on using it again in my efforts to move up in the world for an even better position down the road.

How I wish this book had been around when I began my federal service more than 20 years ago. For the first time, a book exists that compiles all the information candidates need to apply for their first federal job, or to apply for a better job if they are already in the system. What my husband and I found especially helpful are the worksheets. It is so much easier to write about a work experience using these outlines. It ensures that the narrative will follow a logical structure and reminded us not to leave out the most important points. With this book, my husband was able to revise his application into a much stronger document and I have updated my resume and related documents to be a step ahead for the next opportunity.

Other federal career guides are written by people who have either never worked for the government or are long retired. But this book is written by a very experienced, successful fed and career coach who knows the federal system inside out. As a result, this book is packed with savvy, insider advice available nowhere else about getting great government jobs and quickly moving up in the system. Plus, this book is written in a uniquely reader-friendly, engaging and even humorous style. I highly recommend this book to job-seekers of all levels and to current feds.

This is a really good book. However, I made the mistake of purchasing the Kindle version. For starters, the description of the book (even the physical book) does not list that there is a CD.It was only after I downloaded the Kindle version and started reading did I know there was a CD. That's because the author makes mention of the CD 50 million times in the book. As I read the book, I became more and more frustrated by the fact that many of the examples and templates I need are on the CD...which I do not have. It would have been nice if the information that was provided on the CD could have been provided digitally through the Kindle version as well. Now, in order to obtain the information, I will have to pay for the book, AGAIN, by buying the actual book with the CD. Needless to say I am beyond mad.

Don't waste your money buying the Kindle version.

When it was time to hit the pay dirt during the last year of my Bachelor's Degree, I needed help - serious help - in order to apply for a government job. All that I knew was that I wanted to work for the federal government, but neither did I understand its hiring system, nor did I know how to approach it, its methods and processes. This is where Lily Whiteman's book comes in.

This book is indeed useful, and provides a wholesome approach to federal employment. Although the reader will need to consult more works in order to nail the KSA's and prepare his / her resume before starting to apply, Whiteman's book is choc-full of incredibly useful suggestions and insider tips found nowhere else. The best suggestions this book provides refer to interview techniques, salary negotiation, and actual resources to look for jobs, internships and fellowships. Because I am particularly interested in the Foreign Service, I found the chapter entitled "Going Global" (provided in the CD that accompanies the book) an invaluable resource. This same CD has countless more resources, such as templates to improve your KSA's, preparation for your interviews, resume templates, and useful articles the author has previously written for The Washington Post.

This was the first book I read about procuring federal employment and it left me with a global picture of the practice; however, I did find later on that certain aspects of the federal job search are barely skimmed, i.e. the analysis of keywords when applying for a vacancy announcement. Elements like this could mean a "make it or break it" deal for an application, and this book barely mentions them. Also, the process of the actual writing of the resume and KSA's is covered from a superficial angle when compared to other similar texts, such as Kathryn Troutman's "Ten steps to a federal job - How to land a job in the Obama Administration".

Nevertheless, the book provides an excellent starting point in the federal job search, especially in Chapter # 2, loaded with resources on where to look for such jobs. Did it help me get the job? Well... I must happily report that it did get me to an internship with the Department of State. We shall see what the future holds thereafter.

This book has all the information you need to get that federal job you've always wanted. Lily Whiteman has collected all the tips and tricks of figuring out the federal system and presents them in an easy-to-read, and amusing, format. As a career coach, I have seen Lily help people land positions in the Senior Executive Service, greatly improve their interviewing techniques, and craft impressive portfolios, resumes, and networking cards. This book has the information that works to find positions, apply, and be offered jobs at any level in the federal government.

I got in touch with Lily when I was negotiating a federal job. My knowledge of how things worked with federal jobs was pretty limited. I had alrady been offered the position but didn't know what was and what was not negotiable. Lily was tremendously helpful. She outlined for me what was negotiable (and what was not) and potential rationale for why I should get the things I wanted (step - which translates into salary, vacation time, student loan repayment, relocation expenses, etc). She knew far more than the human resource people who I was negotiating with. For example, I asked that the feds pay back some of my student loans. The HR person said that they did not have the authority. I stated the details of the law congress passed to give them the athority (which Lily provided to me). It took them a couple of weeks to come back and explain that they didn't know they had that authority, but based on the law and my rational they agreed to repay part of my student loans. I was able to succesfully negotiate every other aspect that was important to me, with great gratitude to Lily. I have no doubt that without Lily I would have either been unable to accept the position or would have accepted it with far lower pay, less vacation time, and less coverage of student loans and moving expenses. I was told by our HR people (once I started the job and got to know them through hiring other people) that I was the toughest negotiator they had encountered. I didn't ask for help from Lily in getting the job as I already had an offer when I contacted her, however I'm confident that her knowledge would apply to getting the job as well. The federal system is complex and difficult to navagate.

I have to say this book is well written, concise, and practical. Whiteman conveys a clear, straightforward sense of what you need to do to get the application done and done right. The tip sheets, cheat sheets, and topics are organized very well; all major types of federal hiring are covered; the ins-and-outs of federal hiring are explained clearly; and the advice about the cover letter and other things an applicant has to include in their package to stand out are all great tactics. When using it for applying for a long-shot promotion, as I am already in the federal govt and ok with my current position, I was amazed how well my new and updated application looked (and not without a lot of work and effort on my part!). It brought me up to speed on writing the KSA's strategically and brought out my achievements much more visibly. I'm a fan of the examples of real pieces of applications included in the book. The CD is great, too, so don't lose it like I almost did. All in all, it feels like I had the right toolkit and the answers I needed to proactively and confidently apply; I just had to make it all happen and get it done. Even if I didn't the job, this book can serve as an essential 'playbook' in my survival kit for careering in the federal govt.

My only concern is that with new OPM regulations to overhaul the federal hiring process, how well will this book fare? Its great to have, but I'm sure the new rules, once implemented, will require a new version. Lily no doubt will make great efforts to provide the latest insights on what works in that new environment. I absolutely look forward to any new version she has to offer.

This book shows you how to look for jobs, where to look for jobs, the best way to apply, how to build a strong professional resume, how resumes are reviewed and more. It's well written and put together in an easy to read/follow format. It's not totally serious as the author shows her humor in the book also. Definitely a powerful reference for anyone who wants to get hired or promoted in the federal system. As a federal employee, I'm positive this book will help me go to the next level. This is coming from a guy who read a lot of the free online tips btw. Dont' waste your time on trying to get the free stuff online and just buy this book.

This book was worth purchasing, I thought about hiring resume professionals which was costly, $55.00 per KSA questions, and $250.00 for resume? Yeah right, I kept my money and invested in this book. I landed my current job following the techniques in this book. Time and patience is all you need. Bravo, to Lily Whiteman! And previous 5 star reviewers that geared me towards purchasing this book!