Joe Davidson, Columnist for the Washington Post, wrote a column on how the federal government is squandering opportunities in developing its workforce. “Uncle Sam” he comments, is constantly behind the times with cultivating, developing and ultimately hiring interns that come through the various federal government offices. “Unlike private employers, Sam does not view interns strategically, as young professionals who should be cultivated into valued members of the federal workforce. He thinks doing a good deed by giving students experience is enough, while playing down the potential long-term benefit to the government the students represent. Sam puts most of his intern eggs into a basket with a big hole at the bottom. That basket is the Student Temporary Employment Program, which had 75 percent of the federal interns in 2007. It is “not designed to connect to career or academic goals, and . . . offers no direct route to students for full-time federal employment,” the report says. Temporary-employment interns don’t necessarily work on substantive projects. They may be assigned clerical or unskilled jobs.”
April 10th, 2009
Posted by
opia |
Jobs, Students |
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Eric Holder’s recent appointments to the Department of Justice suggest he will work to bring on a new level of ethics compliance unforeseen in the last ten years. The Bush administration was accused of appointing political appointees to the DOJ; attorneys that are looking to defend the mantra of the administration rather than the rule of law or hold any ethical standards. Holder appears to be moving in a different direction, says this Washington Post article. “(Holder) appointed Mary Patrice Brown, a well-respected career prosecutor in the District, the new leader of the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), which polices misconduct by department lawyers. Brown, who runs the criminal division at the U.S. attorney’s office in the District, will become the third chief of the ethics unit since it was established in 1975 after the Watergate scandal. The move came a day after U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan expressed a lack of confidence in the office, which has been investigating lapses with witnesses and evidence that ultimately demolished the government’s case against Stevens. Citing the seriousness of the alleged prosecutorial misconduct, the judge took the extraordinary step of appointing a special prosecutor to investigate six government lawyers involved in the case against the former senator, convicted last fall of ethics violations for accepting gifts from an oil services company executive.”
April 10th, 2009
Posted by
opia |
News, Uncategorized |
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Newly unemployed lawyers, Obama campaign workers, policy directors, or people simply interested in working for the government now that Barack Obama is in office are working overtime to find a job with the current administration and its various cabinets. The search, many are finding out, is long, laborious and not always turning up roses. This Washington Post article reveals the strong desire for government work but the inability-so far-to meet the demand. “Their collective purgatory highlights the unintended consequences of Obama’s influential calls for service. He has cultivated a yen for public service among this generation, but government jobs are limited, and the tight economy is squeezing nonprofit and charitable organizations and their donors. At the same time, the White House has an unprecedented number of applications and résumés to cull, lengthening the process.”
April 10th, 2009
Posted by
opia |
Uncategorized |
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