Hi, friends! I hope you had a pleasant break and that your semesters are coming to a peaceful conclusion.
Wine and Government Cheese is very close to 1000 subscribers! I hope you find the newsletter useful. (If you don’t, please unsubscribe! I only write this because people are reading it, after all!)
Program Specialist (External Affairs) • National Museum of African American History and Culture (Smithsonian) • December 10, 2021 or 200 applicants
Have you worked in a museum for a year? And handled a bunch of projects?
You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position specialized experience is defined as working in a museum, college or university, historical or cultural institution, nonprofit organization or corporation serving as an assistant and advisor managing operational logistics; writing and editing various materials; managing multiple projects/programs; communicating orally with key stakeholders.
The KSAs are what you might expect:
Ability to serve as confidential assistant to senior management.
Ability to communicate in writing.
Ability to communicate orally.
Ability to manage an executive’s schedule.
Skill in project management.
Compliance Specialist • Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (Transportation) • December 10
Not sure this particular list is bursting at the seams with applicants for this job, but in case you want to make sure people are properly cleaning up oil spills:
This role will include reviewing oil spill response plans for regulatory compliance, representing the Administration at oil spill response exercises, interacting with other exercise-sponsoring Departments and Agencies, and designing and conducting a wide range of preparedness and readiness exercises within our Administration. You will be part of a team that ensures that initial reports of pipeline incidents are promptly disseminated to action officers and investigators; supports investigators in the field; distributes incident investigation information to agency leadership; and produces a wide range of information products concerning pipelines and transportation-related incidents.
They want to see one year of experience with this stuff:
Experience conducting technical reviews of documents for environmental regulatory compliance.
Experience with environmental laws.
Experience producing written products for an array of audiences.
Maybe someone’s research overlaps this issue. If yours does, take a closer look at the position description and the questionnaire.
Management Support Assistant • Smithsonian Gardens • December 13, 2021 or 100 applicants
This administrative position could be a good way to transition from grad school, maybe.
You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-5 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position specialized experience is defined as responding to inquiries both verbally and in writing, arranging meetings, reviewing correspondence for grammar, establishing and maintaining files/records, using different office automation software (i.e., word processing, spreadsheets, and electronic mail); conducting inventory of equipment, keeping time and attendance records, and entering in a variety of information into an electronic database.
The KSAs are similar:
Knowledge of administrative and financial recordkeeping and reconciling financial records.
Knowledge of basic procurement processes to obtain and monitor the use of services, supplies and equipment as well as assist with coordination and submission of contract request and documentation.
Skill in office support functions such as data entry, filing, timekeeping, scheduling, phone and mail handling and reception duties.
Skill in written communications to prepare materials such as correspondence, reports and briefing slides.
Skill in oral communications to assist staff members by responding to calls and answering basic questions.
Museum Specialist (General) • National Postal Museum • December 15, 2021
Always love to see a Specialist (General).
The employee works closely with another Collections Specialist and with support from the museum’s Collections Department. The employee will carry out a storeroom inventory, gathering necessary information to design guidelines, templates, and standards for future collection inventories at the museum.
They break the duties down with more specificity, too. You’ll need one year of specialized experience or two years of related graduate education/a degree:
For this position Specialized experience is defined as experience conducting regular physical inventories of the collections of museums, cultural, educational, or historical organizations and experience inputting data in The Museum System (TMS).
That’s basically what the KSAs are about, too. Here is the questionnaire.
Digital Conversion Specialist • Library of Congress • December 15, 2021
One of you definitely has a PhD for doing this job, or one of your friends does.
The incumbent provides analysis, reporting, planning, overall coordination and oversight activities of digitized audio and video content for The HistoryMakers African American video oral history collection. Individually and in collaboration with The HistoryMakers, NAVCC stakeholders, staff from the Library's Office of the Chief Information Officer, and other staff, the incumbent assists with program components that include the design, implementation, and evaluation of the project, the review of metadata and related policies and procedures, the development of strategies for metadata capture, normalization, transformation, storage, and output, models for information access and delivery, and oversees the accessioning of digital files received from The HistoryMakers.
The qualifications, which you should address in your answers to the questionnaire:
Applied knowledge of storing, processing, and accessing oral history interviews on audiovisual formats according to established archival standards in a professional setting.**
Ability to research, analyze, and provide solutions for workflow, presentation, description, and/or access issues related to digital library services and collections, or comparable digital systems.**
Ability to apply project management techniques and processes to implement digital library projects or programs.
Ability to serve as a liaison and interact collaboratively with others.
Ability to communicate effectively in writing.
Ability to communicate effectively other than in writing.
Diversity Program Specialist • Small Business Association • December 15, 2021
This would have to be a pretty lateral transfer, I think, if you’re coming from academia, so I’m just going to list the qualifications:
One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service, obtained in either the private or public sector: Identifying, establishing, or leading future-focused organization or government-wide initiatives and strategies that promote diversity and inclusion in the workforce; AND using data for root causes and trend analyses, program evaluation, and development of a diversity and inclusion program that align with strategic goals and objectives; AND translating diversity and inclusion trends and best practices into program goals and the workforce culture; AND communicating orally and in writing to brief senior staff on diversity and inclusion program implementation plans, budget requests and proposals, and recommendations for project goals and changes; AND analyzing and evaluating laws, regulations, and policies to determine program impacts; and analyzing business processes to identify program deficiencies.
Lead Library Technician (Copyright) • Library of Congress • December 16, 2021
They mostly want to know about your administrative skills for this one, and that you can make your way around a library, I think. There is, however, a detailed breakdown of the duties! So read that carefully.
Ability to organize, plan, direct, and review the work of team members.**
Knowledge of library processes and procedures.
Ability to utilize computer technology and software applications.
Ability to interpret and apply a variety of guidelines.
Ability to communicate in writing.
Ability to communicate effectively other than in writing.
Management and Program Analyst • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau • December 17, 2021
This is a Pathways/Recent Grad program. I don’t usually post these, because the filters I use are different. Recent grads and current students should take a look at the posting!
They are hiring at a number of levels and there are several ways to qualify. At the highest level of the position, you do the following stuff:
Assists Executive Secretary staff with interagency coordination of issues that directly affect the Director, senior staff, and the Office of the Director (OD).
Plays a role in facilitating the clearance processes for publication of external documents, including speeches, web content, testimony before Congress, press releases, and documents for publication in the Federal Register.
Prepares drafts of memoranda and other materials for Executive Secretary staff and other OD staff.
Works with Executive Secretary staff to implement programs and systems for managing information and paper flow to the Director and relevant senior staff.
Communications Analyst (Written) • Government Accountability Office • December 30, 2021 or 100 applications
When I saw an earlier posting for this job, it really piqued my interest in government work. I KNOW people on this list would be awesome at these positions. They are hiring more than one person, and there are several available locations.
The ideal candidate for this position has expertise-gained through a combination of education and experience-using expert English-language writing skills to communicate complex or technical information clearly and concisely. The ideal candidate also has extensive experience applying critical thinking skills and collaborating with diverse teams of subject matter experts to organize, draft, and refine professional written products. These may include public reports, published articles, or scholarly essays. This candidate will also have experience using soft skills (such as listening, flexibility, problem solving, and empathy) to influence others over whom the candidate does not have direct authority; facilitating group discussions to develop a clear, unified message; as well as teaching or coaching adults to write in accordance with professional or institutional standards (such as the Plain Writing Act). In addition, the ideal candidate will have experience independently managing a large and dynamic workload involving multiple teams or individuals and concurrent projects.
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet the specialized experience:
Applicants must have at least one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the next lower band or level equivalent to the GS-11 in the federal service, or comparable private/public sector experience which has equipped the applicant with the skills and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience for this position is defined as experience communicating complex or technical information (such as the results of scientific, academic, or public policy research and analysis) in writing; collaborating with--OR facilitating discussions among-subject matter experts or diverse groups of stakeholders; organizing, drafting, reviewing, and revising written materials to improve readability OR teaching/coaching adults to improve their writing skills (either in a classroom setting or by providing detailed feedback on draft products to help the authors understand techniques for improved written communication); and concurrently balancing multiple products or projects.
Might sound familiar. :) Here's the questionnaire.
Library Technician (Collections) • Library of Congress • December 30, 2021
For people who did some library work.
The incumbent retrieves and supplies the legal materials; performs preliminary searching of non-duplicates; conducts all steps necessary to complete baseline inventory of retrospective volumes in the Law Library. This include creating and updating the holding records, with the proper construction of summary holding information for serial materials; sorts, arranges, and shelves incoming or returning materials in the various Law collection areas; maintains the most current and comprehensive sets of legal materials along with their associated advance sheets, supplementary pamphlets or pocket parts. Identifies and processes superseded volumes.
They’ll evaluate you for:
Knowledge of collections accessioning/management/maintenance processes and procedures for library collections.**
Ability to use integrated library system (ILS), other computerized search tools and databases.**
Knowledge of library processes and procedures.**
Ability to plan, organize, and execute work within specified deadlines.
Knowledge of preservation techniques for library collection materials.
Ability to communicate effectively other than in writing.
Asterisks mean they care a lot about those skills! You can demonstrate your effective communication through the questionnaire's narrative answers, though not the kind of effective communication they claim to care about for the job.
See you next week!