Great Expectations! What Students Want in an Employer and How Federal Agencies Can Deliver It
Author(s): Partnership and Universum USA
Publication Date: 01/14/2009
Publication Topics: Attitudes Toward Government Service, College Students and Entry-Level Careers, Compensation, Benefits and Student Loan Repayment, Recruiting and Hiring
Publication Type: Research Reports and Surveys
Changes in the economy may be driving shifts in public perceptions about what constitutes an ideal workplace, potentially
creating new opportunities for some employers to bring in top talent, including the nation’s largest employer: our federal government.
The report is based on Universum’s 2008 survey of 43,000 undergraduates that identifies qualities young people seek in employers. Key findings from 32,000 American respondents include:
- Among students surveyed, "Government/public service" is the most popular choice out of 46 options. Seventeen percent of undergraduates selected the government/public service industry as one in which they would “ideally want to work when choosing their first employment after graduation.” The next most popular are health care (13 percent), education (12 percent), and marketing/advertising (11 percent).
- Five of students' top 15 "ideal" employers-- from a list of 260-- are federal agencies. Jobs with the Department of State, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Peace Corps, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are all highly coveted, among students surveyed.
- Government offers the main qualities undergraduates seek. A healthy work/life balance is undergraduates’ number one career goal, with 66 percent of students citing this as a priority. Serving the greater good and job stability are tied as the second most desirable traits.
To help federal agencies put the survey results to use, the report recommends that agency recruiters:
- Understand the preferences of the new generation of students they seek to hire and distinctly brand their agencies so that those students understand what they do and what they offer.
- Adjust their strategic and tactical recruiting plans to meet students' needs.
- Meet students online and on campus and provide them with the information and meaningful human contact they seek.
The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to revitalize our federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works.
FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
Cyber IN-Security: Strengthening the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce
The Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton examined the state of the federal cybersecurity
workforce by interviewing experts inside and outside of government, and examining public testimony, reports and documents. The Partnership and Booz Allen held focus groups and surveyed federal chief information officers (CIOs), chief information security officers (CISOs) and human resource (HR) officials at 18 federal agencies.
The results of this research are troubling and, in many
ways, familiar. The overriding finding of our analysis is that our federal government will be unable to combat these threats without a more coordinated, sustained effort to increase cybersecurity expertise in the federal workforce.
Federal CIO Roadmap
Developed as part of the Strategic Advisors to Government Executive (SAGE) program, this resource provides federal Chief Information Officers (CIOs) with a high-level overview of the President’s vision for technology, required responsibilities of a CIO as well as major deadlines that must be met.
Foreign Language Skills: Lost in Translation
The U.S. government faces numerous challenges and threats in the 21st century that require federal employees with diverse foreign language skills. Congress, federal agencies, and colleges and universities must work creatively and collaboratively to provide more opportunities and incentives for students and federal workers to learn the foreign languages essential to our national security and crucial diplomatic efforts.
On Demand Government: Deploying Flexibilities to Ensure Service Continuity
The Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton examined the current state of teleworking and four other flexible work arrangements—compressed workweeks, flextime, part-time schedules and job sharing—to better understand their use in the federal government today, to identify the impediments being encountered and to determine what approaches will be most effective to removing barriers.
Ready to Govern: Improving the Presidential Transition
The constitutional transfer of presidential power has been one of the hallmarks of American democracy—a peaceful ritual that provides continuity for our government as well as an opportunity for change and renewal.
Based on the Partnership's interviews with key transition officials from both the Obama and McCain campaigns, and the Bush White House, Ready to Govern: Improving the Presidential Transition examines the transition beginning in early 2008 through President Obama’s first year in office. The report takes a behind-the-scenes look at President Obama and John McCain’s transition operations and their successes and shortcomings.
The Partnership Press: Spring 2010 Newsletter
What's Inside: Partnership and PER host annual Public Service Recognition Week; 2010 Service to America Medals finalists are announced at Capitol Hill breakfast; Ready to Govern report examines presidential transition; Partnership and The Washington Post launch The Federal Coach online column
Unrealized Vision: Reimagining the Senior Executive Service
The federal government’s Senior Executive Service (SES), as envisioned 30 years ago by government reformers, has fallen short of its promise and is inadequate to meet today’s challenges, according to a report by the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton.
The report examines the state of the 7,000-member elite corps of federal leaders and how government develops, recruits, hires, retains, pays and trains its top managers.
Where the Jobs Are 2009: Mission-Critical Opportunities for America
Our federal government is hiring tens of thousands of new employees at a steady pace, with job openings available for every interest area and at virtually every agency.
Where the Jobs Are, the only comprehensive projection of the federal government’s hiring needs, presents a clear roadmap of these exciting public service possibilities, outlining both the specific types of permanent, full-time federal jobs being filled and agency-by-agency hiring projections.
340k
Download
