Posts By Lily Whiteman

Location, Location, Location: Working in Headquarters vs. Field Offices

By Lily Whiteman, author of “How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job”; speaker on career issues; Twitter: @Lilymwhiteman What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of working in federal headquarters offices located in the Washington D.C. area vs. working in federal field offices located throughout the U.S.? This question is answered by the two tablesRead… Read more »

How to Sail Through Probation Without a Glitch

By Lily Whiteman, author of “How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job”; speaker on career issues; Twitter: @Lilymwhiteman Congratulations! You’ve just accepted a coveted federal job. Time to celebrate. But you might want to wait to pull out all the stops until after you finish probation—when your job security will substantially increase. After all, throughoutRead… Read more »

How to Create a Success Portfolio That Will Win Over Interviewers

By Lily Whiteman, author of “How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job”; speaker on career issues; twitter: @Lilymwhiteman Although it doesn’t say so on the invitation, every job interview is really a Bring Your Own Success Portfolio —BYOSP—event. What is a success portfolio? A collection of tangible materials that validates your qualifications and proves thatRead… Read more »

What Are Your Weaknesses?

Whether you’re interviewing for an internship or for a job in the Senior Executive Service, your interviewer may ask you that old “What are your weaknesses?” question. But even interviewers who still ask that widely reviled question recognize its limitations. “No one realistically expects to receive brutally honest answers like, ‘I’m below-average intelligence and difficultRead… Read more »

Five Get-Ahead Tips for Feds by Lily Whiteman

Aside from the obvious — to work like the Dickens — here are ten potentially pivotal get-ahead tips. 1. Follow the money, controversy and power: Unfair though it is, employees who work in front offices with SESers and political appointees tend to ascend the career ladder faster than comparably productive employees who toil in out-of-sight,Read… Read more »