#govloop

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By Lisa Rein, Washington Post, September 18, 2013

The federal government may be hiring less, but it's still replacing departing employees--and international agencies are no exception. But as anyone who has applied for a federal job knows, the path to employment can be maddening and mysterious.

GovLoop, the "Facebook for Feds" started by former federal employee Steve Ressler, has teamed up with the Robertson Foundation for Government and the Association for Professional Schools of International Affairs to launch a first-ever guide to getting and keeping international jobs in government, from the State Department to the Peace Corps.

The goal of the "Guide to Getting an International Job in Government" is to demystify the process of getting a job with a foreign posting, or a stateside one at an agency with an international mission.

"Do you imagine yourself riding a motorcycle taxi through the streets of Kampala to get to work? Traveling aboard a local train in Mumbai or utilizing your Spanish to speak to dignitaries at the U.S. Embassy in Lima? Would you be interested in deciding how to effectively allocate U.S. funds abroad or advising a Senator on a major foreign policy vote?" writes GovLoop in materials to market the guide.

Working for DHS has been different.  They have been slightly more hands off with these social media tools mostly because there is limited return on investment.  Instead they focus on www.ideascale.com.  This social website allows users to connect using their account information from another social media website (so one less password to remember) and they can comment on public documents or make suggestions for the viewership to vote on.   Sometimes I wish they would use Twitter, Facebook and other social sites more often – if even to just spread the message across multiple platforms at the same time ti reach the largest possible audience but it’s hard to evoke change sometimes when you are not the one in charge.

My questions for tonight’s guest speaker:

1.     When we talk social media with my clients, they tend to be leery about using it.  This is due to misuse from government officials or creative campaigns spiraling out of control and becoming a sound byte for the 24 hour news channels (or its comedic parodies like the Daily Show).  How do you assure leadership that they still have control of the message?

From 10 Things You Still Don't Get About Generation Y