I work in a federal agency. My in was pure luck, a friend got me a job as a contractor first, but we've hired a ton of new grads and they all have started with almost no professional experience, just undergrad and masters degrees. That said, because of the job market there are tons of older, more experienced, better educated folks ahead of you, including veterans who are awarded special status, but you need to emphasize what you HAVE done and not automatically assume no one will count your experience. Lastly, if you're applying for GS-7 level positions, you are almost always qualified with a BA/BS and no experience as long as you have above a 3.0. You should be looking at GS7 or equivalent postings. Anything above, and you're competing against masters students.
Regarding your resume, here's an example of everything I did before entering the professional world (which was straight into that contract position). You cannot undersell yourself and have to be very detail-rich about everything you've done. Obviously you can't lie, but be generous within reason and reality in describing what you've done, especially challenging aspects.
Democratic Party of Virginia 7/2008 - 11/2008
Richmond, Virginia US
Hours per week: 100
Field Organizer
-Served as a field Organizer for Governor Mark Warner and Senator Barack Obama’s campaigns.
-Responsible for recruiting, training and dispatching campaign labor as part of the largest field effort ever in Virginia history. In this process I developed a large network of community activists. Developing and maintaining this network of relationships was my primary role and hinged upon my ability to encourage and facilitate cooperation, pride, and group identify as well as fostering commitment and team spirit while working with others to achieve field organizing goals such as weekly targets for number of doors knocked or phone calls made.
-Developed extensive networking relationships with local political committees, internal directors and offices to include press and state coordinators, and University groups throughout Virginia. Establishing deep trust with these groups, as part of a coordinated campaign effort, was paramount.
-Insured that donations were valid by resolving questions regarding regulatory compliance.
-Constantly solved technical problems in the office including issues with the LAN, VOIP phone system, databases and program processes as well as hardware such as networked printers and fax machines. (Contact Supervisor: Yes, Supervisor's Name: XXXXXX, Supervisor's Phone: XXXXXX)
Virginia Commonwealth University, University Commons 9/2005 - 5/2008
Richmond, Virginia US
Hours per week: 25
Manager
- Oversaw between 2-15 employees at any given time
- Served client needs for conferences and events while insuring regulatory compliance. Handling technological/computer issues and solved logistical problems with event services and planning.
-Encouraged cooperation and team work among the workers I supervised.
-Regularly adapted to changes in the day's work assignments and deadlines as needed to achieve assignment goals based on a matrix array of various customer demands and the physical space and services available at the time to be provided to customers.
-Required that I prioritize and allocate my time, and that of the workers under my supervision, appropriately and on multiple tasks to meet deadlines without sacrificing accuracy and quality, including acting in the role of a non-management employee in order to meet tight deadlines when required. (Contact Supervisor: Yes, Supervisor's Name: XXXXXXXXX, Supervisor's Phone: XXXXXXXXXXX
Richmond Peace Education Center 1/2008 - 5/2008
Richmond, VA US
Hours per week: 20
Intern
-Assembled and interpreted business program information to identify sources of grants, funding and public private matching to sustain operations and programming of the Richmond Peace Education Center.
-Assisted in publishing of web media, including integration of iCal based html calendars in the organizations website, basic web development tasks including updating website elements on the back-end server side.
-Dealt with issues regarding the organizations computer hardware including the office LAN.
Virginia Commonwealth University, SGA 11/2007 - 5/2008
Richmond, VA US
Hours per week: 20
Director, XXXXXX
-Responsible for liaising with University Officials, public officials and community leaders such as the President of Richmond's City Council
-Responsible for several lobbying and advocacy initiatives including at the Virginia General Assembly and with various City agencies
-Responsible for establishing a functional public-private grant for community engagement with the University and the surrounding Richmond community
-Presented oral and written reports on a weekly basis to colleagues (Contact Supervisor: Yes, Supervisor's Name: XXXXXXXXXX, Supervisor's Phone: XXXXXXXXXXXXX)
Reams Computer Corporation 1/2004 - 7/2004
Newport News, Virginia US
Hours per week: 40
Data Technician
-Processed data from companies and government agencies using OCR scanning machines and recognition tools.
-Assisted in SQL database maintenance and resolved problems involving technical obstacles and/or hardware issues as well as standard, run of the mill issues with the company LAN.
-Assembled and interpreted summaries of client business and general industry information to my immediate manager for use in various projects.
