I was talking to my dad today. He’s close to retirement and he was kinda reminiscing about his early days with his employer, the US fed govt, especially with all the shit lately.

He told me the story again of how he got his first federal position. He went to some job fair in like 1990 after he finally finished his degree, and the guy manning the booth offered him a job on the spot. And the rest is history.

I’m also a federal employee. It took me 15+ yrs of applying for numerous federal positions, having to do stupid aptitude tests online, or even in person – I once flew across the country to literally sit for an ACT/SAT-type aptitude test, on my own dime – all to get two interviews over that whole time period. It was only in 2023 that I finally got an offer, which I started like 5mo ago.

Offer on the spot at a job fair? That’s unheard of these days. I don’t even see the point of going to job fairs anymore, since all they do is say, “just apply online!” The few I’ve been to in the past weren’t even accepting resumes in person or doing any on-the-spot interviews. Then what’s the point of this?

And having sat on the “other side” of the table, helping conduct interviews, it’s all shit. Not the candidates (well…sometimes), but the process. If the whole rigmarole is to help find and select better candidates, then it’s not working. I’d rather pick a couple candidates, hire them on probation for 90 days, and evaluate them that way. Then let go of the less-performing one. Or both if neither are worth it. We’d be able to really evaluate them, while at least they’d maybe learn something and get paid.