Finding Federal Positions Not Available on USAJobs
Although USAJOBS is the official U.S. website for identifying and applying for federal opportunities, not all jobs or internships are posted on the platform. For example, excepted service positions allow agencies to use their own hiring rules, meaning some positions open for the public will be directly on the agency website and will not be publicized on USAJOBS (Side Note: Federal Register publish a list of all agency specific excepted authorities). For this reason, taking advantage of multiple resources and employing multiple search strategies opens up the possibility for job and internship seekers to find and take into consideration a greater number and a wider range of federal opportunities.
Applicants interested in a particular agency are encouraged to seek opportunities on the career page of their website directly and check back frequently.
Some agencies will also post information on social media channels. Candidates are encouraged to follow the accounts for recruiting events and postings; however, for concerns of national security, individuals interested in intelligence-related positions (i.e., CIA, FBI, etc.) are advised to avoid interacting with posts or following the agencies’ social media channels.
USA.gov has an index of all government departments and agencies available for review.
If a position is in critical recruitment need, the U.S. Office of Personnel may grant agencies a Direct Hiring Authority (DHA). This means that agencies do not have to adhere to all the typical hiring rules and assessment tools outlined in the competitive hiring process. Direct Hiring Authorities greatly expedite the application process. Cross-referencing the list of occupation series codes for government-wide DHAs is a great way to inform a candidate’s search.
The intelligence community is a group of 18 federal agencies and organizations dealing with foreign intelligence and counterintelligence in service of America’s national security. This group often hires outside of the typical federal hiring process and their positions may or may not be posted directly to USAJobs. Fortunately, the intelligence community has a government webpage— U.S. Intelligence Community Careers – dedicated to identifying and applying to their opportunities. In the “Our Agencies” tab, job seekers can find a list of intelligence community agencies utilizing USAJobs and a separate list of agencies using hosting opportunities exclusively on their websites.
Part of the difficulty of applying to federal positions is tight application deadlines—which often close after a set number of applicants—and internships are no different. This poses a problem for students who are encouraged to be strategic in preparing their application materials well in advance of when an internship program may go live. To assist students in searching for opportunities, the Partnership for Public Service launched a Federal Internship Finder as a part of GoGovernment—a hub for federal employment educational resources.
The Federal Internship Finder compiles information about hundreds of different federal internships and academic funding opportunities spread across individual agency websites into one accessible space. Note, that these positions may eventually be hosted on USAJobs but the tool allows a person to discover the position before it is posted.
A student can explore the platform and narrow in on what they would like to pursue by filtering the opportunities to meet their individual needs whether that be compensation type, career field, and several categories. The tool will also allow students to note application windows so they can plan accordingly.
In addition to USAJobs alerts, candidates can stay up to date with opportunities utilizing listservs run by various federal agencies, organizations, and programs. Find and subscribe to listservs using the non-comprehensive list compiled below.
Federal Agency and Program Listservs:
| Link to Listserv | Associated Email – For Questions and Troubleshooting |
| AmeriCorps | |
| Consumer Financial Protection Bureau | jobs@consumerfinance.gov |
| Department of State Internship Program | doscareers@yellogov.com |
| Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention | N/A |
| Open Government Mailing List – (USA.gov) | opengovernmentsecretariat@gsa.gov |
| Peace Corps | volunteer@peacecorps.gov |
| Presidential Management Fellowship (for individuals with an advanced degree) | PMF@opm.gov |
| The National Security Agency | N/A |
| The United States Space Force | techsupport@afciviliancareers.com |
| USAID | usaid@subscribe.usaid.gov |
Select departments and agencies will post their internship and full-time positions to Handshake. Following employers will notify Handshake users of new internship and job postings, events, and career fairs the department or agency will attend.
Remember, though it is beneficial to employ many job search strategies for securing a federal position, none of these resources are intended to take the place of USAJobs, which is the primary platform for federal opportunities. Think of all other resources as a supplement not a substitute!
