How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job: Your Complete Guide to Opportunities, Internships, Resumes and Cover Letters, Application Essays (KSAs), Interviews, Salaries, Promotions and More! Paperback – Bargain Price, September 3, 2008

When it was time to hit the pay dirt during the last year of my Bachelor's Degree, I needed help - serious help - in order to apply for a government job. All that I knew was that I wanted to work for the federal government, but neither did I understand its hiring system, nor did I know how to approach it, its methods and processes. This is where Lily Whiteman's book comes in.This book is indeed useful, and provides a wholesome approach to federal employment. Although the reader will need to consult more works in order to nail the KSA's and prepare his / her resume before starting to apply, Whiteman's book is choc-full of incredibly useful suggestions and insider tips found nowhere else. The best suggestions this book provides refer to interview techniques, salary negotiation, and actual resources to look for jobs, internships and fellowships. Because I am particularly interested in the Foreign Service, I found the chapter entitled "Going Global" (provided in the CD that accompanies the book) an invaluable resource. This same CD has countless more resources, such as templates to improve your KSA's, preparation for your interviews, resume templates, and useful articles the author has previously written for The Washington Post.This was the first book I read about procuring federal employment and it left me with a global picture of the practice; however, I did find later on that certain aspects of the federal job search are barely skimmed, i.e. the analysis of keywords when applying for a vacancy announcement. Elements like this could mean a "make it or break it" deal for an application, and this book barely mentions them. Also, the process of the actual writing of the resume and KSA's is covered from a superficial angle when compared to other similar texts, such as Kathryn Troutman's "Ten steps to a federal job - How to land a job in the Obama Administration".Nevertheless, the book provides an excellent starting point in the federal job search, especially in Chapter # 2, loaded with resources on where to look for such jobs. Did it help me get the job? Well... I must happily report that it did get me to an internship with the Department of State. We shall see what the future holds thereafter.

I bought this book based on a review posted on 9/22/08 by "grateful" because she stated she was able to contact Lily and get advice on how to negotiate repayment of school loans and reimbursement of relocation fees, among other things. I'm a midlife career changer. I returned to school and will graduate in Dec w/my degree in Economics at 42. As a former legal secretary, I was miserable and desperate to get out of that field and willing to do whatever it took to get out, including depleting my entire life savings and accumulate massive debt.At an age when I should be saving for retirement, I need all the help I can get with school loans. That review alone was the reason I bought the book, and I have to say it is by far the most useful, valuable, and helpful book I've ever purchased. I sent Lily and email with a question about KSA's and left a voice mail; it took 2 days to get a response, which I felt was very quick considering the economy, with people all over the country job hunting and sending emails with questions.The book comes with a CD with resume templates, sample essays, interview prep sheets PLUS A LOT MORE. There's even a sheet for the "tell me about yourself" opener. For my resume, I'm using a modified version of the "recent grad" template because I do have 20 years of previous work experience.There are "Hot Tips" throughout the book. For example, one provides a link on how to convert a word doc to PDF. I thought you had to pay massive money for software to do that. Another Hot Tip advises you to do Google searches on terms like "example resumes" together with your job title to see the resumes that pop up to help you craft yours. This is in addition to the advice and templates that come with the book.I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE LOOKING FOR A FEDERAL JOB. The federal process is convoluted and intimidating to say the least. This book alleviates the confusion and lack of confidence in being able to appropriately submit your application.THANK YOU, LILY.4-6-12- update. I have been working w Social Security Admin since June, 2010. I love my job. I used this book as a guide to get this job. I also bought Kathryn Troutman's 10 Steps to a Federal job and Resume Guidebook, both of which I would also recommend. However, I got hired with SSA before I got a chance to go thru those books. So I have to give credit to Lily Whitman's book for helping me make my dream come true - career changing out of the god-forsaken legal secretarial field.

This is a really good book. However, I made the mistake of purchasing the Kindle version. For starters, the description of the book (even the physical book) does not list that there is a CD.It was only after I downloaded the Kindle version and started reading did I know there was a CD. That's because the author makes mention of the CD 50 million times in the book. As I read the book, I became more and more frustrated by the fact that many of the examples and templates I need are on the CD...which I do not have. It would have been nice if the information that was provided on the CD could have been provided digitally through the Kindle version as well. Now, in order to obtain the information, I will have to pay for the book, AGAIN, by buying the actual book with the CD. Needless to say I am beyond mad.Don't waste your money buying the Kindle version.

I’m prior military and I have to say they do an underwhelming job of preparing you for civilian life. I knew I needed to get into the government once I got the necessary experience and certifications, but the whole process of applying and using USAJOBS was seriously intimidating. There were no good resources online beyond a few vague blog posts/articles that seemed to plagiarize one another and give the same vague information in an eternal internet loop. This book was at a job center’s veterans section. I couldn’t take it home so I wrote down the information and bought it on amazon. I don’t know how outdated this book is, I mean it came with a CD rom in the back, but most of the information seems timeless. I have to say the proof is in the pudding. I followed all of the advice and got four job offers in two months and I currently have a government job. Buy the book y’all.