The "Call to Serve" campaign, announced Monday, will include campus events, speakers and seminars aimed at encouraging students to consider a career in public service and helping them pursue job opportunities.
"There is a tremendous need for new talent," Office of Personal Management Director Kay Coles James told students at a rally at George Washington University. "We are looking for go-getters like you. We desperately need your skills and we need them right now."
A year ago, the General Accounting Office placed the task of identifying key jobs and filling them on its list of federal programs and operations identified as "high risk." The GAO, Congress' investigative arm, estimates about 30 percent of the federal work force will retire by 2006.
James said a major barrier keeping students from entering public service is lack of information on what opportunities are available and how to apply for those jobs. The "Call to Serve" campaign seeks to address that problem.
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Sen. Joe Lieberman and Cari Eggspuehler, a State Department employee, told George Washington students about their jobs and how they got into government service.
"Whatever is your talent, whatever if your passion, you can help shape government. You can help shape the future of this country," said Lieberman, D-Conn.
Eggspuehler, 26, described her travels to India, Burma and China as an information technology specialist working on computer-terrorism issues.
"The varied work that I've done is amazing," she said. "Honestly, the private sector couldn't pay me enough to leave."
Max Stier, president of the Washington-based Partnership for Public Service, a private coalition sponsoring the employment campaign, said the Sept. 11 attacks awakened young people to public service.
"This is a generation that feels truly connected to their nation and many of these students are looking for opportunities to make a difference," he said.
Separately, the partnership and James announced a new customer service initiative to make the application and hiring procedures at government agencies more user-friendly.
In its "Pledge to Applicants," the OPM said it would provide easy-to-understand job announcements and instructions for applying, give candidates with regular updates on the status of their application, and speed up the decision-making process.
Congress is considering legislation that would eliminate unnecessary government regulations and give departments more flexibility in hiring and offering bonuses. Separate legislation would place a "human capital officer" at each federal agency to oversee the retirement-replacement transition and allow workers access to more paid training.
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