President Obama has said he wants to “make government cool again.” So, the federal government’s HR directors are studying a plan to boost the starting pay of college grads by $8,000 a year—to $41,210.  The Office of Personnel Management proposal needs approval from the federal agencies.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposes to change the grade level for individuals who hold a bachelor’s degree from GS-5 grade (or equivalent) level to GS-7 grade (or equivalent) level.  This change eliminates the Superior Academic Achievement provision and impacts the qualification requirements for other grades in the 2-grade interval line of progression.

The GS 7 has been reserved for “outstanding scholars” with high grade-point averages.  These changes are also intened to reduce the possibility that applicants may be unfairly screened out who otherwise would be able to perform the requirements of the position and increase and broaden the qualified applicant pool.    This could mean more competitive opportunities within the Department of Energy and the EPA. To find out more, read the Memorandum for Human Resources Directors.

The DOE is currently hiring, and in particular seeks to fill numerous positions, ranging from entry level to Senior Executive Service, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including: Engineers, Environmental Protection Specialist, Electricity and Transmission Specialists, Investment Officers, Procurement Analysts, and Contract and Project Specialists.  Vacancies are located in Washington DC and at DOE facilities across the country.

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Author: Tracey de Morsella (323 Articles)

Tracey de Morsella started her career working as an editor for US Technology Magazine. She used that experience to launch Delaware Valley Network, a publication for professionals in the Greater Philadelphia area. Years later, she used the contacts and resources she acquired to work in executive search specializing in technical and diversity recruitment. She has conducted recruitment training seminars for Wachovia Bank, the Department of Interior and the US Postal Service. During this time, she also created a diversity portal called The Multicultural Advantage and published the Diversity Recruitment Advertising Toolkit, a directory of recruiting resources for human resources professionals. Her career and recruitment articles have appeared in numerous publications and web portals including Woman Engineer Magazine, Monster.com, About.com Job Search Channel, Workplace Diversity Magazine, Society for Human Resource Management web site, NSBE Engineering Magazine, HR.com, and Human Resource Consultants Association Newsletter. Her work with technology professionals drew her to pursuing training and work in web development, which led to a stint at Merrill Lynch as an Intranet Manager. In March, she decided to combine her technical and career management expertise with her passion for the environment, and with her husband, launched The Green Economy Post, a blog providing green career information and covering the impact of the environment, sustainable building, cleantech and renewable energy on the US economy. Her sustainability articles have appeared on Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation, Chem.Info,FastCompany and CleanTechies.