Government jobs

Site's statement

Jobboard Finder’s opinion

Summary: GovernmentJobs first appeared on the scene in 1998. Since then, it has become a well-known site across the US. It attracts 9.74 million visits a month and it keeps its followers updated on Twitter (42 600 followers) and Facebook (79 226). There is also a LinkedIn page with 725 followers. The site partners with agencies in the public sector to ensure it can provide the broadest range of job offers. The site is clearly for Americans first and foremost, not only because most government jobs can only be occupied by Americans, but also because the logo is the US flag.

Design: The homepage is straightforward. The search engine (keywords and location) stands out against an orange backdrop and suggested categories and locations appear as a list in three columns underneath. Advertisements for jobs elsewhere (on Monster or TopResume for example) appear throughout the job listing, which is a bit annoying. Job offers don’t have logos, but you can see closing dates (sometimes), publication dates, the job title, the location and the type of hours. Filters (location, date posted, organisation, category, salary) help users refine their search. Offers can be sorted by relevance or date. You can also see how many offers are in each category. When you open an offer, it appears over the others. Three panels are available: description, benefits and questions.

The job board objective: In the words of the site, “our goal is to assist job seekers find a career while providing government employers with the tools they need to attract, hire, and retain great people.”

Recruiter observations: When I tested the site, the employer section was not working.

Jobseeker observations: Jobseekers need an account to apply to offers. Even if it doesn’t take long to set up an account, there are quite a few required fields for the online profile.

The job offers: There are over 25 000 job offers on the site. Most of the offers are for jobs in parks and recreational areas, followed by miscellaneous.

Reactivity: Couldn't find any contact information.

Special features: The guide to creating a job offer and for applying to offers; the Twitter feed; the additional questions and information on benefits for jobseekers.

Verdict: It’s always a bit disappointing when one of the top categories for jobs is “other” or “miscellaneous” because it means recruiters couldn’t find the right category among the suggested ones. That said, there are more than enough job offers to choose from and the site gets right down to business. We like the added benefits and questions. Furthermore, the Twitter shares interesting articles.

Written by Ali Neill

As the job board tester and blog editor for the Jobboard Finder, Ali works on job boards from all around the world and keeps a close eye on the recruitment trends thanks to a number of sources, including the website's social media pages.