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At one of my Senior Executive Service workshops a few months ago, I asked everyone to stand up, introduce themselves and share a significant accomplishment in their careers.

Susan Persons responded by describing the unique way she got her job as a public policy liaison officer with the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at the National Institutes of Health.

Before her job interview, Susan studied the OBSSR's strategic plan, which is on the office's Web site (http://obssr.od.nih.gov). At the interview, she discussed the strategic plan and how she could help achieve its goals. She also focused her remarks on a section of the plan that had not yet been implemented - communications with Congress.

Now that's strategic planning on Susan's part. She not only made it clear that she had done her homework on the OBSSR's mission, Susan also told the interviewer how she could make the office a better place.

And she got the job.

"After being hired, the director of the OBSSR, Dr. Norman Anderson, asked me what role I would specifically like to play," Susan said. "We immediately referred to the strategic plan, and identified Goal Three, 'improving communications among scientists and with the public and media concerning dissemination of findings from NIH-funded behavioral and social sciences research.'"

Susan Persons

Here is some advice from Susan about how to research and prepare for a successful interview, based on her proven experience:

1. Understand the needs of the office via its strategic plan. Many departments and agencies are now required to have a strategic plan. I have found that keeping the specific goals and strategies of the office in mind is a successful way to prepare for an interview. Identifying the actions from the plan in which you are interested provides a structure for what you might bring to the interview. It allows you to match your skills and abilities with the needs of the office. It will also help to ensure that there is clear communication about what the job really entails.

2. Understand the relationship of the office to other government agencies and departments. One critical aspect to successful work in any large bureaucracy is to develop an understanding of its relationship to sister agencies. Since so much of government work is incremental in nature, it is important to be able to articulate an understanding of process and "the big picture." At the very least, one should be prepared to ask a question about the role of the office in relation to other agencies as well as the congressional committees that have jurisdiction over the office.

3. Understand the role of outside constituencies. Public service is by definition at the will of the people. Knowing and appreciating the communities that support the office may give you an advantage over other candidates, because it allows an opportunity to articulate your political acuity.

4. Study the Web site of the office. It is an invaluable way to quickly master not only the mission, goals and activities of the office, but also to get the feel for its "personality." Is the information presented in a clear and reader-friendly fashion?

5. Study recent reports or publications of the office. Being familiar with publications and other products of the office will show that you have done your homework in preparing for the interview.

If you would like to ask Susan Persons about her successful experiences in analyzing, writing and implementing government strategic plans, you can write her at personss@od.nih.gov.

Kathryn Kraemer has been the president of The Resume Place, Inc. for 27 years. Kathryn helps people get promoted and change jobs. She is the pioneer designer of the new "federal resume." She wrote and published the first book on federal resume writing and is a popular resume writing workshop leader in government.

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