Nonprofit group wants feds to talk to students about public service

Wanted: Enthusiastic federal employees to share their government experience with students interested in public service.

The Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group dedicated to improving the government's recruitment and retention record, is creating a national speakers bureau comprised of mostly career employees to discuss their experience in the federal government at colleges and universities across the country.

The nonprofit group has asked the heads of the nation's 28 Federal Executive Boards to identify public servants in their areas who would make suitable speakers. The idea is to have career employees of various ages and experience levels talk to young people about the service opportunities government offers, according to Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service.

"We have spoken with career counselors at public policy schools across the country, and they are unanimously interested in creating a forum where students hear from federal employees," Stier said. Many federal employees are interested in sharing their experience and promoting public service too, according to Stier.

"Most want to participate and share their experience, and see this opportunity as a great way of doing that," he said. "I don't imagine we will have any difficulty in getting people to participate." Participants volunteer to speak and are not paid for their work, Stier said.

Stier said the Partnership for Public Service is trying to jumpstart a dialogue between government employees and young people interested in pursuing careers in public service. "One of the things we saw after Sept. 11 was a rising confidence in government, but not an overall interest in federal jobs."

The speakers bureau would also include noncareer government leaders and people with experience in public service who work in business, academia and the nonprofit sector. But the bulk of the speakers would come from the career ranks, Stier said.

The program is in the planning stages, but the Partnership for Public Service is making a big push next year to get it up and running, Stier said.

"Well-run organizations in the private sector ensure that their motivated employees are on the front lines of recruiting," Stier said. Having federal employees go out and talk to people about the benefits of public service helps agencies "put their best foot forward," he said.

Federal employees interested in finding out more about the speakers bureau can e-mail the Partnership for Public Service at mmasters@ourpublicservice.org.