Federal Job-Hunt Maven in the Spotlight

Nice piece in the Washington Post today about Kathryn Troutman, federal resume and job hunting expert and erstwhile GovExec.com columnist. She has long been one of the world's leading experts on navigating the federal hiring process.

Troutman says she deals with about 400 would-be federal employees every week. Her expertise is clearly in demand these days, and not just because the recession has driven many private sector folks out of their jobs.

"The fact that there is a market for the services Kathryn provides is an indictment of the current [hiring] system," John Palguta of the Partnership for Public Service told the Post. "You can't figure it out without some help."

The Obama administration's hiring reform is supposed to change all that, of course. The currently required knowledge, skills and abilities statements that the reform effort has targeted for elimination are exactly the kind of thing that job seekers need the assistance of outside experts to understand. But I'm guessing even the post-reform hiring process will be complex enough that there still will be a market for the services of experts like Troutman.