Holidays give no rest for administration job-seekers

President-elect Barack Obama's transition team will work through the Christmas and New Year's holidays to name many sub-Cabinet-level appointees as quickly as possible, a mid-level transition official said this week in informal conversation.

President-elect Obama wants the lower-level officials in place as early as possible after the Jan. 20 inauguration so that they -- rather than civil servants -- can supervise the spending of the economic stimulus package, the official said.

In some departments, the stimulus may mean a massive infusion of money, he noted.

The official also said that those seeking jobs in the administration should not relax over the holidays, but continue their efforts, including attempts to get high-level recommendations. If hopefuls do not continue to push for their appointments, the jobs may go to other people by the time the holidays are over, he added.

He also advised one job-seeker to apply for several positions but note his top preference, and to be flexible about what job he gets because of the number of applications for each position.

High-level sub-Cabinet jobs such as deputy secretaries of departments and undersecretaries generally require Senate confirmation, and those appointees must go through the confirmation process after the Cabinet secretaries of their departments are confirmed. But there are also thousands of powerful but lower-level jobs that do not require Senate confirmation.

Check out the blog Lost in Transition, a joint effort of Government Executive and National Journal.