Thank you for your interest in "Great Expectations!  What Students Want in an Employer and How Federal Agencies Can Deliver It."  We look forward to seeing at you the report release on January 14!  The "Register Now" button above provides the opportunity to list names and contact information for individuals from your organization who wish to attend the event.  [Note:  By adjusting the "Quantity" listed under "Ticket Information," you can register more than one individual for the event.] Please RSVP by January 12.   

Questions?  Contact Sally Jaggar (sjaggar@ourpublicservice.org or 202.775.6886).

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In the aftermath of his historic election, President-elect Barack Obama's change.gov Web site was flooded with resumes at a rate of 100,000 job applications a week.  Clearly these numbers say a lot about his ability to energize the public, particularly young people.  This is good news.  At the same time, with roughly a third of its workforce expected to leave in the next five years, government demands new talent to meet its numerous challenges.  In these tough economic times, the government has jobs to fill.

Are these federal jobs a good match for today's young job seekers?  A survey of almost 32,000 American undergraduates suggests that the answer is "Yes!"  "Government/public service" was the most popular industry choice out of 46 options.  But what are college students who will soon enter the workforce looking for in an employer?  How does federal public service compare with and compete with the private and non-for-profit world?  And how can federal agencies position and brand themselves to successfully attract the right talent?

The Partnership for Public Service and Universum USA teamed up to examine the results of Universum's 2008 survey of college undergraduates - The Universum IDEALTM Employer Survey 2008 - to identify the qualities young people seek in an employer.  The Partnership and Universum USA are releasing the results of this first time analysis of student perspectives about federal employers.  Happily, given a list of employers to rate as most desirable, five federal agencies - the Department of State, NASA, the Peace Corps, the CIA, and the FBI - were ranked among the top 15 employers by students.  What attributes do these and other top employers have that makes them "ideal"?  And what should federal agencies do to successfully connect with the students they want and need?

Please join us in exploring these questions at the release of the report.