Abstract
Although many government jobs are concentrated in Washington, DC, there are federal career opportunities throughout the nation. Nationwide, there are about 2,750,000 civilian federal employees, in career areas ranging from accounting to zoology. The Bureau of Mines alone has facilities in 14 states and covers all 50 through its state liaison program. Currently (1990) salaries range from $10,581 to $78,200 per year, and there are outstanding benefits packages at all levels of the federal service. In some areas pay is not comparable with what a similar job would command in private industry; however, it is usually respectable, and Congress and the office of personnel management--the organization that supervises most matters affecting government employment--are working toward achieving comparability. Moreover, the career itself can be especially rewarding; government research, for example, pursues a number of avenues not normally open to industrial researchers. And in any branch of government service there is, or should be, a sense that one's daily work is making a real contribution to our nation's goals. This paper looks at some specific jobs that are available in the Bureau of Mines and other interior department agencies, and gives information on how to apply for a government job and what benefits to expect if you receive one.
