USGS Rejection Letters
Ouch! Just received a rejection letter from the USGS in my email. I can almost start a collection of these things. I applied for a position at the Menlo Park campus last month. There was an opening on their Earthquake Hazards Team. The job sounded awesome and right up my alley in terms of interests and potential experience.
Has anyone else ever applied to the USGS and not made it? The letter is pretty intense. Or for that matter, who has applied and made it? What sort of hints and tips might you have for budding geologists who’d like to one day work for the USGS?
A small excerpt from the letter:
Based on your responses to the applicant assessment questions, you were not among the top candidates for the position, and therefore, you were not referred for consideration.
Yikes!
No big deal. You really can’t take things like that personally. Still, kind of a bummer though. Time to get more experience and try again later!
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I applied for a USGS job once and got the same response. I think they work like other federal jobs where the online application you fill out is “ranked” by a computer on some sort of points system. If you do not score high enough with points you do not make it into their top tier. If you have federal status or are a Vet. you get a 10 point advance in the search!
I agree with the ranking system, though I don’t necessarily think that it’s a computer that does it. Their application consists of multiple choice questions (which I’m sure have point value attributed to each answer), as well as quite a few essay questions that someone must read. So there has to be someone who scores the essays. I think that’s what ended up tanking my application. My essays detailing my previous experience weren’t strong enough (or didn’t show enough experience in their eyes). Ah well. Live and learn!
You are right about the essay part, if the application had those for sure. I called the USGS job application place when I got turned down and spoke with someone because I wanted to find out what I might have done wrong and how to do it better, she told me about the computer scoring program, and that if you do not score high enough initially with that they never even see your application because it is immediately not considered. I am not a fan of that. It could be different for different positions I guess. I applied for a job in Montana.
Good luck next time!
Ah, okay! I guess that makes sense. I’m sure for every job posting, the USGS is just inundated with applications as well, making it incredibly competitive.
Interesting insights into the world of the USGS. Thanks for the comments!