by Kathryn K. Troutman

Here are the first five steps in getting Your Next Dream Job after you retire from federal service.

1.  Go to the retirement job search list in this article and look for jobs in your geographic area with the salary that you would consider to be good.   At this point, you are really just searching for samples of jobs, duties, and skills required --- not to really apply for a job right now.
 
2.  Read the recruitment ads to see what is available and who is hiring who. This is basic research about the job world outside of government.
 
3.  Read the recruitment ads to see what skills they are seeking.  Make a list of these Target Job Skills.
 
4.  Think about Your Basic Skills that you have (forget the government-specific knowledge).   Consider your favorite skills from your government work.  What did you like best?  Customer service, research, analysis, project coordination, problem-solving, supervision, teamwork, computers, writing, editing, Excel spreadsheets?   Make a list of those skills.   You can get ideas for those skills by reading the job ads. 
 
Since government work is quite different than private sector work, you will have to think about your experience in terms of basic skills
 
5.  Make a two column list of Target Job Skills and My Basic Skills so that you can begin to match up your skills against those that private industry employers are seeking.  You will be amazed at how well your skills will match new positions. 
 
Don't worry if the next job isn't a perfect match.  

6.  Think about how hard you want to work -- 40 hours per week? 30 hours? Or 20 hours? You don't have to decide this now.   Just think about it.

Whatever job you consider, you don't have to think about committing to this one for a lifetime -- maybe just 1-2 years for the experience.

Be sure to look for the upcoming lessons in this series:

Lesson 2 - Find a Mission You Like
Lesson 3 - Get Creative -- interesting jobs for retirees that are not typical
Lesson 4 - Your Next Resume -- your life in 2 pages!
Lesson 5 - Your resume online in the builders
Lesson 5 - Cover letters with passion and a story
Lesson 6 - Entrepreneurship for retirees
Lesson 7 - Consulting -- you are an expert!
Lesson 8 -  Government work -- contracting federal resumes (shorter versions)
Lesson 9 - Interviewing -- dos and donts, depending on where you are
Lesson 10 - The speaker's trail -- share your knowledge and your story

About the Author

Kathryn K. Troutman, founder and president of the The Resume Place, Inc., is an internationally recognized book publisher and trainer for both federal human resource specialists and federal employees. She is the pioneering designer of the "Federal Resume" based on her flagship book, the Federal Resume Guidebook.